The United Nations, international human rights organisations and legal experts called for the prosecution of US officials responsible for torture following the release of a Senate Intelligence Committee report on Tuesday, detailing the extensive use of torture by the CIA at detention facilities.
The report, which avoids the use of the word torture and instead uses the terms "enhanced interrogation techniques" and "rendition, detention and interrogation program", brings to light a number of torture techniques employed by the CIA, including: rectal feeding and rehydration, immersion in cold water, confinement in a box, water boarding, sleep deprivation, auditory overload, beatings and threats.
The report cited at least three examples where severe violence, sexual assault and even death, was threatened against the families of detainees. On detainee was told his mother would be sexually abused in front of him, whilst another was told his mother's throat would be cut.
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Calls for Accountability
Leading calls for accountability and justice, the United Nations' Special Rapporteur on human rights and counter-terrorism, Ben Emmerson, emphasised the need for prosecution of decision making US officials.
"The fact that the policies revealed in this report were authorised at a high level within the US government provides no excuse whatsoever," Emmerson said, in a statement on Tuesday.
"International law prohibits the granting of immunities to public officials who have engaged in acts of torture. This applies not only to the actual perpetrators but also to those senior officials within the US Government who devised, planned and authorised these crimes. As a matter of international law, the US is legally obliged to bring those responsible to justice. It is no defence for a public official to claim that they were acting on superior orders. CIA officers who physically committed acts of torture therefore bear individual criminal responsibility for their conduct, and cannot hide behind the authorisation they were given by their superiors," Emmerson added.
"Torture is a crime of universal jurisdiction. The perpetrators may be prosecuted by any other country they may travel to. However, the primary responsibility for bringing them to justice rests with the US Department of Justice and the Attorney General," the rapporteur concluded.
Amnesty International USA's executive director, Steven W Hawkins, citing the UN Convention Against Torture, said,
The 528 page summary of the 'Feinstein Report', which took over 5 years to file, condenses a 6000 page investigation into the CIA torture programme, accusing the agency of going beyond authorised interrogation techniques and concealing such occurrences.
The report, which avoids the use of the word torture and instead uses the terms "enhanced interrogation techniques" and "rendition, detention and interrogation program", brings to light a number of torture techniques employed by the CIA, including: rectal feeding and rehydration, immersion in cold water, confinement in a box, water boarding, sleep deprivation, auditory overload, beatings and threats.
The report cited at least three examples where severe violence, sexual assault and even death, was threatened against the families of detainees. On detainee was told his mother would be sexually abused in front of him, whilst another was told his mother's throat would be cut.
See more here.
Calls for Accountability
Leading calls for accountability and justice, the United Nations' Special Rapporteur on human rights and counter-terrorism, Ben Emmerson, emphasised the need for prosecution of decision making US officials.
"The fact that the policies revealed in this report were authorised at a high level within the US government provides no excuse whatsoever," Emmerson said, in a statement on Tuesday.
"International law prohibits the granting of immunities to public officials who have engaged in acts of torture. This applies not only to the actual perpetrators but also to those senior officials within the US Government who devised, planned and authorised these crimes. As a matter of international law, the US is legally obliged to bring those responsible to justice. It is no defence for a public official to claim that they were acting on superior orders. CIA officers who physically committed acts of torture therefore bear individual criminal responsibility for their conduct, and cannot hide behind the authorisation they were given by their superiors," Emmerson added.
"Torture is a crime of universal jurisdiction. The perpetrators may be prosecuted by any other country they may travel to. However, the primary responsibility for bringing them to justice rests with the US Department of Justice and the Attorney General," the rapporteur concluded.
Amnesty International USA's executive director, Steven W Hawkins, citing the UN Convention Against Torture, said,
“Today’s release once again makes crystal clear that the US government used torture. Torture is a crime and those responsible for crimes must be brought to justice. Under the UN Convention Against Torture, no exceptional circumstances whatsoever can be invoked to justify torture, and all those responsible for authorising or carrying out torture or other ill-treatment must be fully investigated.""The CIA’s actions are a stain on our values and on our history,” the Senate Investigation Committee’s chair, Senator Dianne Feinstein.
The 528 page summary of the 'Feinstein Report', which took over 5 years to file, condenses a 6000 page investigation into the CIA torture programme, accusing the agency of going beyond authorised interrogation techniques and concealing such occurrences.