Statement by Douglas A. Johnson, Executive Director, CVT
On Presidential Veto of Intelligence Authorization Act
March 8, 2008 

“The President’s veto of this important legislation will allow the CIA’s enhanced interrogation program – a program that betrays our national values and damages our security – to continue unchecked.  Failing to hold CIA interrogators to the same standard of humane treatment to which uniformed armed service members are held leads to dangerous gaps in U.S. policy.  The President has not adequately explained why, when it comes to humane treatment, we need two sets of rules: one for the CIA and another for everyone else.  Is the act of torture and cruelty immoral only when perpetrated by men and women in uniform?  Can bureaucratic boxes separate immoral acts from moral ones?  The President’s reasoning may be hazy but our core values remain crystal clear.  By vetoing legislation that would end our two-track approach to humane treatment, the President missed an opportunity to demonstrate to nations around the world that America unequivocally rejects policies of torture and cruelty.

“Our profound disappointment in the President’s failure to stand by American values is rooted in our more than 20 years of service to torture survivors.  In providing care to courageous men and women from 67 countries, we have learned that the methods reportedly used by the CIA result in long-lasting health effects, serious pain, and unimaginable fear.  We also know from our clients that persons being tortured will tell their torturer anything to end their suffering.  Our nation’s military leaders recognize this fact; they warn that interrogation methods which employ torture and cruelty do not yield reliable information.  Indeed, rather than bolstering our security, these policies place our soldiers at risk of the same treatment and discourage cooperation from our allies—cooperation that is key to a strong national defense.  By allowing these gaps in our policy to persist, we weaken our national security and diminish our moral standing.

“Defeating terrorists requires not only strength of arms but strength of character.  Throughout our history, when facing forces intent on destroying us, our national conscience guided us; the broader values that we protected helped to shape our nation.  We will continue the fight to honor those ideals by closing the gaps in our interrogation policy.  We will not give up on establishing one national standard that proudly reflects the universal truths for which America stands.”

Read the Washington Post article on the President's veto, "Bush Announces Veto of Waterboarding Ban," Saturday, March 8, 2008.

Senate Approves Anti-Torture Amendment

On February 13, a majority of the Senate voted in support of an amendment in the Intelligence Authorization Act of 2008 (H.R. 2082) to ban the use of torture and cruel treatment during interrogations.  The amendment, Section 327, requires the CIA to follow minimum standards of humane treatment as set forth in the U.S. Army Field Manual (2-22.3) on Human Intelligence Collector Operations. The manual explicitly prohibits torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. 

The precedent-setting Senate vote comes only two months after the House of Representatives also voted to support S 327.  This means that a majority in Congress support banning the use of torture during interrogations by establishing one national standard. 

Find out how your Senators voted on the issue. 

Call or email your Senators who voted YES to prohibit torture and cruelty and tell them:

• Thank you for voting in support of Sec. 327 of the Intelligence Authorization Act of 2008
• As your constituent, I am proud of your support for one humane national standard of treatment.
• If the president vetoes the bill, I urge you to continue to work with your colleagues to ensure the CIA is not allowed to use tactics that constitute torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.

Call or email your Senators who voted NO on the amendment and tell them:

• As your constituent, I was disappointed in your vote against Sec. 327 of the Intelligence Authorization Act of 2008
• Allowing the CIA to operate under a different, secret set of interrogation standards from the military causes confusion.
• Soldiers captured by the enemy stand the risk of the same treatment standards employed by the CIA
• I urge you to work to include the CIA under one humane national standard for treatment during interrogation that does not deviate from the military’s prohibition of torture and cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment.

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Torture Treatment Expert Testifies before Senate Intelligence Committee

Dr. Allen Keller, director of the Bellevue/NYU Program for Torture Survivors, testified September 25, 2007 before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. Dr. Keller testified about the profound health consequestins of so-called “enhanced” interrogation techniques reportedly used by the CIA.

Read Dr. Keller’s testimony here.

Other expert testimony and statements from the Sept. 25 hearing are available here.