L. MICHAEL HAGER

The treaty to which he referred was The Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. During the George W. Bush administration the CIA had tortured 3 captives in the War on Terror. The CIA destroyed the video tapes of the torture sessions and many Americans wanted President Obama to investigate and prosecute the torturers in accordance with the requirements of the treaty when there is a torture incident. However, a major ethical and legal complication was that the Bush Administration had issued an official legal memorandum to the CIA which said that the forms of torture that they used, water boarding, was not legally torture. Most legal scholars agree that this legal opinion was incorrect and America had previously prosecuted and punished the few American soldiers who had used Waterboarding. President Obama decided that since the CIA torturers, had been authorized in writing, that a criminal prosecution would be unfair. He also declined to have the Justice Department investigate the torture incidents, Many disagreed, and this quotation summarized their point of view. See {642428} for some of the language of the Convention.

The treaty to which he referred was The Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. During the George W. Bush administration the CIA had tortured 3 captives in the War on Terror. The CIA destroyed the video tapes of the torture sessions and many Americans wanted President Obama to investigate and prosecute the torturers in accordance with the requirements of the treaty when there is a torture incident. However, a major ethical and legal complication was that the Bush Administration had issued an official legal memorandum to the CIA which said that the forms of torture that they used, water boarding, was not legally torture. Most legal scholars agree that this legal opinion was incorrect and America had previously prosecuted and punished the few American soldiers who had used Waterboarding. President Obama decided that since the CIA torturers, had been authorized in writing, that a criminal prosecution would be unfair. He also declined to have the Justice Department investigate the torture incidents, Many disagreed, and this quotation summarized their point of view. See {642428} for some of the language of the Convention.