US tortured after 9/11, says independent Constitution Project panel report
In the most ambitious effort so far by an independent, bipartisan group to assess American detention and interrogation programs after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, a Constitution Project panel has concluded that “it is indisputable that the United States engaged in the practice of torture” in its treatment of detainees.
In its 577-page report, the panel said the brutality was unique in U.S. history because of the “considered and detailed discussions that occurred after 9/11 directly involving a president and his top advisers on the wisdom, propriety and legality of inflicting pain and torment on some detainees in our custody,” the New York Times (reg. req.) recounts.
The panel said there is no justification for torture and said there is no persuasive evidence that what the U.S. did produced any valuable information that could not have been obtained through less objectionable means.
Reuters and the Sydney Morning Herald also have stories.
Related material:
ABAJournal.com (2007): “Red Cross: U.S. Tortured Prisoners”
ABAJournal.com (2009): “US Releases 4 More ‘Torture’ Memos, Promises Defense to CIA Workers”
ABAJournal.com (2012): “Supreme Court Rejects Padilla Torture Suit, Gitmo Detainee Cases”
