Human Rights Watch urges all members of the House to act quickly to pass the “American Anti-Torture Act of 2007,” H.R. 4114, which requires all US interrogators to abide by the same rules already in place for the military. The refusal of the newly-confirmed Attorney General Michael Mukasey to declare waterboarding illegal is cause for concern. If the attorney general will not place categorical limits on what is – and is not – permitted for use by interrogators, then Congress must.
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Dear Representative:
We urge you to act quickly to pass the “American Anti-Torture Act of 2007,” H.R. 4114, which requires all US interrogators to abide by the same rules already in place for the military. We are encouraged by reports that the language of this act may be included in the Iraq Troop Redeployment Funding bill, and hope that you will express your support in favor of its inclusion.
As you are well aware, Congress in 2005 passed the Detainee Treatment Act, which prohibits the use of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment and mandates that all military interrogators abide by what is known as the Army Field Manual on Interrogations. In 2006, the Department of Defense amended this manual to explicitly prohibit the range of abusive interrogation techniques – such as the use of electric shocks, sexual abuse, and waterboarding – that had so scandalized the nation with the revelation of abuse at Abu Ghraib and elsewhere.
These rules, however, do not bind the CIA or other interrogators. This would not be a problem if we could count on a proper interpretation of the law. The use of electric shocks, sexual abuse, and waterboarding, as well as a range of other abusive interrogation techniques are already illegal under US laws, including the Torture Statute, War Crimes Act, and Detainee Treatment Act.
But the refusal of the newly-confirmed Attorney General Michael Mukasey, to declare waterboarding – a form of mock drowning in which a person is effectively suffocated as water is forced up his nostrils and into his lungs – illegal is cause for concern. If the attorney general will not place categorical limits on what is – and is not – permitted for use by interrogators, then Congress must.
We urge you to act quickly to do so.
Sincerely,
Tom Malinowski
Washington Advocacy Director
Jennifer Daskal
Senior Counterterrorism Counsel
