Torture

February 6, 2008 -- Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) today asked Attorney General Michael Mukasey whether it is legal for the CIA to rely on contractors in interrogations that involve the use of coercive interrogation techniques.

Senator Feinstein’s letter came one day after CIA Director General Michael Hayden, in response to questions from Senator Feinstein during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing, acknowledged for the first time that the CIA sometimes uses contractors in interrogations.    » read more »

February 6, 2008 -- Washington, DC – Following recent statements by the U.S. Attorney General and the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, U.S. Senator Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (D-DE) reiterated his call for the Senate to support the National Security with Justice Act (S.1876), legislation that prohibits all United States personnel from using on a detainee any interrogation technique not expressly authorized by the Army Field Manual on Intelligence Interrogation.    » read more »

06 February 2008 -- The White House is defending the use of the interrogation technique known as waterboarding in certain, rare circumstances when suspects are believed to have knowledge of an imminent threat. The Central Intelligence Agency now admits it used the technique roughly five years ago on three top terror suspects.

White House spokesman Tony Fratto says President Bush personally authorized the disclosure - breaking with the long-standing practice in the administration of refusing comment on specific interrogation techniques.    » read more »

February 5, 2008 -- Washington, D.C. -- In response to CIA Director Hayden’s admission today that the Administration has used waterboarding on three detainees, Senator Dick Durbin called for the Justice Department to open a criminal investigation of the Administration’s use of waterboarding.    » read more »

05 February 2008 -- The director of the Central Intelligence Agency has confirmed that his agency used the extreme interrogation technique known as waterboarding on three terrorism suspects nearly five years ago. In testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee Tuesday, Michael Hayden urged lawmakers not to place restrictions on the interrogation methods available to U.S. intelligence agencies.

Director Hayden's testimony was the most detailed description to date of the CIA's use of enhanced interrogation techniques.    » read more »

January 30, 2008 -- "I had hoped today would provide more clarity on so many critical issues. Instead, we heard references to legal opinions, justifications, and facts that remain hidden from Congress and the American people.

It is a hallmark of our democracy that we say publicly what the laws are and what conduct they prohibit. We have seen what happens when hidden decisions rendered in secret memos are withheld from the people’s elected representatives and from the American people. It erodes our civil liberties and undermines our values as a nation of laws.    » read more »

January 23, 2008 -- [Washington, D.C.] – All ten Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee today sent a letter, written by Assistant Majority Leader and Judiciary Committee member Dick Durbin (D-IL), to Attorney General Michael Mukasey asking that he provide an opinion as to whether the interrogation technique known as waterboarding is illegal under U.S. law.    » read more »

January 23, 2008 -- WASHINGTON, DC— Today, Senator Edward M. Kennedy and nine Senate colleagues sent the following letter to Attorney General Michael Mukasey, asking him to clarify his positions on waterboarding and other interrogation techniques.    » read more »

January 8, 2008 -- WASHINGTON, DC— Today, Senator Edward M. Kennedy sent the following letter to Attorney General Mukasey, commending his decision to initiate a criminal investigation into the destruction of the CIA interrogation tapes. The letter also urged the Attorney General to investigate the conduct that was depicted on the tapes, as well as their destruction, noting that our laws against torture are every bit as important as our laws against obstruction of justice.

The text of the letter appears below.

January 8, 2008

The Honorable Michael Mukasey    » read more »

Renews His Call For a Special Counsel to be Appointed

January 2, 2008 -- Washington, DC – The Department of Justice announced today that it would open a full criminal investigation into the destruction of CIA interrogation videotapes.

On December 9, 2007, Senator Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (D-DE) was the first to call on Attorney General Michael Mukasey to appoint a Special Counsel to investigate the CIA's destruction of the tapes. Today, Sen. Biden renewed his call for a Special Counsel and issued the following statement:    » read more »

December 18, 2007 -- WASHINGTON, DC— Today, Senator Edward M. Kennedy sent the following letter to Robert S. Mueller III, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, regarding the destruction by the CIA of videotapes of the interrogation of two detainees.

Senator Kennedy requests notification as to whether or not the FBI has retained such videotapes or transcripts, and if so, that they be preserved and make available for inspection.

The text of the letter is below.

December 18, 2007

Robert S. Mueller III

Director    » read more »

December 17, 2007 -- (Washington, DC) - Today, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) sent a letter to Attorney General Michael Mukasey reiterating the Chairman's request to have a Department of Justice representative testify at Thursday's hearing on the "Applicability of Federal Criminal Laws to the Interrogation of Detainees."    » read more »

Washington, D.C. -- December 11, 2007 -- The U.S. Congress should vote in favor of the legislation currently before the House and Senate outlawing harsh interrogation techniques and requiring all U.S. intelligence agencies, including the Central Intelligence Agency, to abide by the U.S. Army Field Manual, Freedom House said today.    » read more »

12/11/2007 -- SANTA FE, NM-- New Mexico Governor and Democratic Presidential candidate Bill Richardson today issued the following statement regarding the Senate Intelligence Committee hearings on the destruction of CIA videotapes of interrogation techniques used against a terror suspect:    » read more »

December 11, 2007 -- Washington, DC — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid made the following statement today on the floor of the U.S. Senate, calling for a full accounting of the circumstances surrounding the destroyed tapes of CIA interrogations. Below are his remarks as prepared for delivery:

“As the end of 2007 continues to draw near, we have a busy week ahead of us. We hope to complete action on the appropriations process, which will require the White House, along with House and Senate Republicans, to be reasonable in the pursuit of common ground.    » read more »