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March 6, 2013

U.N. Rapporteur Demands Senate Findings on Bush-Era Torture 
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A top United Nations investigator is calling on the United States to
release the findings of a classified probe into the CIA torture program
under President George W. Bush. On Tuesday, Ben Emmerson, the U.N.
special rapporteur on human rights and counter-terrorism, urged the
Obama White House to hand over a confidential Senate investigation that
details the torture of prisoners in U.S. custody. Speaking before the
U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva, Emmerson said the United States can
no longer ignore global demands for transparency and accountability when
it comes to torture.

Ben Emmerson: "Many of the States involved, including of course the
United States, have made strenuous efforts over the past decade to keep
their involvement in the CIA program of international crimes hidden from
public scrutiny. But despite the care with which this wall of silence
has been so painstakingly erected, it has not proved to be impenetrable.
The case is steadily building for the adoption of a comprehensive
strategy to secure public accountability for the past, and to bringing
to justice those officials within the U.S., Europe, and elsewhere, that
were complicit in this global network of crimes. The calls for the past
to be confronted are fast approaching a critical mass."

Emmerson has also asked Britain to disclose the findings of its own
inquiry into what British officials knew of the torture program when
they helped carry it out.

 

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