Senator Wyden: Americans will be "profoundly disturbed" by report on CIA

[ProSense]

27. Wyden's full statement

Wyden Statement on the Senate Intelligence Committee’s Vote to Declassify its Interrogation Report

Thursday, April 3, 2014

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) released the following statement after the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence voted to begin the process of declassifying the committee’s 6,200 page report on CIA interrogations:

“I believe the American people will be profoundly disturbed by the contents of this report. Today, I joined my colleagues in voting to begin the process of declassifying the findings. Though I can’t provide any details until that declassification process is finished, I can say that the American people will see that much of what CIA officials have said about the effectiveness of coercive interrogations was simply untrue. I have spoken about the intelligence leadership’s culture of misinformation before and it continues to be a problem to this day.

I have also been asking questions publicly for years about the role that outside contractors played in the interrogation program and I hope the American people will soon get some answers to those questions. I urge the administration to move quickly to declassify this report. It is going to make many people uncomfortable, but getting the facts about torture out to the American people will keep these mistakes from being repeated and make our national intelligence agencies stronger and more effective in the long run.”

http://www.wyden.senate.gov/news/press-releases/wyden-statement-on-the-senate-intelligence-committees-vote-to-declassify-its-interrogation-report

Other statements

Senate Committee Votes to Release Landmark Report on CIA Torture

Upcoming Declassification Review Will Be Key Test for President Obama

WASHINGTON – The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence voted today, by a bipartisan majority, to submit to the White House for declassification review and public release the executive summary, findings, and conclusions of the panel’s report on the CIA’s Bush-era rendition, secret detention, and torture program. The full 6,300-page report is the most comprehensive account to date of the torture program.

"The vote on this landmark report is a big step towards making sure that all Americans know the truth about torture, so that we can make sure that torture is never used again," said Christopher Anders, senior legislative counsel with the American Civil Liberties Union. "The key challenge for President Obama now is whether he will finally stand up to the CIA. The president should assert his authority to have the White House itself, and not the CIA, decide what gets declassified and what gets redacted. The CIA should not be handed a black-out pen to hide its use of torture or the lies it told to keep the torture program going."

A coalition of human rights and civil liberties groups sent a letter to President Obama last week to urge him, "given the CIA's inherent conflict of interest concerning the report," to have the White House itself lead the declassification process.

According to media accounts, the Senate report found that the CIA misled Congress, the Justice Department, and the Bush White House about the use of torture methods such as simulated drownings, shackling in painful positions, induced hypothermia, and slamming detainees against walls. The report also reportedly found that such methods did not help locate Osama bin Laden or thwart any terrorist plots, and were in fact counterproductive.

The ACLU is currently litigating a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit to obtain the full investigative report, the CIA’s official response defending its actions, and an internal agency review commissioned by then-CIA Director Leon Panetta. The Panetta review reportedly contradicts some of the CIA’s official response to the Senate report. The CIA agreed in January in the lawsuit to process for possible release the CIA response and the Panetta review. That potential release is scheduled for May 22.

https://www.aclu.org/national-security/senate-committee-votes-release-landmark-report-cia-torture

Comment Of Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee, On The Senate Intelligence Committee’s Torture Report

“The Intelligence Committee’s report on the now-defunct CIA detention and interrogation program should be shared with the American people to the greatest extent possible. The Senate at its best can act as the conscience of the Nation, and part of that responsibility is ensuring transparency in our government. We cannot learn from our mistakes without understanding what happened and how they occurred. The administration should move swiftly to review the committee’s executive summary, findings and conclusions so that they can be made public in as full a form as possible.

“The use of torture during the previous administration was a shameful chapter in our history, and I fully support the Committee’s efforts to investigate and document what really happened. Senator Feinstein deserves enormous credit for her continued leadership in seeking declassification of portions of this report. I applaud her and those members of the Intelligence Committee who took the important step today of bringing this critical information one step closer to the public.”

http://www.leahy.senate.gov/press/comment-of-senator-patrick-leahy-d-vt-chairman-senate-judiciary-committee-on-the-senate-intelligence-committees-torture-report

Udall Heralds Historic Vote to Declassify Senate Intelligence Committee Study of CIA's Detention, Interrogation Program

Udall Pledges to Fight to Ensure White House, CIA Do Not Stymie Public Release of Landmark Study

Mark Udall, a leading advocate for Congress's duty to provide strong and independent oversight of covert agencies, heralded the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence's bipartisan 11-3 vote today to declassify its landmark study of the CIA's detention and interrogation program. Udall, who serves on the committee and has led the effort to declassify the Senate Intelligence Committee's study, pledged to press the White House and CIA for the fullest possible declassification of the committee’s report.

"Today's vote is a historic moment for the Senate Intelligence Committee and our vigorous oversight efforts. I am calling on the president today to oversee the declassification process to ensure that as much of this important document as possible sees the light of day," Udall said. "The Constitution is clear and Coloradans agree that the Senate Intelligence Committee has a responsibility to oversee the CIA — regardless of who is president — and provide a full and accurate accounting of the operation and effectiveness of this misguided and destructive program.

"The public release of this study is critical to shedding light on this dark chapter of our country's history. It is also critical to restoring the credibility and integrity of the CIA as an institution. Anyone who dismisses this study for its focus on actions of the past need only look at the events of the past few months — in particular, the CIA's unauthorized search of the committee's computers — to understand that the CIA not only hasn't learned from its mistakes, but continues to perpetuate them. This study should impart crucial lessons to the CIA about the need to better operate and assess its programs and to accurately represent them. Acknowledging the detention and interrogation program's flaws is essential for the CIA's long-term institutional integrity, as well as for the legitimacy of ongoing sensitive programs. The findings of this report directly relate to how other CIA programs are managed today.

"To those who continue to argue that torture is effective, this study makes a powerful argument to the contrary — drawing from six million of the CIA's own records and past interview reports of key personnel to do so. I hope that one of the key lessons that the CIA and our national security leaders take from this study is that we should never again torture in the name of national security — and that oversight of intelligence operations is essential in a constitutional democracy."

Udall, who has repeatedly pressed the White House to publicly commit to declassifying the Senate Intelligence Committee's study, further urged the White House to ensure the CIA does not oversee the declassification of the study.

"Following today's historic vote, the president faces what I believe should be a straightforward question. He can defer declassification decisions to the CIA — which has demonstrated an inability to face the truth about this program — or pass this authority to the Director of National Intelligence or hold on to the redaction pen himself," Udall added. "The president needs to understand that the CIA's clear conflict of interest here requires that the White House step in and manage this process."

http://www.markudall.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=4154