The American Civil Liberties Union and the New York Times have demanded a government investigation into officials who authorized torture. The ACLU presented a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder Monday demanding an investigation into those responsible for the CIA's torture tactics. Recent revelations about CIA torture under former President George W. Bush and former Vice President Dick Cheney between 2001-2009 have put the two figures under increased scrutiny. The ACLU asked to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate what they consider “a vast criminal conspiracy … of committing torture and other serious crimes.” Similarly, the New York Times also called for the prosecution of Bush and Cheney in an editorial published Monday. Other U.S. officials that find themselves embroiled in the U.S. torture scandal include: Cheney's chief of staff, David Addington; former CIA director George Tenet; as well as John Yoo and Jay Bybee, lawyers for the Legal Council Office who are know to have written the torture memos. The New York Times also asked that CIA official Jose Rodriguez, who ordered the destruction of videotapes documenting CIA torture, be investigated as well. The ACLU and the Times have both demanded that torture methods such as rectal feeding, waterboarding, detainees hung by their wrists, forced confinement in coffins, among other methods, be investigated by the government. “These simply are crimes. They are prohibited by federal law that defines torture as the intentional infliction of 'severe physical or mental pain or suffering.' They are also prohibited by the Convention Against Torture, an international treaty that the United States ratified in 1994 and that requires prosecution for all acts of torture,” detailed the editorial. Source URL |
