Photo: Survivors of torture and family members of the disappeared gather to remember

As the Congress of the United States embraces and institutionalizes the practice of torture by passing laws like the Military Commissions Act of 2006 and appointing torture apologists to run the Department of Justice, it is important to remember who voted for torture and who stood up for human rights.

We have recently finished building a database of Congress, which will track how each member voted. We are now entering each congressperson's voting record and selected quotes from each member on torture.

Soon, people will be able to visit TortureLaw.org and see if their representative has supported or opposed torture and indefinite detention. Each member of congress will be issued a torture report card for their votes. Tragically, we predict a lot of failing grades.

Subjects: Campaign | Congress | Immunity | TASSC International | TortureLaw.org

Today, TASSC International sent the following statement of support to Rep. Nadler's office endorsing the American Anti-Torture Act, HR 4114. Rep. Nadler has been unwavering in his opposition to the Military Commissions Act and the survivors at TASSC International thank him for his work to end torture in our world.

November 9^th, 2007

The Torture Abolition and Survivor Support Coalition International (TASSC), an organization of torture survivors working for the abolition of torture wherever it is practiced, welcomes efforts to expand the McCain Amendment to the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005.

Over the last seven years, those of us who know torture all too well have been sickened as the President of the United States has abused the law in such a way that blurs the once very clear guidelines prohibiting torture. It is imperative that we take every step necessary to remove all doubt that torture is in fact illegal, and that no member of the United States government can authorize its use under any circumstances.

The efforts of Congressman Nadler and Congressman Delahunt to ensure that not only the Department of Defense, but all parties of this government, are to be held accountable under the provisions of the U.S. Army Field Manual is a an essential step in reestablishing this country's firm stance against the practice of torture. It saddens us that we have found ourselves under the direction of a leader who has made such a step necessary, but we must take it nonetheless.

It is for the above reasons that TASSC International urges all members of Congress to vote in favor of H.R. 4114.

As we work to escape from the dark shadow of torture, we will continue to campaign for the repeal of the Military Commissions Act, the Torture Law, but we believe that this is an important step forward in these dark times.

The text of the bill, and TASSC's concerns, are posted here.

Subjects: Congress | Legislation

[Also posted as a press release in the press room.]

All quotes are from survivors of torture, and members of the Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition International.

Nasim, a survivor of waterboarding from Ethiopia, who does not want her last name in the press, says that she is "brought back to the torture chambers every time I hear the sound of splashing water. In the shower, when water hits my face, I must remind myself that I am not strapped to a board and that my lungs will not fill up with water until I lose consciousness. Though it has been years, the fear and pain are still there. There can be no debate that waterboarding is torture." 

Anthony Ibeagha, a survivor from Nigeria, said that "this confirmation is disrespectful to me as a person and only exacerbates the pain of torture which has come to be my life."

Dianna Ortiz, a US nun and survivor of torture in Guatemala, said that "the Senate may have substituted the name Mukasey, but they voted for torture. What congress and Judge Mukasey have said loudly and clearly is that they have no concern for those of us who were tortured. First we were betrayed by our torturers; now we are betrayed by the government of the United States. Those who voted for torture will go unconcerned to their dinners and cocktail parties, while we go home to our nightmares." 

Sister Ortiz wrote of her experience watching the Senate Judiciary Committee's vote on Mukasey here: http://torturelaw.org/blog_post.php?post=41

The Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition is the only organization in the United States founded by and for survivors of torture. Interviews with survivors are available.

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Subjects: Congress | Justice Department | Survivor's Voices | TASSC International

Courtesy of Nadler's office, here is the text of the American Anti-Torture Act introduced today. The bill expands the McCain amendment (which TASSC did not support) to cover non-DoD personnel. The text below contrasts the Anti-Torture Act with the McCain amendment.

UNIFORM STANDARDS FOR THE INTERROGATION OF PERSONS UNDER THE DETENTION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE UNITED STATES.

(a) In General- No person in the custody or under the effective control of the Department of Defense or under detention in a Department of Defense facility United States shall be subject to any treatment or technique of interrogation not authorized by and listed in the United States Army Field Manual on Intelligence Interrogation.

(b) Applicability- Subsection (a) shall not apply with respect to any person in the custody or under the effective control of the Department of Defense United States pursuant to a criminal law or immigration law of the United States.

(c) Construction- Nothing in this section shall be construed to affect the rights under the United States Constitution of any person in the custody or under the physical jurisdiction of the United States.

We at TASSC thank Rep. Nadler and Rep. Delahunt for their dedication to ending torture. However, it is important to realize that this legislation, while a good thing, is a compromise and we have some concerns.

• There are already multiple laws and treaties making torture illegal. Many survivors feel troubled that legislation is introduced over and over again to make torture illegal and wonder: what is going on here?
• There is no enforcement mechanism, civil or criminal, in the McCain amendment or the American Anti-Torture Act.
• The law that can be used to prosecute torturers, the War Crimes Act, is pre-empted by the Military Commissions Act, a law designed to hide torture and let the president shape the definition of what constitutes torture. This law does nothing to change that.
• The Anti-Torture Act would limit interrogation techniques to what is in the Army Field Manual, but we do not know what is in the Army Field Manual. Thanks to the Bush Administration, for the first time ever, there is a classified section in the Army Field Manual's interrogation techniques.

More on this tomorrow.

Subjects: Congress | Legislation

Today the Pentagon "transferred" eleven prisoners from Guantanamo to Jordan and Afghanistan. Such "transfers" are not transfers at all, but disappearances designed to hide torture by silencing survivors.

Today's disappearances destroy recent hopes that a court had brought this to an end. Expect more before December 5^th, when the Supreme Court will decide if the prisoners held at Guantanamo have a right to challenge their detention in U.S. court.

Subjects: Guantanamo | Transfers

Torture survivors stood outside the committee room for nearly two hours, waiting for the doors to open that would usher us into the presence of the Judiciary Committee.  There, committee members would cast their votes for or against torture.  They may have substituted the name Mukasey, but the subject was torture.

The doors opened.  Reporters were let in. A staff person went up and down our line inviting any senate staffer who happened to be in the vicinity to enter.  Many did, some perhaps with special guests in tow.  Finally, it was our turn—the public's turn to enter, to be witness to this public committee meeting.

The first nine in the long line were allowed to enter, including four of us who were survivors.   Then abruptly all was stopped.  More survivors were in line but they and all the rest were told the room was "absolutely filled."  No one else might enter.  Sorry.  They were invited to go to the TV room where they might watch the proceedings.  One of the survivors replied, "I didn't come here to watch TV." And so, many remained in line, remained to see twenty-three more  "special" persons admitted to the absolutely filled room.   

I was one of the lucky ones, or so, some might say.  Although others might think it strange, I brought a companion into that room.  I brought faith, a faith that finally for the first time since the Bush administration began torturing, Congress would say, "No more."  We four survivors, witnesses-to-be in a struggle over torture prayed for a miracle.  Specter, Graham, Schumer, Feinstein, surely they understood torture. Surely they would not vote for it.  But of course, they did.

No miracle happened there. Faith is a fragile thing, easily torn much like the fingernails torturers tear from a young child. All hope that for once, Congress would stand against torture ended in the ayes and nays—some barely audible, some strong and proud.  Republicans, one after another "aye."  Democrats, Leahy, "nay." Kennedy, "nay," Biden, "nay," Feinstein, "aye," Schumer, "aye."   The deed is done.   No matter how they try to mask it, torture wins, 11-8.

With each "aye," my thoughts turned to Nasim, a former law student from Ethiopia.   With each "aye," it was as if I were witness to the forcing of her head into feces-filled water—every gasping breath she took.   The final count …11-8.  Mukasey, the man who cannot say whether waterboarding is torture, who does not even know what it is, if he is to be believed, is in line to become the next U.S. attorney general.  Those who voted for torture have recommended his nomination to the full Senate. 

Did those who cast a vote for Mukasey give any thought to what their actions mean to torture survivors—to those of us who live with the remnants of our torture day after day?  We do not have the luxury of trading our torture for some political advantage.  Those who voted for torture will go unconcerned to their dinners and cocktail parties, while we go home to our nightmares. 

By Dianna Ortiz

Subjects: Congress | Justice Department | Survivor's Voices

Today's Washington Post includes a letter to the editor I wrote entitled 'What Congress Should Do Next About Torture.' The letter was written in response to this editorial.

An excerpt:

The problem is not that the Senate has not banned torture. The problem is that President Bush, aided by a Justice Department run by torture apologists, violates those bans.

...

Several laws and treaties already declare torture illegal, but another law prevents prosecution for these crimes against humanity. If Congress is to restore this country’s honor and guide us away from the torture chambers, Congress needs to repeal the Military Commissions Act of 2006.

Subjects: Congress | Justice Department | Legislation