At the launch of its 2005 Annual Report today, Amnesty International called on governments around the world to investigate U.S. officials implicated in the approval or use of interrogation techniques that constitute torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. While the U.S. government has failed to conduct a genuinely independent and comprehensive investigation, individuals implicated in these crimes are nonetheless subject to investigation and possible arrest by other countries while traveling abroad.

Individuals who have either dodged investigation or escaped sanction include those at the highest levels of government, such as President Bush and Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld, as well as Attorney General Gonzales and former CIA Director George Tenet. They also include government lawyers who advocated or approved setting aside critical protections against torture or recommended interrogation methods that constitute torture or ill treatment, as well as military officers who implemented those decisions.

"Tolerance for torture, signaled by a failure to investigate and prosecute those responsible, is the most effective encouragement for it to expand and grow. Like a virus, the techniques approved by the United States will multiply and spread unless those who plotted their use are held accountable," said Dr. William F. Schulz, Executive Director of Amnesty International USA.

Although approximately 125 members of the U.S. armed forces have either been court-martialed or received non-judicial punishment or other administrative action, to date no one in the extended chain of command, including those who formulated policies on the treatment and interrogation of prisoners, has been held accountable.

Read more:
http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/ctt.asp?u=677776&l=13130