A Citizen's Subpoena to Impel the House to Investigate Torture Charges

Originally posted on A contrario on 5 May 2008

The letter requesting that certain politicians be subpoenaed for testimony that is quoted below was sent by the ACLU on my behalf to the House Judiciary Committee and several other members of Congress on 5 May. The ACLU provided the introductory paragraph, and I wrote the rest of the letter. This letter was one of many petitions delivered to Congress as part of the ACLU's 'Citizen's Subpoena' campaign. Hopefully, the Judiciary Committee's call for testimony marks the beginning of a serious investigation into Executive policies on the use of torture or 'aggressive interrogation techniques'.

I demand to know the truth about torture. It's time to conduct a full investigation to determine what laws may have been broken and whether war crimes or other torture crimes were committed. John Ashcroft, John Yoo, George Tenet, Douglas Feith and others must testify. It's time to legally compel Bush's torture team to tell the truth.

The U.S. Constitution, and the values upon which it stands, are right now in serious jeopardy. The Bush Administration's efforts to exclude the legislative and judiciary branches from its military campaigns in the Middle East should have been stopped the moment President Bush decided to arbitrarily withdraw the protections of the third and fourth Geneva Conventions from prisoners captured by the CIA and the DoD. At that time, however, our nation was still recovering from the shock of the 11 September attacks, and the call for blood seemed just to many of us. As raw emotion began to yield to calmer reason, however, many began to question the unrestrained use of force against those our President declared our enemies. Documentation released in accordance with the FOIA tells a more sinister and alarming story of how a group of intelligent but unscrupulous bureaucrats used this time of outrage and confusion to push their own agenda of a powerful and unchecked executive government. In addition to those already listed, I recommend that Donald Rumsfeld, Jay Bybee and Major General Geoffrey Miller be called upon to answer for their actions.

As a scientist, I have carefully examined the data available and I conclude that the Administration's treatment of foreign prisoners is in direct violation of international law, and that in its efforts to cover these transgressions, the Bush Administration has placed itself in conflict with the U.S. Constitution. The treatment of foreign nationals at Abu Ghraib, Kandahar, Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere by U.S. forces has been outright criminal, and it is time for those responsible for these crimes to answer for their actions. At this point, we are no longer fighting to save the Constitutional protection against the deprivation of "life, liberty, or property, without due process of law", or against the use of "cruel and unusual punishment", but to restore it. We must counter this assault on our Constitutional Rights by identifying the responsible parties and demanding that they give an account for their actions. Moreover, we must barricade our Constitution against further transgressions by instilling stronger safeguards in our legislation that prevent the unchecked abuse of executive power.

Finally, I ask you to not be deceived or deterred by the Administration's claims that a serious investigation of its tactics could jeopardize our "national security" against the threat of terrorism. Such fear-mongering is the oft-used tool of cowardly tyrants, and this Administration should know better than to resort to such hollow tactics in our democracy. As the people of the United States of America, we trust you, our legislative representatives, to use your own discretion and to guard whatever secrets must be guarded without further sacrificing the foundation of our Constitution. The fight to restore our Constitution is now in your hands, and the entire world is watching over your shoulders. I would be lying if I claimed to envy you this position, and I offer you my wholehearted support and encouragement as a member of this democracy. Please, show the world that not even the threat of terrorism can scare this nation into abandoning its commitment to the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.