We need more - we need the truth. We need to look back at the Bush Administration and investigate what went wrong with America’s rule of law during our “war on terror”: torture, illegal wiretapping, extraordinary rendition, and other human rights violations. Why did this happen? Who let it happen? And how can we ensure it never happens again?
We desperately need to establish a Truth Commission to investigate these abuses, and America agrees. After all, 62% of Americans agree that the government should undertake a criminal investigation or set up an independent panel to investigate these anti-terror measures, according to a Gallup poll.
But President Obama said it is more important to move forward, rather than to look back. Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy has proposed such a commission, but President Obama didn’t seem to be too keen on the idea. Yet, President Obama really should consider an informal commission - if not a formal investigation. Personally, I believe that criminal prosecutions are necessary. Necessary for accountability and deterrence. Only by conducting formal investigations will America come to terms with the gravity of what has passed. And only this way can we ensure that history doesn’t repeat itself.
Moreover, if we don’t conduct investigations into the allegations of waterboarding and other torture of Guantanamo Bay detainees, foreign courts (and even the ICC, though that likely won’t happen anytime soon) will have the right to prosecute U.S. officials under “universal jurisdiction.” It’s only right that we fulfill our responsibilities.
As a legal matter, we are compelled to investigate by the Convention Against Torture, a binding treaty, that requires its signatories to investigate and refer for possible prosecution credible evidence of torture under their jurisdiction. — David Cole
Truth and Reconciliation Commissions have been set up around the world - in Rwanda after the genocide, in Argentina, in Chile, in South Africa. There is a precedent for their success. Truth Commissions in some countries led to eventual criminal prosecutions, as they uncovered valid evidence through the process. I’m not saying the crimes of the “war on terror” are in any way comparable to genocide, but I am saying we have a responsibility to at least look into it.
We lock up people for low-level drug offenses through harsh mandatory minimum prison terms, rather than giving them the support services they need. New York spends hundreds of millions of dollars each year imprisoning people convicted of drug possession, but we can’t investigate into something as serious as allegations of torture? It seems a little ironic to me that drug possession lands you in jail for years, but something like approving torture of indefinitely detained prisoners doesn’t even require an investigation.
And sure, people argue that many of those involved simply followed the legal advice of the Justice Department which stated that waterboarding was not torture. But don’t people have responsibilities for their actions regardless? These officials should have had the ability to judge on their own whether what they were doing is wrong. It’s that plain and simple. Following orders blindly can be wrong, as we see from the Holocaust. Again, I’m not comparing these two situations at all - just pointing out similarities. People need to be held responsible for their actions, regardless of whether it was their idea or not in the first place.
Michael Ratner sums this up well:
This is why President Obama is wrong when he argues that prosecution is looking backward; it is not. Prosecution is a means of preventing torture in the future…..Some claim that to prosecute those who approved torture techniques would criminalize a policy difference. But torture is against the law. The claim that the administration officials who promoted the use of waterboarding and other measures were acting in the national interest does not absolve them; if it did, all torturers the world over would use the same justifications.
And so, we need an investigation because America is a role model for countries around the world. We need to show that we are not just changing our policies, but being truly accountable for our actions. Only then can we become a strong advocate for human rights around the world, and only then can we encourage other governments to end human rights violations without hypocricy at home. And we need to investigate so that those responsible will be brought to justice. Together, we have to say - never again.
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