Despite Attorney General Eric Holder's attempt to grant impunity to those who authorized or provided legal cover for over 100 deaths at Guantanamo and other prison camps, the book is not closed on accountability for facilitation or concealment of these atrocities.
There is no statute of limitations on murder by torture. And yes, we have the bodies to prove crimes have been committed.
Attorneys Marjorie Cohn and Glenn Greenwald, and others, have raised the question of whether we are witnessing A Free Pass for Torturers?
I think not, if we refuse to accept the crimes of this government. Lisa Hajjar, associate
professor of sociology at UC Santa Barbara, evaluates the legal campaign against
american torture (where we're at now) and challenges the bleak conclusions that our
decade-long anti-torture campaign has been a failure, acknowledging that the
prospect of returning the U.S. to a state of law is no sure thing. But,
"to
make it a possibility, there is work to be done in the court of public opinion.
This involves challenging the specious lies that torture 'works', and attacking
interpretations of law that would create rights-free zones and rightless
individuals. When national leaders of the world's lone superpower endorse or
excuse torture, and courts provide impunity, the adverse consequences are
international and global. By the same measure, every fight against torture
anywhere in the world is an expression of respect for the rule of law and a
defense of the most important human right. In the US, the fight against torture
has been hard, often frustrating, and has produced few victories. But it is the
good fight, and those who have made this history have done a service for us all."
