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Holder expected to name prosecutor to investigate CIA interrogations: report

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] US Attorney General Eric Holder is expected to name a special prosecutor who will be tasked with investigating the alleged abuse of detainees and other terrorism suspects by CIA interrogators, according to a Sunday Los Angeles Times report. The report cites a senior Department of Justice (DOJ) official who says that Holder will limit the probe to determining whether individuals went beyond authorized techniques when interrogating suspects. The official said that no final decision has been made, but last month it was reported that Holder had requested a list of 10 possible candidates. Last moth, Human Rights Watch (HRW) sent an open letter to Holder in order to "express strong support for opening a criminal investigation into abusive interrogation practices by the US government since the attacks of September 11, 2001." In April, Democratic members of the US House Judiciary Committee sent Holder a letter urging him to appoint a special counsel to investigate torture allegations made against Bush administration officials. Earlier that month, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) reiterated his calls for a non-partisan truth commission to investigate those responsible for authorizing certain interrogation techniques. Also in April, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence released a DOJ report indicating that in 2002 former Attorney General John Ashcroft and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice approved the use of waterboarding and other extreme interrogation techniques used by CIA agents against Guantanamo Bay detainees.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on August 09, 2009 (boomark / email).