Is It Torture Yet?

IN THE Helsinki process, the United States has joined with 55 other participating States to condemn torture. I want to quote one particular provision, because it speaks with such singular clarity. In 1989, in the Vienna Concluding Document, the United States--along with the Soviet Union and all of the other participating States--agreed to ``ensure humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person.'' This is the standard--with no exceptions or loopholes--that the United States is obligated to uphold, Senator Cardin reminds his colleagues on Senate floor on 12.14.07.

I deeply regret that six decades after the adoption of the Universal Declaration, we find it necessary to hold a hearing on torture and, more to the point, I regret that the United States' own policies and practices must be a focus of our consideration, Senator Cardin added.

Senator Cardin admitted that abuse at Abu Ghraib and government's own legal memos on torture are hurting U.S. credibility on the issue of torture. "Unfortunately, U.S. leadership in opposition to torture and other forms of ill-treatment has been undermined by revelations of abuse at Abu Ghraib prison and elsewhere. When Secretary of State Rice met with leading human rights activists in Moscow in October, she was made aware that the American forces' conduct at Abu Ghraib has damaged the United States' credibility on human rights. As horrific as the revelations of abuse at Abu Ghraib were, our Government's own legal memos on torture may be even more damaging, because they reflect a policy to condone torture and immunize those who may have committed torture."

Senator Cardin was disappointed by the recently appointed Attorney General Mukasey responses to torture. "In this regard, I was deeply disappointed by the unwillingness of Attorney General Mukasey to state clearly and unequivocally that water boarding is torture. I chaired part of the Attorney General's Judiciary confirmation hearing and found his responses to torture-related questions woefully inadequate."

Senator Cardin was concerned about the destruction of the tapes by the CIA. "The destruction of tapes by the CIA showing the interrogation of terror suspects raises a host of additional concerns. First, these tapes may have documented the use of methods that may very well have violated U.S. law. Second, the tapes may have been destroyed in violation of court orders to preserve exactly these sorts of materials. If the administration is willing to destroy evidence in violation of a valid court order, we have a serious rule-of-law problem. Finally, it is profoundly disturbing that materials formally and explicitly sought by the 9/11 Commission--mandated to investigate one of the worst attacks on American soil in the history of our country--were not turned over by the CIA. The destruction of the CIA tapes should be carefully investigated."

Senator demanded that Congress must act to ensure that abuses by U.S. Government personnel are not committed on the false theory that this somehow makes our country safer.

Senator Benjamin L. Cardin is a United States Senator for Maryland.

Fact of the matter is that American leadership has butchered more human beings than any other leadership in the history of mankind. Principles like democracy and human rights provide a cover for the heinous crime of the American leadership. Global Emperor has no clothes.