The Troubling Buzz On Torture

Torture has certainly been the buzz word of late on Capitol Hill, and with good reason.

The confirmation process for Judge Michael Mukasey to be the next attorney general was recently approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee. This passage was presumed to go smoothly early on, but the road got very bumpy when Judge Mukasey carefully avoided stating that waterboarding is torture when authorized by the federal government. He also refused to say that it is illegal for foreign countries to waterboard, beat and shock American citizens.

What’s troubling is that waterboarding has been repeatedly classified as torture, as well as banned, by the United States. Congress has enacted four statutes and ratified two treaties that prohibit torture of all kinds – waterboarding included.

The Senate should not have the confidence to confirm a nominee who cannot clearly state that a practice Congress has already made illegal is, in fact, illegal.

The ACLU now calls on the full Senate to obtain what the Judiciary Committee could not – a firm commitment from Judge Mukasey to enforce the laws outlawing torture that protect not only our American values, but also our citizens abroad.