Constitutional Law

Jimmy Carter on Accountability for Torture

By Joel Engardio, ACLU

Former President Jimmy Carter recently stated that he respects but disagrees with President Obama’s decision to block the release of photographs that depict U.S. use of torture and other harsh interrogation methods under the Bush administration. The ACLU is with President Carter when he talks about the hope to be “much more open about the revelations of what we’ve done in the past.” And when it comes to who knew about and authorized torture policies like waterboarding, Carter calls for a “complete examination” of what happened along with “the identification of any perpetrators of crimes against our own laws.”

We couldn’t agree more.

Watch President Carter’s remarks here, followed by a reaction from Anthony Romero, executive director of the ACLU.

Support the ACLU?s call for accountability today: Sign a petition to Attorney General Eric Holder asking him to appoint an independent prosecutor to investigate torture.

Full post as published by Blog of Rights on June 02, 2009 (boomark / email).