Contact: Amanda Simon, (212) 633-4162, [email protected]
(WASHINGTON, DC) – In response to the remarks of CIA Director John Brennan today on the release of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence report on CIA detention and interrogation, Amnesty International USA's executive director, Steven W. Hawkins, issued the following statement:
"Brennan is wrong if he thinks the process stops with the release of the torture report summary. It is just starting. Acknowledgement is not accountability and torture isn’t a mistake – it’s a crime. We need to see full investigations, prosecutions where there is sufficient evidence, and justice and remedies for victims.
“Director Brennan’s attempt to justify the use of torture and to shield CIA officers and the agency from culpability is expected though nonetheless galling. The US government’s use of torture is not just about agents in the field, it was a systematic program that was authorized at the highest level and for which no one has been held accountable.”
Follow Steven W. Hawkins on Twitter: https://twitter.com/StevenWHawkins
Amnesty International is a Nobel Peace Prize-winning global movement of more than 7 million people campaigning for human rights worldwide. The organization investigates and exposes abuses, educates and mobilizes the public, and works to protect people wherever justice, freedom, truth and dignity are denied.