Legal Commentary

Judiciary Committee Releases Bybee Deposition Transcript

By Jeralyn

The House Judiciary Committee has released the deposition transcript of former Bush legal counsel Jay Bybee, author of two infamous memos on enhanced interrogation techniques, aka torture. Chairman John Conyers writes:

"This testimony reveals that many brutal techniques reportedly used in CIA interrogations were not authorized by the Justice Department – the author of these legal memos has now admitted this on the record," Conyers said. "These statements are highly relevant to the pending criminal investigation of detainee abuse and I have provided the Committee’s interview to the Justice Department and directed my staff to cooperate with any further requests for information."

The fact sheet is here. The full transcripts are here. The ACLU's reaction is here. [More....]

“The documents released today shed further light on the origins of the Bush administration’s torture program. They also make it even clearer that the Justice Department needs to conduct a comprehensive criminal investigation. In recent months, many other countries – including some of America’s closest allies – have begun to examine their responsibility for the abuse and torture of prisoners in U.S. custody.

Indeed, the United States is increasingly isolated in its unwillingness to investigate the roots of the torture program, its refusal to compensate torture survivors and its failure to hold accountable the senior government officials who authorized interrogators to use torture. Judge Bybee’s testimony underscores what we’ve been saying for a long time: that the Justice Department should be conducting an investigation that encompasses not just low-level interrogators but senior government officials who authorized torture.”

Full post as published by TalkLeft on July 15, 2010 (boomark / email).