• Press Release

Marshall Billingslea Should Not be Confirmed for Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights

September 19, 2019

Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call
As today’s hearing takes place before the United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Marshall Billingslea’s nomination to be Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights at the Department of State, given Mr. Billingslea’s well-documented history of advocating for the use of torture and other unlawful interrogation practices, Amnesty International USA is calling on the Committee to vote No.

“There has been ample evidence that Mr. Billingslea encouraged the use of interrogation methods that amount to torture or other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment while he served in the Bush Administration”, said Daphne Eviatar, Director of Security with Human Rights at Amnesty International USA, “this makes a mockery of that important position.”

Background: 

Amnesty International has long advocated that government officials who were involved in the torture and mistreatment of detainees be held accountable, and that detainees being held indefinitely at Guantanamo should either be released or tried promptly in federal court, in accordance with internationally recognized standards for fair trail.

Amnesty International USA has signed on to a letter to the United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee, calling on Senators to reject Marshall Billingslea’s nomination. 

Billingslea served as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations/Low-Intensity Conflict Under Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld during the administration of President George W. Bush. 

More:

Gitmo: Time to Close the Damn Thing (post by Mohamedou Salahi) 

17 Years Later, Guantanamo Prison Remains a Threat to Human Rights (press release, 1/10/2019)

To arrange an interview or further information contact Mariya Parodi, [email protected]