Washington, D.C. –As today marks International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, Human Rights First calls on the Obama Administration to move quickly to declassify the Senate intelligence committee’s report on the post-9/11 CIA interrogation and detention program. Release of this report will be an important step towards reestablishing U.S. leadership in the global struggle to eradicate torture.
“If the United States is going to lead in the global struggle against torture, it needs to get its own house in order,” said Human Rights First’s Raha Wala. “President Obama should act to set the record straight on torture by declassifying the Senate report, a step that will show once and for all that official cruelty has no place in U.S. intelligence operations.”
This week, the CIA announced that it has finished redacting information from the report’s executive summary. In April, the Senate Intelligence Committee voted 11-3 to declassify and release the findings, conclusions, and executive summary of its 6,300-plus page report. The report is now with the White House, and President Obama has stated that he unequivocally supports its public release.
“We must learn from our nation’s dark history with torture so that we never repeat this shameful chapter,” concluded Wala. “Americans deserve answers and it is now up to President Obama to ensure that the public can know what was done in their names.”
