Attorney General Holder’s Testimony Today

Questions Remain About the Investigation of the “Torture Memos”

November 18, 2009, Washington, DC—More than 10,000 people have signed an online petition and—in an unusual approach—many have placed personal telephone calls to Attorney General Eric Holder asking him to expand his investigation to all responsible for U.S. torture, including the lawyers who authored the infamous "torture memos."

Today, the Attorney General testifies at an oversight hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee, where his decision to try some detainees in federal courts will be discussed.

"A major factor in determining which detainees can be tried and which may not face justice at all—is whether the detainee was tortured.  America is facing the consequences of the legal memos that authorized torture—and we need to hold accountable those responsible for taking us down this terrible path," said Nan Aron, President, Alliance for Justice.

In Holder's first oversight hearing in June, he was asked when the report by the Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) on the conduct of the lawyers who authorized torture would be released.  He said that the five-year investigation of the "torture memos" was close to an end and that OPR's report would be ready in a "matter of weeks."  When asked again on October 8, Holder said the report was still waiting for comments from some of the lawyers involved.

The legal cover for torture was contained in a series of memos drafted by lawyers in the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel, beginning in 2002. The Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) began an inquiry in 2004 into the conduct of the DOJ lawyers.  In January 2009, at the end of the Bush administration, news leaked that the report on this inquiry had been drafted, but it still has not been released. 

Tomorrow, on Capitol Hill, a panel of legal experts will discuss the delicate and fragile balance between law and politics and what is at stake with inaction if the lawyers who authorized torture during the Bush administration are not held accountable.  Information on this event is below.

Panel Discussion and Screening
of New Short Documentary, Tortured Law

When:
Thursday, November 19, 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Where:
Capitol Hill Visitor Center
First Street and East Capitol Street, NE, Room SVC210

Who:  

David Cole, Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center
David Cole's most recent book is The Torture Memos: Rationalizing the Unthinkable. Cole is also the legal affairs correspondent for The Nation.

Scott Horton, Adjunct Professor, Columbia University School of Law
Human rights attorney Scott Horton is a contributor to Harper's Magazine on the issues of legal affairs and national security. Horton litigated on behalf of Bilal Hussein, a Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist held for five months by the U.S. Army without charge.

Moderator:

Nan Aron, President, Alliance for Justice

To RSVP, please email Sean Easter at sean@afj.org.

Since its launch as part of a broader campaign for accountability for torture, Tortured Law has been viewed over 5,600 times on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJnQbPtgMAU) and is being shown on campuses and in communities across the country to spark debate and encourage Americans to call for a full investigation of those involved in the Bush administration's descent into torture.