Torture Report Proves Independent Commission Needed

Documents newly released on Friday evening by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) paint a devastating picture of the Bush Administration's use of torture.  They include the final Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) report on the "torture memos" written by Bush lawyers John Yoo and Jay Bybee.  The report reveals the deep involvement of the Bush White House in creating the torture program, that the CIA sought "advance pardons" for interrogators and that former Attorney General Michael Mukasey called one DOJ torture memo a "slovenly mistake."  OPR also notes in the report, however, that its efforts were hampered by "lost" email records, the need to seek voluntary cooperation from witnesses and other problems, all "exacerbated by limited OPR resources." 

"OPR tells a deeply troubling story," said Stephen Rickard, Washington director for the Open Society Institute.  "But to get the whole truth and avoid future disasters we need an independent commission with the mandate, powers and resources required to provide a comprehensive accounting for the American people and to make recommendations." 

The Open Society Institute joins 18 other organizations urging President Obama to create such a high-level, non-partisan commission of inquiry into detainee treatment. 

The Department of Justice also released a memorandum written by Associate Deputy Attorney General David Margolis who found that Yoo's "extreme" views of executive power led him to act in "marked contrast" to the "high standard" reasonably expected of Department of Justice attorneys.  In a cover letter to the Congress providing the documents, Assistant Attorney General Ron Weich said that based on Margolis's ruling Yoo and Bybee could have been subjected to professional discipline if still employed by DOJ.  Margolis declined to refer these matters to state bar ethics panels, but declared this a "close question" and noted that bar associations may nonetheless chose to conduct ethics investigations of Yoo and Bybee.

"Mr. Margolis says that the DOJ judgments are 'less important than the public's ability to make its own judgments,'" noted Rickard. "But for Americans truly to be able to make those judgments we must have an independent investigation with adequate powers and resources."  The Open Society Institute also praises senators Richard Durbin and Sheldon Whitehouse and others in Congress for calling for the OPR report and its release.

The Office of Professional Responsibility report and the memorandum from by Associate Deputy Attorney General Margolis are available for download below.

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