Sign-on Letter to End U.S. Use of Torture, Inhumane Treatment, and Extraordinary Rendition
The Bill of Rights Defense Committee has drafted the following letter and invites local governments and local civic organizations, especially veterans group chapters, as signatories. Deadline for signatories is April 22. Signatory governments and organizations may contact Nancy Talanian via email (ntalanian at bordc dot org) or telephone (413-582-0110).
To President George W. Bush and Members of Congress
Dear (President Bush) (Member of Congress):
We, the undersigned local and regional government bodies, organizations, and individuals urge you to affirm that the United States may not, through its own actions or through others acting on its behalf or behest, engage in any acts of torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment anywhere in the world. The degrading practices that have been used in Afghanistan, Guantánamo Bay, Abu Ghraib, and elsewhere, and the practice of rendering prisoners to countries known to use torture, are absolute wrongdoings in themselves. In addition to inflicting pain, these acts have made both our country and the world less safe from terrorism in the following ways:
- They place U.S. military and allied personnel at even greater risk;
- They damage our country’s reputation in the eyes of the world, and may discourage other countries from supporting and assisting us in combating terrorism;
- They fuel hatred for the United States, giving ammunition to our nation’s enemies; and
- They allow governments known to abuse human rights to cite the example of the United States as justification for their disregard of human rights.
Furthermore, according to the Army Field Manual on Intelligence Interrogation, “Use of torture and other illegal methods is a poor technique that yields unreliable results, may damage subsequent collection efforts, and can induce the source to say what he thinks the interrogator wants to hear.” And, Army Regulation 190-8 entitled “Enemy Prisoners of War, Retained Personnel, Civilian Internees and Other Detainees” prohibits the following as “inhumane treatment”: “murder, torture, corporal punishment, mutilation, the taking of hostages, sensory deprivation, collective punishments, execution without trial by proper authority, and all cruel and degrading treatment” such as “rape, forced prostitution, assault and theft, insults, public curiosity, bodily injury, and reprisals of any kind.”
The United States is a party to the Geneva Conventions, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Under congressional guidance, the United States is bound to prevent “cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment” to the extent that phrase means the cruel, unusual, and inhuman treatment or punishment prohibited by the United States Constitution’s Fifth Amendment ban on self-incrimination; Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment; and Fourteenth Amendment guarantee of equal protection under the law.
For more than a century, United States policy prohibited torture. The prohibition served us well and must be restored in U.S. policy and practice. U.S. engagement and complicity in torture and inhumane treatment are grave legal and moral wrongs. In addition, they have made the world a more dangerous place, especially for members of our armed forces, and have diminished our country’s standing and the example we set for other countries. We, the signatories, ask that you restore adherence to our Constitution, which you have pledged to uphold and defend, and to the aforementioned international treaties and conventions against torture and inhuman treatment by ensuring that all U.S. government agencies enforce them and by enacting legal and agency enforcement procedures.
Sincerely,