Confronting the Legacy of U.S. Torture
In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, the U.S. government made numerous illegal and unwise decisions that led to the widespread and systematic use of torture and cruelty in U.S. detention facilities in Iraq, Guantanamo, Afghanistan and secret prisons around the world. Progress was made, but vigilance is required and important work remains to be done.
Here are steps CVT has taken to push back against the legacy of torture by the U.S.
THE TRUTH MATTERS – CIA Torture Program
In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks, the CIA built a torture program, holding more than one hundred Muslim men captive in secret “black site” prisons around the world and subjecting them to abuses that many Americans rightly associate with foreign dictators, tyrants and terrorists. The torture program had profound consequences for its victims, for U.S. national security, and for the United States’ reputation in the world.
In November, 2019, Amazon studios released The Report – a film that tells the story of the work of Senator Dianne Feinstein and a team of Senate intelligence committee staff, led by Daniel J. Jones, which conducted an in-depth investigation into the CIA torture program. Jones and his team—principally Evan Gottesman, Alissa Starzak, and Chad Tanner—wrote a 6,700 page oversight report, 525 pages of which were released publicly, in redacted form, in late 2014. The rest remains classified.
The grim realities of the CIA torture program must build support for actions to ensure it never happens again, including—at minimum—declassifying and releasing the full report and excluding from government those who were complicit in torture. See our work opposing the promotion of Gina Haspel to CIA director here.
MORE INFORMATION & PUBLICATIONS
Read 15 Facts about the CIA Torture Program here.
CVT ARTICLE: Stanton Wood, strategic initiatives officer, writes here about how Hollywood is finally getting the story right on CIA torture.
CVT GUEST BLOG ARTICLE: Phyllis Kaufman, human rights advocate, lawyer, and research fellow in CVT’s D.C. office, writes that the legacy of torture still haunts Guantanamo.
VIDEO: Check out this video about what we know about the Torture Report and why it still matters today, five years after the executive summary was released.
OP ED ARTICLE: Scott Roehm, director of the Washington, DC, office, wrote this piece for Open Society Foundations Voices, “An Overdue Reckoning with U.S. Torture.”
CVT ARTICLE: “Torture survivors look to CVT for healing; they should be able to look to the U.S. for how to right the most egregious of wrongs,” writes Curt Goering, executive director, on the 5th anniversary of release of the executive summary CIA Torture Report, noting that it is long past time to release the full report. This article is also found on Medium.
NEWS MEDIA: Twin Cities NBC affiliate KARE11 News ran this segment featuring Pete Dross, director of external relations, about CVT’s work and the importance of The Report film.
CVT ARTICLE: “As Americans, we demand to know the whole, terrible truth about what crimes were committed in our name, and how.” Curt Goering, CVT executive director, writes that the full truth about the CIA torture program must be told.The article is also on Medium.
NEWS MEDIA: John Rash wrote this column in the Star Tribune, connecting the dots between the CIA torture program and today’s crisis of accountability.
NEWS MEDIA: David Crane, a member of CVT’s National Advisory Council, wrote this op ed for The Hill, titled “Enhanced interrogation — better known as torture — took America to the dark side.”
NEWS MEDIA: Scott Roehm, director of the Washington, D.C. office, along with Sondra Crosby, Brig. Gen, (Ret.) David R. Irvine and Christian Meissner published this op ed on Just Security: “Go See The Report, Then Let’s Put Torture to Bed For Good.”
NEWS MEDIA: In an article about The Report film, Euan Kerr at Minnesota Public Radio comments that film direct/writer Scott Z. Burns and Torture Report author Daniel Jones were recently “in Minneapolis for a preview screening — not just because of the hometown connection, but also because the Center for the Victims of Torture is based in the Twin Cities.”
Torturers try to hide behind euphemisms like “enhanced interrogation techniques.” Read the truth about torture that leaves no scars here: The Hidden Harm.
What’s wrong with using euphemisms? Check out CVT’s video here.
What’s it like to tell people you work at the Center for Victims of Torture? Check out our video here.
Because the truth matters so much, more than 60 CVT clients who survived war and violent conflict in Iraq and Syria told their stories to CVT. Read their stories in our Reclaiming Hope report here.
The McCain-Feinstein Anti-Torture Amendment of 2015 strengthened U.S. prohibitions on torture. Read our Fact Sheet here.
Read the 500+ page Torture Report from Dec. 2014 – Executive Summary version
Ending Indefinite Detention at Guantanamo
News Media: “Biden Promised to Close Gitmo. Instead, He’s Upgrading It”
Jan. 5, 2022
As the Biden administration moves to build courtrooms at Guantánamo prison, Shannon Vavra quoted Scott Roehm, Washington director, in this piece in the Daily Beast. “There is a consensus that the commissions have failed—but they haven’t failed because of a lack of courtrooms,” Roehm said. “They’ve failed because they were never about justice.”
News Media: “Joe Biden Wants More Control Over Guantanamo Bay Prisoners, Objects Congress' Restrictions”
Dec. 27, 2021
Scott Roehm, Washington director, is quoted in this Newsweek article by Alexandra Hutzler, commenting that while President Biden is right to oppose restrictions on transfers out of Guantanamo, those provisions “aren't what's preventing him from closing the prison."
Senate Judiciary Committee Oversight Hearing Documents
Dec. 7, 2021
The Senate Judiciary Committee held an oversight hearing about Guantánamo Bay prison, which was attended by Yumna Rizvi, policy analyst, and Scott Roehm, Washington director. As part of the human rights and national security coalition, they participated in writing this statement for the record. In addition, they joined this group of medical experts in submitting this statement for the record ahead of the hearing. A coalition tweet posted by CVT was quoted in this article in Common Dreams.
Letter to Secretaries of State and Defense
Dec. 6, 2021
The CVT Policy team participated in this letter to the Secretary of State and Secretary of Defense from a number of survivor of torture treatment programs, calling for Guantánamo detainee Majid Kahn to receive the medical and mental health and psychosocial support he deserves as he is set free from the prison.
Op Ed Article: “Four Questions That Deserve Answers at the Guantanamo Oversight Hearing”
Dec. 3, 2021
Ahead of a Senate Judiciary Committee oversight hearing on Guantánamo Bay prison, Scott Roehm, CVT Washington director, wrote this op ed for The Hill. He writes, “Closing Guantanamo boils down to two steps: transferring men who haven’t been charged with a crime and resolving military commission cases.”
Op Ed Article: “The Biden Administration’s Moment of Truth on Torture Evidence”
Dec. 1, 2021
Scott Roehm joined several authors in writing this op ed for Just Security, as well as this amicus brief filed last week in support of actions by Abd Al-Rahim Hussein Al-Nashiri, a detainee at Guantánamo prison, to prevent torture-derived evidence from being used in his case. The authors write, “There can be no doubt that torture-derived evidence is inadmissible in any American legal proceeding – at any time, for any purpose, except against alleged torturers.”
Op Ed Article: “A Torture Survivor Speaks at the Guantanamo Military Commissions”
Nov. 5, 2021
Scott Roehm, Washington director, traveled to Guantanamo Bay prison last week to attend the military commission sentencing hearing of Majid Khan, the first detainee to speak publicly about the torture he survived at the hands of the CIA in their torture program after 9/11. Scott published this article, “A Torture Survivor Speaks at the Guantanamo Military Commissions,” in Just Security, describing Mr. Khan’s testimony as going far beyond details already disclosed in the 2014 Senate Intelligence Committee findings: Scott writes “Torture inflicted by medical personnel stood out.” Mr. Khan has been held in Guantanamo since 2006, and Scott comments on the lack of any prosecutions of the torturers, calling the hearing “a stark and poignant reminder of the degree of impunity perpetrators have enjoyed, and lack of accountability for U.S. torture more broadly.”
News Media: “Guantanamo Bay: Sixty-Year Old Iraqi Detainee Suffering from Paralysis”
Sep. 10, 2021
Scott Roehm, Washington director, is quoted in this article in the Middle East Eye by Umar Farooq, about the medical emergency experienced by Abd al-Hadi al-Iraqi, a detainee in Guantanamo prison. "If he can't walk, he should be in a hospital, not a cell," Scott said, and noted "If the reports of what's happened here are accurate, it doesn't remotely satisfy the standard of care that all men are supposed to receive at Guantanamo."
News Media: “US Military Trial of 9/11 Suspects Drags on 20 Years After Attack”
Sep. 11, 2021
Scott Roehm is also quoted in this article in Al Jazeera by William Roberts. Scott comments: “Guantanamo should never have been stood up in the first place. Its animating philosophy was creating a place outside the reach of the law so that these men can be held for the rest of their lives.”
Op Ed Article: “Nuremberg Prosecutor says Guantanamo Military Commissions Don’t Measure Up”
Aug. 24, 2021
Scott Roehm, Washington director, co-wrote this Just Security article with Alka Pradhan, Human Rights counsel at the Guantanamo Bay Military Commissions. They write that “. . . unlike the efforts at Nuremberg, which marked the birth of international criminal law, the United States decided that power – the power to hide criminal abuse of detainees and fair trial violations – would subjugate reason and the rule of law at Guantanamo. It is for that reason that the 9/11 case has not yet gone to trial, and on that basis that detainee counsel are asking that the case be dismissed.”
Op Ed Article: "Course Correction Still Needed on Anti-Torture Obligations”
Aug. 9, 2021
Scott Roehm, Washington director, and David Luban, Georgetown Law professor, co-authored this article in Just Security titled: “They address concerns that the government has made only a partial retreat from the use of torture-derived evidence, writing, “No more caveats, qualifications, or half-measures. The prohibition on torture is absolute. The government’s commitment to upholding it must be, too.”
News Media: “He is One of Only 39 Detainees Left at Guantanamo. Once Tortured, Prisoner's Case is a Test of Larger Political Realities at Play”
Aug. 5, 2021
Scott Roehm is quoted in this article in CNN by Daniel A. Medina, covering the case and serious health situation of Mohammed al-Qahtani, who has been in Guantanamo for nearly 20 years. Scott is quoted saying: "The fact that somebody as sick as Mr. al-Qahtani poses some kind of security threat to the United States is unthinkable." CVT is noted as putting pressure on the Biden administration to close the prison. This article was widely picked up by additional outlets.
News Media: “The United States Sent Home Another Prisoner from the Prison Guantanamo Bay in Cuba”
July 23, 2021
Scott Roehm, Washington director, was quoted in this article in Voice of America-Russia, about the release of Abdul Latif Nasser from Guantanamo prison. Scott notes that the move was long overdue and that the prison must be closed.
CVT Release: CVT Commends Transfer of Abdul Latif Nasser out of Guantánamo Prison
July 19, 2021
CVT issued this press release as Abdul Latif Nasser was transferred out of Guantánamo prison. “Mr. Nasser’s transfer is a much welcome step towards closing the Guantánamo prison, and hopefully will allow him to begin to heal and reclaim his life after 19 years of injustice. The Biden administration needs to follow his transfer with swift and decisive action,” said Scott Roehm, CVT Washington director. Commentary by Scott was quoted in this article titled “Abdul Latif Nasser Released From Guantanamo After 19 Years Of Detention Without Charge,” by Jessica Schulberg and Rowaida Abdelaziz in Huffington Post.
News Media: Congress Debates Allowing Prisoners to Leave Guantanamo for Medical Care
July 15, 2020
Scott Roehm, director of the Washington, DC office, was quoted in this article in the National Journal, saying, “If there were ever a time that’s critical to have medical-transfer authority, it’s in the face of a pandemic that could easily spread throughout the entire naval base, detainee population included.”
News Media: Torture Can Be Considered in Sentencing Guantánamo Prisoners, Judge Rules
June 4, 2020
Carol Rosenberg reports in the New York Times on a military judge’s acknowledgement of C.I.A. torture. She quotes Scott Roehm, CVT director of the Washington office: “A military commission has taken a meaningful step toward a C.I.A. torture victim receiving some type of modest reparation or remedy, a step that no other U.S. government institution has taken.”
Sacha Pfeiffer at NPR also reported on the ruling, quoting Scott Roehm: "It's a big deal in Mr. Khan's case," he said. "It's an equally big deal in its potential much broader application to other torture survivors at Guantanamo."
Article: Guantanamo’s COVID-19 Precautions Must Safeguard Detainees’ Rights
Mar. 31, 2020
As COVID-19 expands its reach, Scott Roehm, CVT director of the Washington DC office, writes “. . . the virus’ local presence, coupled with certain measures that the Defense Department is undertaking to prevent a larger outbreak, endanger both the detainees and the already limited rights they have been afforded.” Read his article in Just Security.
Letter: Action Required for Guantanamo Detainee
Mar. 31, 2020
CVT and Physicians for Human Rights wrote this letter to Defense Secretary Esper urging immediate action in connection with the deteriorating health of one detainee at Guantanamo Bay prison.
On Sept. 10, 2019, human rights, civil liberties and faith groups joined CVT in a letter to Defense Secretary Esper, expressing grave concern regarding detainee Sharqawi Al Hajj, who attempted suicide at Guantanamo Bay prison.
REPORT: Deprivation and Despair: The Crisis of Medical Care at Guantánamo
On June 26, 2019, CVT and Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) launched this joint report detailing widespread medical deficiencies at the Guantánamo Bay detention center. Read the press release and landing page for the report and associated supporting documents.
In addition, on June 26, 2019, Scott Roehm, director of the Washington office, published an article at Just Security, “Deprivation and Despair: The Crisis of Medical Care at Guantánamo,” describing the above report. He notes, “In a welcome sign, both Democrats and Republicans in Congress have begun to acknowledge, to varying degrees, the medical care crisis at Guantánamo and are working toward pursuing some legislative improvements consistent with what we recommend.”
On May 6, 2019, Scott Roehm published this article titled “For the Military Commissions, a Fork in the Road on Torture,” in Just Security, regarding the case of Guantanamo detainee Majid Khan. The previous week, CVT filed an amicus brief in support of Khan's sentencing before the military commissions.
On January 25, 2018, CVT filed an amicus brief with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in support of the joint habeas motion filed January 11th by 11 of the remaining Guantanamo Bay detainees. CVT’s brief speaks to the serious medical consequences associated with prolonged detention without charge or trial, and the plight of torture survivors trapped in a constant reminder of their trauma where meaningful treatment is not, and cannot be made, available. Read the press release here.
As President Obama’s tenure came to an end without closure of the Guantanamo Bay prison, Curt Goering, CVT executive director, wrote this blog post titled “Time to Close this Ugly Chapter in American History,” Jan. 11, 2017.
Curt Goering also published this letter to the editor in the New York Times, titled “America’s Lasting Shame: The Torture of Detainees,” Oct. 12, 2016.
The serious physical and psychological harm that results from indefinite detention can constitute cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. Read details here.
Closing Guantanamo Bay prison isn't enough; indefinite detention must end. Read CVT's press release here.
CVT continues to call on the President to end indefinite detention without charge or trial of prisoners held at the U.S. detention center in Guantanamo.
Read CVT’s position statement on Hunger Strikes and Forced Feeding at the U.S. detention center in Guantanamo.
CVT Opposed Gina Haspel's Nomination to CIA Director
Because of Gina Haspel’s involvement in the CIA torture program, CVT strongly opposed her 2018 nomination to CIA director. This was only the second time in CVT’s more than 30-year history that the organization opposed a presidential nominee. Read CVT’s statements and publications here.
Strengthening U.S. Ban on Torture
President Donald Trump resurfaced the specter of U.S. use of torture during his 2016 presidential campaign when he spoke out in news interviews in favor of torture, stating that he believes it is effective. Read “The Unchanging Truth About Torture,” a blog post by Curt Goering, published on President Trump’s Inauguration Day, Jan. 20, 2017.
As confirmation hearings for President Trump’s cabinet nominees began in January 2017, CVT published this blog post listing considerations regarding the prohibitions against torture and protections for refugees that are central to American values and CVT’s mission.
President Trump’s remarks about torture run counter to long-standing and bi-partisan opposition to torture. In commemoration of the 25th Anniversary of the Reagan Administration signing the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, CVT issued the policy report, “U.S. Bi-Partisan Leadership Against Torture.” The report highlights historical bipartisan opposition to torture and calls for the United States to regain its global leadership against torture and cruel treatment. Read our op-ed in the Huffington Post, “The Convention against Torture 25 Years Later.”
In 2008, CVT helped coordinate a bipartisan coalition of more than 200 foreign policy experts, retired military leaders, intelligence experts, security chiefs and faith leaders calling for the President to sign an Executive Order to ban torture and cruelty. The bipartisan group of supporters included six former Secretaries of State or Defense, three former National Security Advisors, four former members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and more than forty retired flag officers.
In January 2009 President Obama signed an executive order banning torture and cruel treatment of detainees, thus ending the post-9/11 torture program.
In December 2014, the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence released the executive summary of this landmark and bipartisan report on CIA torture. Within its 500-plus pages, it exposes a shameful chapter in American history by describing a more brutal, widespread, and deceitful CIA torture program than had been previously known. Prominent military, national security, foreign policy, religious leaders, media, and others expressed support for the public release of the CIA torture report.
In November 2015, led by John McCain (R-AZ) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Congress enshrined key elements of the 2009 Obama executive order into U.S. law. Read more about the McCain-Feinstein Amendment here.
And in September 2016, responding to calls for torture made during the Presidential election campaign, more than 100 leaders from the foreign policy, national security, military and faith sectors joined together in signing CVT’s declaration, the “Call to Reject Torture.” In this document, these prominent, bipartisan leaders called on all Americans and public officials to reject torture unequivocally and without exception, in keeping with American law and values. Read the release here.
