The ACLU has written a letter to Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, and has started a petition for Americans to sign online in advance of the upcoming action by the UN's panel dealing with issues of torture in early May when some 30 US government officials will be questioned about the country's horrific human rights abuses.
I'll reprint that letter here for those of you who may not take the time to follow the link:
TORTURE IS UN-AMERICAN
TO: Condoleezza Rice
U.S. Secretary of State
Dear Madam Secretary:
Torture. Government kidnapping. Indefinite detention.
These are not ideas we associate with the United States of America. They do not represent who we are as Americans. By promoting and condoning these practices in our military and intelligence forces, your administration has broken faith with the American values of freedom and fairness.
This week marks two years since the world first saw the terrible images from Abu Ghraib prison. As human rights experts from around the world gather in Geneva to condemn torture, the U.S. must stand by its own time-honored principles.
Widespread evidence, including over 100,000 government documents released to the ACLU under the Freedom of Information Act, shows a systemic pattern of torture and abuse of detainees in U.S. custody.
These acts go against our most cherished American ideals. When our leaders promote torture and fail to hold themselves accountable for illegal abuses, they no longer speak for me or for the America in which I believe.
We demand our country back.
To restore humanity, to defend the rule of law and to end one of the saddest chapters in American history, our government must:
* reverse the policies that permit torture and abuse, and honor the universal obligations that prohibit torture
* hold accountable all individuals, regardless of rank or high office, who have authorized, condoned or committed torture or abuse
* end the practice of secret C.I.A. kidnappings and the transport of individuals to secret detention facilities or to countries where torture is common
* grant full access at detention facilities to the Red Cross, human rights experts and legal representatives
* appoint an outside special counsel to investigate and prosecute as necessary all government officials who developed or implemented the policies behind the abuse of detainees in U.S. custody in Afghanistan, Guantánamo, Iraq and in secret facilities
conduct a full review and assessment of torture and abuse in jails and other detention facilities at home and abroad
As an American, I will not stand for torture. The universal prohibition against torture must be upheld, and enforced, today.
The message is simple. The topic, however, is very hard to deal with. No one wants to believe that their government is systematically torturing people.
The fact that this is probably happening this very minute in some unknown location to another unknown person hurts me deeply. I find I'm just not even able to write much else at this moment. I'll regroup.
In the meantime, please read this 2004 post by my fellow blogger and friend, Ductape Fatwa, with whom I've had intense discussions lately about torture and the underwhelming response by many Americans since this was and continues to be exposed.
If millions of people can take to the streets to stand up for immigrants rights, why can't the same numbers show their opposition to these extreme human rights abuses perpetuated in their names? I'm trying to understand that. It's not easy. This isn't a partisan issue. Every single American should be demanding an end to this. Now.
UPDATE:
BRUSSELS, Belgium - The CIA has conducted more than 1,000 clandestine flights in Europe since 2001, and some of them secretly took away terror suspects to countries where they could face torture, European Union lawmakers said Wednesday.
Legislators selected to look into allegations of questionable CIA activities in Europe said flight data showed a pattern of hidden operations by American agents, and they accused some European governments of knowing about it but remaining silent.
[...]
"The committee deplores the fact that, as established during the committee's investigation, the CIA has used aircraft registered under fictitious company names or with private companies to secretly transfer terror suspects to other countries including Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Afghanistan," according to a copy of the report obtained by The Associated Press.
The CIA declined to comment, as did European Union officials, who have said previously that there was no irrefutable proof of such hand-overs, which are known as "extraordinary renditions."
more...
(hat tip to Man Eegee)
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