Gonzales Pledges to Preserve Civil Liberties (WP, Thurs. Jan. 6)

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52815-2005Jan6.html

Gonzales Pledges to Preserve Civil Liberties

By William Branigin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 6, 2005; 3:11 PM

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In a statement calling for rejection of his nomination, a liberal group, People for the American Way, called Gonzales "a lawyer who too often allows his legal judgment to be driven by his close relationship with the president rather than adherence to the law or the Constitution."

As White House counsel, the group said, "Gonzales has been a central architect of some of the most controversial elements of the administration's war on terror." It charged that he "participated in a dramatic weakening of U.S. commitments to the Geneva Conventions and against torture" and has led Bush's effort "to pack the federal appellate courts with right-wing judges and to crusade for unprecedented Executive Branch secrecy."

The nomination also came under attack today from the human rights group, Amnesty International, which said Gonzales had refused in the hearing to disavow administration efforts to redefine torture in ways that allowed certain mistreatment, including mock drowning.

"In 2002, Alberto Gonzales participated in attempts to provide legal cover for the infliction of torture by agents of the United States, and there was nothing in his responses so far today to suggest a change of heart," said a statement issued by Alexandra Arriaga, director of government relations for Amnesty's U.S. branch.

"Judge Gonzales also failed to reverse his position that the president has the authority to lift the ban on torture," the statement added. "As a leading player who has sought to exempt U.S. interrogators from the prohibition on all ill-treatment contained in the Convention against Torture, his glib statements today offer no reassurance whatsoever."