Washington (December 09, 2014) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) issued the following statement after the Senate Intelligence Committee today released its five-year review of the CIA’s detention and interrogation program. The review concludes that the CIA’s “enhanced interrogation techniques” were more brutal than reported to lawmakers and the public and were not effective, and management of the program was flawed and inadequate, resulting in the deliberate sharing of inaccurate information about the program by the CIA. In the House of Representatives, Senator Markey introduced the Torture Outsourcing Prevention Act to ban the practice of “extraordinary rendition,” whereby prisoners captured or detained by the U.S. government are transferred for interrogation or detention to countries known to use torture.

“Torture is wrong. It does not matter where or by whom it is committed, torture has no place in civilized society. By releasing this report, we can begin to move past the Bush administration policies that undercut our nation’s long-standing position in the world as a just and moral leader. This report takes a crucial first step towards renewing the stature of the United States in the eyes of the global community, and I applaud Senator Feinstein and the staff of the Intelligence Committee for their tireless efforts to present the truth.

 

“A free society must be able to debate the actions of its government – and take corrective action where necessary. The Bush administration’s torture policies and extraordinary renditions were contrary to the best traditions of the United States. The techniques described in this report were barbaric, illegal and ineffective and we owe it to the world to ensure these activities never happen again.

“I commend the men and women in our military, intelligence and diplomatic communities for their dedication to keeping Americans safe. We owe it to them to ensure this repugnant enterprise of torture is relegated forever to the history books.”