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Senate Report Strongest Refutation to Date of 'A Few Bad Apples' Theory, Says Amnesty International

New Report Exposes Direct Link Between High-Level Authorization and the Spread of Torture Throughout Detention Sites;

WASHINGTON

Upon release of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) full report on the treatment of detainees in U.S. custody, Amnesty International USA's executive director Larry Cox issued the following statement:

"The SASC report is a pivotal piece in the torture jigsaw puzzle that was created by the previous administration. The report focused on military interrogations only and concluded that then Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and other senior Pentagon officials authorized harsh interrogation techniques for detainees in U.S. military control.

"The report demonstrates that from the moment that Secretary Rumsfeld authorized specific techniques, torture began to spread from Guantanamo to Afghanistan to Iraq. All the while, the former Bush administration was publicly making the case that allegations of torture were aberrations, covering up for what we now know was a very deliberate policy embraced at the highest levels of government.

"Even with the release of the SASC report, the American people still only know part of the picture. The only way to complete the puzzle is to have a comprehensive, impartial and bipartisan investigation to fully examine and report publicly on torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of detainees.

"Amnesty International is grateful to hear that President Obama agrees an independent, public commission with the force of law is the best way to examine how these inhumane practices became policy -- so that they can never happen again. An honest and thorough self-examination is the foundation on which the United States can rebuild its credibility as a positive force for human rights and the rule of law around the world."

Amnesty International is a global movement of millions of people demanding human rights for all people - no matter who they are or where they are. We are the world's largest grassroots human rights organization.

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