Accountability for torture today is critical for stopping it tomorrow

For over a decade, the American people have demanded to know about post-9/11 torture conducted in our names. Now we finally have some answers. The Senate just released its summary report detailing widespread and illegal CIA torture during the Bush years.

Over a hundred people were abused and tortured by the CIA and its contractors, often in secret prisons, set up in countries such as Poland, Romania and Thailand.

We have long known that the Bush administration’s torture program was authorized at the highest levels, including the White House, the Department of Justice, the CIA, and the Department of Defense. We now also know that the CIA misled the public, Congress, and other oversight agencies about the scope and extent of its torture and the significance of the information obtained through torture.

In our system, no one should be above the law or beyond its reach, no matter how senior the official. Although some lower-level military personnel were prosecuted for their roles in the torture program, none of the officials who authorized the use of torture or oversaw its implementation have ever been charged with a crime.

We can’t undo the damage that was done, but we can declare today that it won’t stand unexamined. Ask Attorney General Eric Holder to appoint a special prosecutor.

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