Coalition of Human Rights, Faith-Based and Justice Organizations Urge President Obama to Establish Presidential Torture Commission

By John W. Whitehead
March 28, 2009

WASHINGTON D.C.—The Rutherford Institute has joined with a coalition of 18 other human rights, faith-based, and justice organizations to urge President Obama to appoint a commission to investigate torture sanctioned by the Bush administration. The groups are calling on Americans to sign an online petition advocating that President Obama establish an "independent, non-partisan commission to examine and report publicly on torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of detainees in the period since September 11, 2001." The campaign's call for accountability comes just days after the release of the Senate Armed Services Committee report on interrogation and torture and the Justice Department legal memos sanctioning torture and inhumane treatment.

"We call on the President of the United States to establish an independent, non-partisan commission to examine and report publicly on torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of detainees in the period since September 11, 2001," states the petition, which is available at www.CommissionOnAccountability.org. "The commission, comparable in stature to the 9/11 Commission, should look into the facts and circumstances of such abuses, report on lessons learned and recommend measures that would prevent any future abuses.  We believe that the commission is necessary to reaffirm America's commitment to the Constitution, international treaty obligations and human rights.  The report issued by the commission will strengthen U.S. national security and help to re-establish America's standing in the world."

In addition to The Rutherford Institute, the organizations endorsing this effort are: Amnesty International USA; the Brennan Center for Justice; the Carter Center, Human Rights Program; the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice, New York University, School of Law; the Center for the Study of Human Rights in the Americas, University of California, Davis; the Center for Victims of Torture; the Constitution Project; the Human Rights Center, University of California, Berkeley; Human Rights First; Human Rights Watch; the International Center for Transitional Justice; the International Justice Network; the Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights; the Jewish Council for Public Affairs; the National Institute of Military Justice; the National Religious Campaign Against Torture; the Open Society Institute; and Physicians for Human Rights.

The Rutherford Institute, a nonprofit civil liberties organization, provides legal assistance at no charge to individuals whose constitutional rights have been threatened or violated.

Question? Comment? What do you think? Write YourWorld Report Editor Derek Clontz . He reads and responds personally to every letter, often within minutes and always within one business day.

Remember: Your World Report is the world'sfastest-growing newsmagazine.* Welcome to our family of readers - 2.5 million strong.

* GNI Global Readership Survey 2009.

Copyright © 2009 4-Page Media, Inc./Your World Report. All rights reserved.