We don’t torture.
Except when we do. But then we prosecute those who do torture, right? Well, yes and no. Yes, if you are a low level grunt in the military who got caught on videotape or in a photograph at Abu Ghraib. No, if you are anyone else, like a superior officer, CIA operative or a private contractor hired to do interrogations.
Yesterday, the ACLU issued this press release regarding the double standard at the Justice Department when it comes to allegations of torture. Here are a a few choice excerpts from a statement attributable to Christopher E. Anders, an ACLU Legislative Counsel:
Justice should be blind, but it is now clear that enlisted men and women in a soldier’s uniform are being convicted while CIA agents and civilian contractors who allegedly participated in the same crimes remain free. The military has already investigated and prosecuted many of its rank and file members and yet it seems that the Justice Department is incapable, or unwilling, to do the same for CIA agents. […]
More after the fold . . .
What is particularly troubling is that all but one of twenty referrals of alleged torture by civilians were sent to the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Paul McNulty. McNulty’s team has yet to indict any civilians. In its now typical system of rewarding top torture officials, the White House has nominated McNulty to be Deputy Attorney General, the number two position at the Justice Department. If confirmed, McNulty will oversee all law enforcement at the Justice Department, directly supervising the FBI director, the head of the Criminal Division and all U.S. Attorneys.
The Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to hold a confirmation hearing for McNulty on February 1. Members of that panel must find out why Paul McNulty cannot resolve the same cases that the military investigates and prosecutes. Americans deserve a Justice Department that is committed to the rule of law and equal justice; not one that is beholden to a political agenda.
Before this special task force was created at Justice to handle complaints of alleged torture, the only case that had been referred to a U.S. Attorney other than Paul McNulty and his crack team of six lawyers, had resulted in an indictment. Of course that one prosecution occurred before McNulty took over responsibility for these cases.
Since then, of the nineteen referrals to the Justice Department alleging torture of detainees, none has resulted in an indictment. Indeed, in a letter [Warning: pdf file] from
Assistant Attorney General William Moschella responding to a request for information about torture prosecutions from Senator Richard Durbin (D-Ill), Moschella indicated that McNulty’s six lawyer “team” had only completed its investigations of two of the nineteen cases it had accepted for referral (here is the PDF Link to Durbin’s letter requesting this information).
Imagine that. First, that there have only been 19 referrals, which is an extremely low number considering that 108 people, that we know of, have died while in US custody in Iraq and Afghanistan, alone.
Second, that since McNulty took over, not one person who isn’t in the military with a rank below Lieutenant has been indicted for torture or abuse, even though we know from previous FOIA disclosures that CIA and private contractors have been involved in the interrogation of many of these detainees.
Let me repeat: Not One Prosecution For Torture thanks to Paul McNulty, US Attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia.
And now this white-washer of the Bush torture agenda is to be promoted? Not without my protest.
Contact these Senators, all members of the Senate Judiciary Committee to let them know what you think about torture enablers like Paul McNulty.
For more information about this issue, contact:
Shin Inouye
Senior Legislative Communications Associate
ACLU Washington Legislative Office
Tel: 202-675-2309 (Direct)
Tel: 202-675-2312 (Press Line)
