Demand Accountability for Torture and Abuse
President Obama came into office stating that he intended to look forwards not backwards, and would "turn the page" on the abuses committed under the Bush administration. That is simply not good enough.
The U.S. government is required by international law to respect and ensure human rights, to thoroughly investigate every violation of those rights, and to bring perpetrators to justice, no matter their level of office or former level of office.
Amnesty International believes that the Obama administration and Congress must make accountability for the U.S. government's conduct in the "War on Terror" a high priority. Prioritizing this issue must be part of a new relationship on the part of the U.S. government to its international obligations, and part of a new commitment that human rights will never again be sacrificed in the name of national security.
Accountability also requires that the United States provides redress to those individuals who have suffered abuses at the hands of the US government, including those unlawfully detained, unlawfully rendered to torture, and those tortured and abused in US custody. The Obama administration continues to rely on the same legal formulas as the Bush administration to block civil suits brought against those responsible for those abuses.
