Gul Rahman froze to death in CIA captivity: Take action

	Torture is a crime.  Demand Justice.
	Take Action Now TIM SLOAN/AFP/Getty Images The recent release of the Senate report on CIA torture and enforced disappearances shed light on grave human rights abuses — including the use of sleep deprivation, forced standing with broken limbs and rectal feeding and rehydration in the absence of medical necessity on detainees. Attorney General Eric Holder has refused to reopen investigations into torture, despite this damning report. Demand that Attorney General Eric Holder take action to bring those responsible to justice. Dear Tracy, Eleven years ago, Gul Rahman was a detainee held captive by the CIA. He was chained, nearly naked, to a concrete floor for an extended period of time. He froze to death. After Rahman died, no officer on-site, nor at the CIA, was disciplined in any way. Instead, the CIA officer in charge of the detention site was recommended to receive a cash bonus for "consistently superior work." Torture is a crime and those responsible must be brought to justice. Tell Attorney General Eric Holder to act. As we spent the week digesting the summary of the Senate report on CIA detention and interrogation — which details Rahman's death, as well as abuses such as the use of sleep deprivation, forced standing with broken limbs and rectal feeding and rehydration in the absence of medical necessity on detainees — former Vice President Dick Cheney told the nation: "I would do it again in a minute." The report's release made clear that the U.S. government used torture in what was not a rogue operation, but a systematic operation. Now, make it clear to Cheney that torture can never be justified. Early in the Bush administration, politically appointed lawyers at the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel gave a green light for CIA agents to use techniques during interrogations that amount to torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. Under Attorney General Eric Holder, the Justice Department refused to investigate anyone who "who acted in good faith and within the scope of the legal guidance given" — even though that "legal guidance" was plainly intended to provide a cover for torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. Holder must re-open the investigation into these crimes and, where sufficient evidence is available, pursue prosecution of individuals involved. No one can render these crimes lawful — no lawyer, no president, no doctor and no interrogator. Let's remind them of that. In solidarity, Naureen Shah Director of Security with Human Rights Amnesty International USA