Robert L. Terrell

U.S. citizens will eventually be held accountable regarding their responses to the certain knowledge that their government is engaged in widespread torture. Each day’s news reports confirm that the practice is taking place. And for those of us who hold ourselves responsible for keeping close watch on public affairs at home and abroad, the moral and ethical ramifications weigh heavy.

I don’t expect the U.S. Government to be perfect. I don’t even expect it to be notably honorable most of the time because the truth of the matter is that all governments are imperfect, and the vast majority of them commonly engage in practices that challenge decency and legality. Nonetheless, it seems reasonable to me to expect government officials to understand and respect certain limits regarding their policies and behavior. Sadly, it is now clearly apparent that those in charge of the U.S. government at the highest levels have lost all sense of proper restraint where such limits are concerned.

Whether the subject is extraordinary renditions, Abu Graeb, Guantanamo Bay, or harsh interrogations techniques, the news in not good. Various modes of torture are apparently being employed widely and brutally. Laws are being broken, and human beings are being intentionally destroyed. I also want to acknowledge my recognition that these are not new practices. As a matter of fact, any close reading of the record regarding the U.S. government’s engagement in the world during the post World War II era clearly reveals that the Bush administration’s torture policies are not new. The U.S. government has employed torture, and various other kinds of human rights crimes, for decades. Sometimes the torture is performed by surrogates, and sometimes it is performed by U.S. personnel.

In response, I want to go on record, as I believe all good and responsible citizens should, and present for the entire world to see, my personal statement regarding the U.S. government and torture. I oppose it. I believe it is criminal. Most important, I believe the Nuremberg guidelines and procedures employed after World War II should be used to prosecute all those involved in this totally unacceptable form of criminality.