It’s Time for Truth on U.S. Torture

Over three years ago, UUSC put Alberto Gonzalez, Donald Rumsfeld, and George Tenet on mock trial for authorizing the use of torture in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Guantanamo.

Former Defense Department officials Paul Wolfowitz (far left) and Donald H. Rumsfeld with former President George H.W. Bush at the Pentagon, five days after the invasion of Iraq.

Such trials could soon be a reality, as momentum builds in Congress for federal investigations into why the use of torture seemed to be sanctioned under the Bush administration and who is responsible at the highest level.

UUSC and two of its partners, the Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition International (TASSC) and the National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT), are part of the growing movement for truth and accountability.

» Become part of this growing movement

Torture Survivors United

The Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition International (TASSC) is a unique group. It is the only organization in the United States founded by and for people who have experienced torture.

Because of this, TASSC brings a powerful, singular voice to debates on torture: the voices of torture survivors.

The woman who started TASSC, Sister Dianna Ortiz, is herself a torture survivor. In 1989 Ortiz, a U.S Roman Catholic nun of the Ursuline order, was abducted by right-wing forces and brutally tortured, while serving as a missionary in Guatemala.

It was Ortiz's need for truth and justice that compelled her to organize torture survivors on a global level through TASSC. Her purpose was to give survivors a vehicle whereby they could talk about torture, themselves, instead of people who have never experienced it.

"A whole lot of people talk about the subject [of torture] who have not been tortured. It doesn't occur to them to ask someone who knows the issue inside and out," explained Harold Nelson, of TASSC.

The need for healing from their experiences is also crucial to survivors, which is why TASSC holds ritualized healing services for its members, including for those who show up at their doorstep, numbering three to four per week.

"They are a healing force for one another," said Ortiz of TASSC members, in the organization's new documentary film, Breaking the Silence: Torture Survivors Speak Out.

Voices Calling for Truth

TASSC members and supporters build the case for truth and accountability on use of torture.

Top on its agenda today, TASSC is part of a larger coalition that is drawing up a criminal complaint to be presented to the Attorney General Eric Holder, calling for an investigation into whether members of the Bush administration violated U.S. laws against torture.

Explained Demissie Abebe, TASSC's Executive Director, "Only when the most powerful are prosecuted for torture will those coming after be dissuaded from practicing this crime against humanity."

Meanwhile, pressure for accountability is mounting from inside the U.S. government, from the rank and file. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) is calling for thorough and wide-ranging investigations into alleged abuses under the Bush administration. On March 4, 2009, Leahy held a hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Some may question the timing of such an inquiry, arguing that investigations are a distraction from the enormous challenges our nation faces. Some may say we should just move on, that torture is in the past.

But as Nelson remarked, "It's not in the past for the people we tortured. It will be ever-present in their lives."

Nelson also points out that the United States has a history of participating in torture — from Paraguay to Guatemala to Nicaragua. "There is no reason to believe that this country won't continue to torture," he said, "unless we establish that there is a price to be paid."

He is not alone. According to a February 2009 Gallup Poll, 62 percent of Americans favor some type of investigation into the possible use of torture when interrogating terrorism suspects.

Helping to get to the truth, TASSC, along with UUSC and NRCAT, will continue to be front and center, pressuring for full investigations and accountability and bringing the voices of torture survivors to those who need to hear them most.

Become part of this growing movement for truth and accountability

Please take the time today to call your senators on the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 to tell them: "As your constituent, I support Senator Leahy's proposal to create a nonpartisan truth commission to investigate the Bush administration's policies on detention and interrogation. I ask that an independent counsel be appointed to investigate whether members of the Bush administration violated U.S. laws against torture."