Justice Dept. Urged to Examine Authorization of Harsh Interrogation Tactics
By Joby Warrick
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Nearly 60 House Democrats yesterday urged the Justice Department to appoint a special counsel to examine whether top Bush administration officials may have committed crimes in authorizing the use of harsh interrogation tactics against suspected terrorists.
In a letter to Attorney General Michael Mukasey, the lawmakers cited what they said was "mounting evidence" that senior officials personally sanctioned the use of waterboarding and other aggressive tactics against detainees in U.S.-run prisons overseas. An independent investigation is needed to determine whether such actions violated U.S or international law, the letter stated.
"This [new] information indicates that the Bush administration may have systematically implemented, from the top down, detainee interrogation policies that constitute torture or otherwise violate the law," it said. The letter was signed by 59 House Democrats, including House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-Mich.) and House Intelligence Committee members Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) and Jerrold Nadler (D-NY).
The request was prompted in part by new disclosures of high-level discussions within the Bush administration that reportedly focued on specific interrogation practices. Some of the new detail was contained in a report last month by the Justice Department's Inspector General, which described a series of White House meetings in which the controversial tactics were vigorously debated.
(Continued here.)
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Nearly 60 House Democrats yesterday urged the Justice Department to appoint a special counsel to examine whether top Bush administration officials may have committed crimes in authorizing the use of harsh interrogation tactics against suspected terrorists.
In a letter to Attorney General Michael Mukasey, the lawmakers cited what they said was "mounting evidence" that senior officials personally sanctioned the use of waterboarding and other aggressive tactics against detainees in U.S.-run prisons overseas. An independent investigation is needed to determine whether such actions violated U.S or international law, the letter stated.
"This [new] information indicates that the Bush administration may have systematically implemented, from the top down, detainee interrogation policies that constitute torture or otherwise violate the law," it said. The letter was signed by 59 House Democrats, including House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-Mich.) and House Intelligence Committee members Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) and Jerrold Nadler (D-NY).
The request was prompted in part by new disclosures of high-level discussions within the Bush administration that reportedly focued on specific interrogation practices. Some of the new detail was contained in a report last month by the Justice Department's Inspector General, which described a series of White House meetings in which the controversial tactics were vigorously debated.
(Continued here.)
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