Facing an Ugly Truth: The Senate’s Report on CIA Torture as Truth-Telling
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Date
2017-09-20
Authors
Seyfarth, Lucia H.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Oregon School of Law
Abstract
Known as the “torture report,” the U.S. Senate’s December 2014 report on the CIA’s post-9/11 interrogation program described years of systematic human rights abuses born from an official policy of torture and cruel treatment. The Obama administration ended the program in 2010, marking a transition away from these statesponsored human rights violations. In such a transitional society, it is crucial that the truth be available to the public and to victims to help them move past atrocities; the torture report may be a mechanism for such truth-telling. By considering similar truth-telling reports from other countries as well as the context of the torture report, I assess how this report contributed to transitional justice in four ways: by discovering and acknowledging past abuses, addressing the needs of victims, advancing accountability, and creating institutional reforms and promoting national reconciliation. While not perfect in any respect, the report has affected the way Americans view the CIA program, contributed to legislation banning torture, and created consequences for some of the program’s architects.
Description
36 pages
Keywords
Human rights, Central Intelligence Agency
Citation
18 Or. Rev. Int'l. L. 99 (2017)