September 30, 2004
Dear Representative:
We strongly oppose a provision in H.R. 10 that would authorize the outsourcing of torture to brutal dictatorships like Syria, Saudi Arabia, and China.
The legal prohibition on torture is absolute. Along with 135 other countries that have ratified the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the United States has committed itself to upholding this fundamental principle of human dignity. Just as governments cannot engage in torture directly, they cannot send people to places where they risk being tortured. The Convention against Torture states that “no State Party shall expel, return (‘refouler’) or extradite a person to another State where there are substantial grounds for believing that he would be in danger of being subjected to torture.”
Congress reiterated its commitment to upholding this obligation in 1998 when it passed section 2242 of the Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act, stating that “[i]t shall be the policy of the United States not to expel, extradite, or otherwise effect the involuntary return of any person to a country in which there are substantial grounds for believing the person would be in danger of being subjected to torture, regardless of whether the person is physically present in the United States.” Section 3032 of H.R. 10 would violate that legal and moral obligation by permitting the U.S. government to turn over people to other countries even if it is 100 percent certain they will be tortured. This will have immediate and damaging consequences.
For example, the government of China has been demanding that the United States turn over to it a number of ethnic Uighur detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Because it believes the detainees would likely be tortured, the Bush Administration has rightly refused and is instead seeking other countries to accept them. If Congress were to approve this provision, there would be no legal bar to sending these detainees back to torture.
By contrast, in 2002 the U.S. government sent a transiting Canadian-Syrian national, Maher Arar, to Syria despite its systematic use of torture. Now safely back in Canada, Arar alleges he was severely tortured, including beatings with electrical cords, during his ten months in a Syrian prison. Such incidents undermine the credibility of U.S. efforts to promote human rights and democracy in the Arab world, which President Bush has identified as a key element in the Administration’s long-term strategy to combat terrorism. If this provision is passed, such incidents will become more common, dealing a profound blow to America’s moral authority in pursuing a vital goal.
In the wake of the Abu Ghraib scandal, President Bush and Congress have gone to great pains to persuade the world that U.S. policy does not condone torture. If Congress enacts this legislation, it would make tolerance of torture official U.S. policy. We urge you to strike this provision from the bill and to reaffirm America’s commitment to a world without torture.
Sincerely,
William Schulz
Amnesty International USA
Douglas A. Johnson
The Center for Victims of Torture
Jennifer Windsor
Freedom House
Elisa Massimino
Human Rights First
Kenneth Roth
Human Rights Watch
Scott Horton
International League for Human Rights
Ralston H. Deffenbaugh, Jr.
Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services
Robin Phillips
Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights
Leonard Rubenstein
Physicians for Human Rights
Todd Howland
RFK Memorial Center for Human Rights
R. Timothy Ziemer, Rear Admiral USN (Ret.)
World Relief
Related Material
U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Investigation of the Maher Arar Case
Letter, July 16, 2004
More on Torture and Mistreatment of US Detainees
Thematic Page
Torture and the Law
Background Briefing, May 24, 2004
What You Can Do
Urge Congress to Uphold Rights in Intelligence Bill