Senators Feinstein and Levin Set the Record Straight on Torture

Washington, D.C. – In response to last night’s 60 minutes segment on Jose Rodriguez, former head of the CIA’s Clandestine Services, Human Rights First issues the following statement: Jose Rodriguez and other former administration officials continue to falsely claim that torture led to the killing of Osama bin Laden and helped keep Americans safe. He’s wrong. And, Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Carl Levin (D-MI) agree. In a joint statement, the Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and the Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, unequivocally state: “Statements made by Mr. Rodriguez and other former senior government officials about the role of the CIA interrogation program in locating Usama bin Laden (UBL) are inconsistent with CIA records. We are disappointed that Mr. Rodriguez and others, who left government positions prior to the UBL operation and are not privy to all of the intelligence that led to the raid, continue to insist that the CIA’s so-called ‘enhanced interrogation techniques’ used many years ago were a central component of our success. This view is misguided and misinformed.” We applaud the Senators’ leadership on setting the record straight as well as the ongoing efforts of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) to investigate the facts surrounding the CIA’s detention and rendition program. It’s time, however, to settle this false debate – torture is immoral, unlawful, and counterproductive. The SSCI should release the real book on torture, and let the facts speak for themselves.