Panel on detainee treatment is good news

On Dec. 17, The Constitution Project announced the formation of the bipartisan Task Force on Detainee Treatment. This task force is composed of distinguished individuals from both the public and private sectors who have pledged to examine fully and fairly exactly what the United States did to detainees with respect to the use of torture in interrogations. The goal of the task force is to bring to the American people a comprehensive understanding of what is known and what may still be unknown about the past and current treatment of detainees by the U.S. government, as part of the counterterrorism policies of the Obama, Bush and Clinton administrations. They plan to make their findings and recommendations available in 18 months.

This Task Force on Detainee Treatment is well poised to do the investigation and to make recommendations. The members of the task force represent a full spectrum of political views and a wide range of professional backgrounds — legal, public policy, intelligence, military, law enforcement, religious, academic, public service and medicine. All are known for their integrity and impartiality. It is their diversity of views and experiences that will provide the credibility for this project.

The task force includes such distinguished leaders as: local Richmonder Dr Azizah al Hibri — professor, The T.C. Williams School of Law, University of Richmond; Asa Hutchinson — undersecretary, Department of Homeland Security under George W. Bush and a Republican member of Congress; Talbot D'Alemberte — past president of the American Bar Association and president emeritus of Florida State University; Rev. Dr. David P. Gushee — professor of Christian ethics, Mercer University, and founder of Evangelicals for Human Rights; and Judge William S. Sessions —director of the FBI, 1987-1993.

Normally, a task force like this would be established and funded by the government, like the 9/11 Commission or the Tower Commission. This commission is different because the government has rejected the requests of the religious community and others to create a Commission of Inquiry. President Obama has said, "We have to look forward, not backward," when urged to investigate U.S.-sponsored torture practices. Yet we know we cannot move forward without first understanding where we have been. In the case of human rights abuses in Indonesia, the president said during his recent trip to that nation, "We can't go forward without looking backward."

Torture is contrary to the teachings of every religion. Torture violates the dignity and worth that God has given every human being. It is always immoral as well as illegal — and unjustifiable. It degrades everyone involved — policymakers, perpetrators and victims. The National Religious Campaign Against Torture, a coalition of 300 religious organizations, has advocated for an end to U.S.-sponsored torture and has called for a Commission of Inquiry.

In 1988, President Reagan signed the U.N. Convention Against Torture (CAT), which was then ratified by the U.S. Senate in 1994. The CAT makes any act of torture illegal under all circumstances and requires a full, public accounting by any country that engages in torture. In fact, the U.S. was a leader in the development and passage of the convention.

The United States said the following when it reported on torture to the United Nations in 1998 as part of our obligation under the CAT: "Torture is prohibited by law throughout the United States. It is categorically denounced as a matter of policy and as a tool of state authority. Every act constituting torture under the Convention constitutes a criminal offence under the law of the United States. No official of the Government, federal, state or local, civilian or military, is authorized to commit or to instruct anyone else to commit torture. Nor may any official condone or tolerate torture in any form. No exceptional circumstances may be invoked as a justification of torture."

Our responsibility to ourselves, our Constitution, our laws, is to shed light on what was done and make certain that our government never endorses or authorizes the use of torture. The Task Force on Detainee Treatment will help us get started on that necessary journey.