Make This Crucial Call Today to Help Unseal the Truth on Torture

May 5, 2015

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Take a minute to imagine this.

You are taken from your home in the middle of the day, blindfolded and shackled on a plane, then taken to a place you’ve never seen before. Here, you are subjected to some of the most degrading treatment imaginable.

  • Forced rectal feeding to humiliate and exert control over you;
  • Shackled into standing positions, hung naked except for diapers, forced into sleep deprivation for days and weeks;
  • Held in total darkness and isolation for days with only a bucket to use for human waste.

But for dozens of men who were “disappeared” by the U.S. government and held in secret sites around the world from 2002 to 2008, this isn’t just imagination. This was reality.

The America I believe in does not torture. If you agree please join me in calling on the United States to ensure this never happens again by undertaking investigations and ensuring accountability for the crimes of torture and enforced disappearances.

This is the American Torture Story—and you can stop the United States from torturing again, today!

For years, a Senate Committee worked to collect evidence of these human rights abuses for a 6,700 page report known as “the Senate Torture Report.” The only version accessible to the public is a 500-page summary, but even this small window contains details that are truly horrifying.

The Justice Department has the full report, but apparently won’t even read it, let alone act on any new evidence it contains of criminal wrongdoing.

5 minutes of your day could help prevent the US from burying the truth on torture!

Today I used my voice to make a crucial phone call to the Justice Department.  So can you!

I am calling today in memory of Gul Rahman, who was stripped naked, wrapped in tape, immersed in cold water and shackled. He froze to death in custody.

I am calling today for Majid Khan, who was subjected to rectal feeding during a three and a half year enforced disappearance. Then he was sent to Guantánamo Bay, where he remains today.

I am calling today for Hambali, whose interrogator said, “we can never let the world know what I have done to you.” Hambali remains imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay today, without charge or trial.

Join me in making sure that these stories, and many more in Amnesty’s report “Crimes and Impunity,” are investigated by the Justice Department immediately.

I was scared to call at first. Who was going to answer? What if they asked me questions?

I thought about Gul, Majid and Hambali and decided to put my fears aside to speak with them. I read the script below and added my own personal story about how it felt to read the horrific details.

They’re trying to bury the truth. You can stop them.

It is our responsibility to shine a light on abuses and uphold dignity for all by demanding the truth on torture in the United States. 


Please call the office of the Attorney General:

1. Dial 202-514-2001 (and then press 1)

2. When answered, you can say the following:

“Hello, my name is [insert name here] and I am calling from [insert location here].

I am a member of Amnesty International. I am calling to express my concerns about the Justice Department’s disregard of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence report on the CIA’s secret detention program, known as the “Torture Report.”

The Attorney General should order a review of the Senate Torture Report and potential violations of federal and international laws immediately.

The Department must make sure that it brings to justice in fair trials all persons suspected of being involved in the commission of crimes under international law, such as torture and enforced disappearance.

Stop the American Torture Story from going unheard by demanding the change we want to see in this country and in the world.”