Update:The US Senate confirmed Michael Mukasey’s nomination for US attorney general on November 9, 2007 by a vote of 53-40.
When Michael Mukasey, President Bush's nominee for attorney general, appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee for confirmation hearings in mid-October, senators repeatedly questioned him on the issue of torture.
Mukasey also suggested that so-called "unlawful combatants" in US custody are not entitled to the humane treatment protections of the Geneva Conventions, a view rejected by the Supreme Court in 2006 (see the news release). Because of his unwillingness to repudiate the use of abusive interrogation techniques, such as waterboarding, extended sleep deprivation, and exposure to extreme cold, Human Rights Watch was concerned that Mukasey would adopt such a narrow view of torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment so as to make those prohibitions essentially meaningless.
Human Rights Watch expressed these concerns, along with several other human rights organizations, in a letter that was sent to every member of the Senate Judiciary Committee on October 23, 2007.
Ten senators on the Judiciary Committee expressed in a letter similar dismay with Mukasey's answers on waterboarding and asked Mukasey to clarify his view on whether or not this interrogation technique is torture. These same senators, along with Carl Levin (D-MI), chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, submitted further detailed questions to Mukasey on the legality of several torture techniques, including waterboarding.
Mukasey responded, saying waterboarding is "repugnant," but failing to call it illegal (see the news release). Nonetheless, on Tuesday, November 6, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 11-8 to send Mukasey's nomination to the full senate. The vote was primarily along party lines, but Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Charles Schumer (D-NY) supported Mukasey based primarily on his promise to enforce any future ban on waterboarding.
Human Rights Watch still opposes Mukasey’s nomination and calls on the Senate to reject him unless he denounces waterboarding and other forms of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment as illegal.
Related Material
US: Attorney General Nominee Should Repudiate Torture Memos
Press Release, October 4, 2007
More of Human Rights Watch's work on torture of US detainees
Thematic Page
More of Human Rights Watch's work on counterterrorism post-9/11
Thematic Page
Mukasey's response letter to Senator Leahy
Letter, October 24, 2007
Timeline of Mukasey's Nomination to be Attorney General
Memorandum, October 25, 2007
US: Senate Should Reject Mukasey Nomination
Press Release, October 31, 2007
The Mukasey Nomination Should Hinge on More than Water-Boarding
Commentary, November 2, 2007