Following our "Reckoning with Torture" event at the University of Vermont, we were asked, "What comes next? What can I do to make sure events described in the program readings and videos don't occur again?"
If you missed the program -- or you'd like to view it again -- a video copy is now posted on the RETN Web site. (You can also check the RETN Web site to see when the video will be broadcast over RETN Channel 16 in the Burlington area.)
Below you'll see some suggestions for actions you can take to make sure torture ends and is never again utilized by our government as an interrogation technique.
What You Can Do To Help Stop Torture
Fighting to end torture is a lengthy battle. The ACLU spent six years trying to get the documents used in our program (see the 2009 New York Times story, "ACLU Lawyers Mine Documents for Truth," in The New York Times archives.)
But like all lengthy battles, progress is made through small steps.
One step is informing yourself about what has happened -- what our government did to detainees it held at Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, and Bagram.
1. You can learn more about government actions by going online to the National ACLU Web site and reading "The Torture Report." The report brings together information now in the public domain to provide a full account of the U.S. torture program. It's being published serially online, and is updated regularly, as new information becomes available. In the "Accountability for Torture" section of the National ACLU site, torture documents obtained by the ACLU through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests and lawsuits are listed in chronological order. You may also borrow from your local library a copy of the book, The Dark Side by Jane Mayer. It's the book about the Bush administration's treatment of detainees during the "War on Terror." (Read a New York Times review of the book.) A movie of a similar name, Taxi to the Dark Side, offers a chilling story of how we become our own enemy when we abandon basic principles of human rights and freedoms. (Read a New York Times review of the film.)
2. Transparency and accountability are key to stopping torture. That's why we need to know who ordered whom to do what, and when. Despite voluminous evidence -- some of which you heard in "Reckoning with Torture" -- that Bush administration officials authorized torture, the only people who have been held accountable for the maltreatment of detainees are low-ranking soldiers. That's unacceptable. Contact the U.S. Department of Justice and ask Attorney General Eric Holder to include senior government officials in the DOJ's investigation into torture.
3. Others need to take the step you've taken. Help educate your friends and fellow citizens:
Ask them to watch the video of the "Reckoning with Torture" program on the RETN Web site. The program is also being broadcast over RETN Channel 16 in the Burlington area. Check the RETN Web site for dates and times.
Encourage them to read the Torture Report.
Encourage them to read the book, The Dark Side by Jane Mayer, or to watch the film, Taxi to the Dark Side.
