WASHINGTON, D.C. – Representative Edward J. Markey (D-MA), a senior member of the House Homeland Security Committee and author of H.R. 1352, the Torture Outsourcing Prevention Act, today expressed outrage at recent comments by Central Intelligence Agency Director General Michael Hayden claiming extraordinary rendition is a ‘lawful’ activity and refusing to define waterboarding as torture.
“It is outrageous for Gen. Hayden to assert that a technique reminiscent of an Halloween House of Horrors is somehow a legitimate interrogation practice,” said Rep. Markey.
“Gen. Hayden’s defense of the barbaric, illegal and ineffective practice of sending detainees to other countries to be tortured is unacceptable. Despite Gen. Hayden’s claims, rendition is clearly in violation of U.S. and international law, which guarantee that no person will be transferred to a country where they are in substantial danger of being tortured. Extraordinary rendition endangers our troops abroad , because our own hypocrisy will be used as an excuse by others to mistreat captured Americans.”
According to news reports, yesterday Gen. Hayden said that interrogation techniques used by the CIA, which allegedly include rendition and waterboarding, are, “as lawful as they are valuable.” In addition, Gen. Hayden claimed that “the irreplaceable nature” of the intelligence gained from these practices “is the sole reason we have rendition, detention and interrogation programs.” Gen. Hayden also failed to clearly respond when asked whether waterboarding, an interrogation technique that simulates drowning to compel detainee cooperation, constituted torture.
“Waterboarding has been a technique in the torturer’s toolbox since the days of Torquemada and the Spanish Inquisition. We’ve known that waterboarding is torture for more than 500 years. Gen. Hayden and Attorney General-nominee Mukasey should acknowledge this established fact and ensure that our government never uses this gruesome technique.
“Information gained through torture is notoriously unreliable. Professionals do not use torture because torture does not work. As Gen. Petraeus wrote to his troops on May 10th, ‘beyond the basic fact that such actions are illegal, history shows that they also are frequently neither useful nor necessary.’ The idea that Gen. Hayden would try to justify these practices based on the quality of the ‘intelligence’ gained from them is the most twisted Halloween trick of all,” concluded Rep. Markey.
Fact Sheet about rendition and Torture Outsourcing Prevention Act available HERE.
| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 31, 2007 |
CONTACT: Jessica Schafer, 202.225.2836 |
