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Preserve the Senate Torture Report Declassify the Senate Torture Report
(about 1 hour later)
This editorial has been updated to reflect news developments.
In late 2014, Senate Democrats delivered to a handful of federal agencies copies of a 6,700-page classified report about the secret prison network the Central Intelligence Agency established after the Sept. 11 attacks. The report offered a comprehensive and unvarnished account of the torture several detainees endured as American intelligence agencies scrambled to find out if there were other plots in the works.In late 2014, Senate Democrats delivered to a handful of federal agencies copies of a 6,700-page classified report about the secret prison network the Central Intelligence Agency established after the Sept. 11 attacks. The report offered a comprehensive and unvarnished account of the torture several detainees endured as American intelligence agencies scrambled to find out if there were other plots in the works.
Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, who oversaw the report, hoped it would become a seminal document for national security professionals for generations to come, a reminder of a dark and shameful period during which the American government succumbed to fear. Now the report, and the instructive history it contains, is at risk of being permanently destroyed. Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, who oversaw the report, hoped it would become a seminal document for national security professionals for generations to come, a reminder of a dark and shameful period during which the American government succumbed to fear. Now the report, and the instructive history it contains, is at risk of remaining under wraps for more than a decade.
At the direction of the Justice Department, officials at the C.I.A., the State Department, the Pentagon and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence placed their copies in safes, unread. When Republicans regained control of the Senate in January 2015, Senator Richard Burr, the incoming chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and an outspoken critic of the report, wrote a letter to President Obama demanding that all copies be returned to the Senate. He also instructed the administration not to enter the report into the executive branch’s system of records, since doing so would make it subject to retention. It would also mean that the report could at some point see the light of day. At the Justice Department’s direction, officials at the C.I.A., State Department, Pentagon and Office of the Director of National Intelligence placed their copies in safes, unread. When Republicans regained control of the Senate in January 2015, Senator Richard Burr, the new chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and an outspoken critic of the report, wrote to President Obama demanding that all copies be returned to the Senate. He also instructed the administration not to enter the report into the executive branch’s system of records, since doing so would make it subject to retention. It would also mean that the report could at some point see the light of day.
The administration ignored Mr. Burr’s first demand. But to date it has not entered the report into the federal record. This raises the danger that the Trump administration, unconstrained by any requirement to retain the documents, could simply return them to Mr. Burr, who could then destroy them and erase them from history. Unlike the executive branch, Congress is under no obligation to retain records or disclose them to the public. On Friday, the White House informed Ms. Feinstein that it intended to preserve the report under the Presidential Records Act. That step bars the incoming administration from destroying all copies of the report, a scenario Senate Democrats feared. But President Obama did not heed their calls to declassify the study, which means that the report would remain secret for at least 12 years.
One sure way to avoid that travesty is to declassify the report, as Democratic lawmakers are urging Mr. Obama to do. “We can’t erase our mistakes by destroying the history books,” said Ms. Feinstein, who released a partly redacted summary of the report in December 2014. “While this report isn’t easy to read, it offers a vital lesson on what happens when we ignore our values.” “We can’t erase our mistakes by destroying the history books,” said Ms. Feinstein, who released a partly redacted summary of the report in December 2014. “While this report isn’t easy to read, it offers a vital lesson on what happens when we ignore our values.”
As Mr. Obama considers this decision, he should keep in mind that a disturbing number of Americans continue to approve of the use of torture in some circumstances, in part because they are unaware of the terrible abuses inflicted in the name of national security. Mr. Obama should reconsider his decision against declassifying the report.
Americans continue to approve of torture in some circumstances, in part because they are unaware of the terrible abuses inflicted in the name of national security.
Last week, the International Committee of the Red Cross released the results of a survey showing that 46 percent of American respondents said they approved of torturing a captured enemy combatant to obtain military information, which is a violation of international law, while only 30 percent disapproved. Asked whether torture was wrong, or an inevitable “part of war,” only 54 percent of American respondents said it was wrong.Last week, the International Committee of the Red Cross released the results of a survey showing that 46 percent of American respondents said they approved of torturing a captured enemy combatant to obtain military information, which is a violation of international law, while only 30 percent disapproved. Asked whether torture was wrong, or an inevitable “part of war,” only 54 percent of American respondents said it was wrong.
This level of tolerance has been shaped in some measure by the government’s reluctance to be forthright about the nature of torture and by the Obama administration’s decision early on not to investigate the abuses committed by intelligence personnel for potential criminal prosecution. The White House has also shielded a trove of photos of detainee abuse by arguing that their release could endanger American troops abroad.This level of tolerance has been shaped in some measure by the government’s reluctance to be forthright about the nature of torture and by the Obama administration’s decision early on not to investigate the abuses committed by intelligence personnel for potential criminal prosecution. The White House has also shielded a trove of photos of detainee abuse by arguing that their release could endanger American troops abroad.
Before he leaves, Mr. Obama can take steps to prevent further whitewashing of this history.Before he leaves, Mr. Obama can take steps to prevent further whitewashing of this history.