amnesty international usa - torture debate ???

Last Friday President Obama said this was a time for "reflection,
not retribution"; less than a week later, national newspapers are reporting the President is now open to an investigation.²

Now that the ball is rolling, we need you to put a call into Senator McCain to ask for an open and independent investigation. Senator McCain has helped fight against torture in the past, and you can help enlist your Senator in the fight now.

Just as President Obama has warmed to the idea over the last week, so too must others in Washington if we're ever going to fully expose all these dirty, little secrets about torture that have been kept from us for far too long.

But what kind of investigation? There's a growing risk that we may get an investigation that lacks independence, legal authority, and the adequate funding necessary to tell the full truth about the illegal, U.S. torture program.

Call Senator McCain at (202) 224-2235 or (602) 952-2410. Use the points outlined below to help describe the kind of full and independent investigation you want into torture.

We need a commission that has these qualities:

• Non-partisan
• Independent and free from political influences
• Has subpoena power and enough money to track down every lead ³

Help Senator McCain also understand:

• If the United States wants to be a beacon of justice and the rule of law abroad the U.S. needs to practice it at home.
• Numerous interrogators, generals, and admirals have stated that abuses committed during interrogations are not only illegal, but also counter-productive and hurt our government's ability to collect accurate and timely intelligence.
• Senate investigations have found that abuse at Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib was not the work of a few rogue actors but the direct result of sanctioned policies.

We really want to know how the Senator responded to your call. Please
take a quick moment to let us know how it went. Even with the
release of this classified report, we still only know a portion of the truth.
And it's only by exposing the full truth of what was done in our names, that
we can once and for all move forward and restore our nation's credibility.


Let's make sure whatever investigation moves forward, it's backed by the authority and support it needs to be effective.

In just one week, we've gone from seeing an investigation as a long shot, to talking about what kind of investigation we need. Your actions, phone calls, and visits before Congress are making an impact. We're getting closer to seeing our government actually do the right thing.

Thanks for standing with us.

Njambi Good
Director, Counter Terror with Justice Campaign

1 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/22/us/politics/22report.html?hp

2 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/21/AR2009042102187.html

3 http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGAMR511512008