USA: return of CIA report to Senate committee could be 'first step' toward reinstating torture

‘By burying the history of torture, the Trump administration risks repeating it’ - Elizabeth Beavers

Reacting to news that the US Government is returning copies of the Senate’s Intelligence Committee's mammoth 2014 report on the CIA’s secret detention and torture programme back to the committee without reading or acting on it, Elizabeth Beavers, senior campaigner at Amnesty International USA, said: 

“This could be the Trump administration’s first step in a plan to reinstate a policy of torture.

“By burying the history of torture, the Trump administration risks repeating it.

“The details of this report must be brought to light. Those responsible for the actions described in the report must be held accountable.

“If this report is hidden from public view, it will be a massive step backward to a time when the US refused to admit to conducting torture.

“Top cabinet officials committed to reading the Senate report during their confirmation hearings, and still must keep that promise. The report must be made public.”

In 2015, Amnesty documented the US government’s inaction following the release of the Senate committee's findings in a 140-page report called Crimes and Impunity.