December 12, 2007

CCR: the campaign to get an investigation of TORTURE

Dear XXXXXX,

We need you to take action today and demand a full investigation of the CIA's destruction of tapes that document its program of torture.

Last week, The New York Times revealed that in 2005, in the midst of public outcry and investigations of its secret overseas prisons, the CIA destroyed videotapes documenting the interrogation of at least two men in its custody. These videotapes likely capture the torture of these men - including one man, Abu Zubaydah, who the government admits to having waterboarded.

Delaware Senator Joseph Biden has called for a special counsel to investigate the CIA's destruction of evidence. No one is above the law: the CIA - and the Bush administration - must be held accountable for their program of torture.

Take action:

  • Write a letter to your Senators or call your Senators' offices to demand an inquiry into the destruction of torture evidence. The Senate switchboard can be reached at (202) 224-3121.
  • Call Senator Biden's office to express your support for a special counsel. His office can be reached at (202) 224-5042.

The destruction of evidence by the CIA has a direct impact on our client Majid Khan, the former Baltimore resident who was abducted, disappeared, and sent to secret CIA detention in 2003, tortured and held in "black sites" for three years, and then sent to Guantánamo in September 2006.

In fact, before the story broke, CCR attorneys filed a motion to preserve evidence of Majid's torture, fearing exactly what was confirmed by The New York Times: that the CIA has been destroying evidence. Click here to read the motion.


Our attorneys recently met with Majid, and what they report back is chilling: from their unclassified descriptions, Majid is a shadow of his former self - in their words, "painfully thin and pale" - a marked difference from the vibrant man we see in photos taken of him before he was abducted and sent to three years of CIA interrogation under torture. He has symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, as well as scars from a suicide attempt in which he tried to chew through one of his arteries. Click here to read the recently declassified information from our visits with Majid.

Majid was tortured in CIA secret prisons - and the CIA may have destroyed evidence of his torture, as well as the torture of countless others. The interrogations caught on tape also may falsely implicate others held at Guantánamo or elsewhere who would need the tapes as evidence to defend themselves. We need to know how the tapes came to be destroyed and why.

There must be a full, independent investigation into the CIA's destruction of evidence. Write and call your Senators today to demand the appointment of a special counsel to ensure that the CIA's criminal behavior does not go unpunished.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Majid_Khan_(Guantanamo_detainee) The very sad and upsetting link to the wiki entry on Majik Khan.

May God forgive those persecuting and destroying this man and his family.

Veeger

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