Damning New Allegations of CIA Abuse

Human Experimentation: Damning New Allegations of CIA Abuse
Dear Tracy, Doctors are supposed to help us heal. But that's not what happened here. From 2002 to 2008, the CIA put doctors in interrogation rooms so that they could help design sustained exercises in torture, as part of a secret detention program. Call the Justice Department today to take action against torture. These are just a few examples of the hell those in captivity experienced: The doctor's note for Abu Zubaydah, a man waterboarded 83 times, reads: "Longest period with the cloth over his face so far has been 17 seconds. NO useful information so far." A CIA medical officer, when giving advice on how to amp up interrogations, wrote that forced rectal feeding can help "clear a person's head." When Hassan Gul was hallucinating following 59 hours of sleep deprivation, a psychologist's advice for him was that "he should calm himself by telling himself his experiences are normal and will subside when he decides to be truthful." Call the Justice Department: This American Torture Story must be investigated. We've known of these abuses since the Senate released the summary of its landmark report on torture six months ago. And last week, the Guardian reported on newly available U.S. government documents, which set out rules for the CIA's human experimentation - rules the CIA may have broken by having doctors help design ongoing torture. Still, we've heard nothing from the Justice Department, which is charged with investigating this kind of misconduct. All we know is this: the Justice Department says in court that it hasn't even opened its copy of the full, classified Senate torture report - let alone reviewed its 6,900 pages for new evidence of human rights violations that could warrant prosecution. Survivors of torture have a right to accountability - without it, their wounds cannot heal. Every year on June 26 - the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, which Amnesty International commemorates with a global day of action - we stand with all those whose lives have been marked by torture. We speak out with survivors all over the world. And this year, Amnesty activists are launching actions big and small, all over the United States to demand that the Justice Department end impunity for CIA torture. You can take action. Please take 2 minutes of your day to call the Justice Department and demand accountability for torture. You can also join us in a city near you as we demand the Justice Department to hold torturers accountable. We must speak out to prevent torture from happening again. Will you join me? In solidarity, Naureen Shah Director, Security with Human Rights Amnesty International USA