May, 09 2018, 12:00am EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Brenda Bowser Soder,bowsersoderb@humanrightsfirst.org,O -202/370-3323, C - 301/906-4460
Bipartisan Group of 115 Retired and Former Career Ambassadors Warn Senate that Confirming Haspel Would Undercut the Work of Diplomats Around the World
One hundred and fifteen retired and former career and non-career U.S.
WASHINGTON
One hundred and fifteen retired and former career and non-career U.S. ambassadors, who served under both Republican and Democratic administrations, today sent a letter to members of the Senate expressing their serious concern over the nomination of Gina Haspel for director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) due to Haspel's involvement in the agency's torture program and her subsequent role in the destruction of evidence related to the abuse. The letter comes as the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence holds Haspel's nomination hearing this morning.
"We have no reason to question Ms. Haspel's credentials as both a leader and an experienced intelligence professional. Yet she is also emblematic of choices made by certain American officials in the wake of the attacks of September 11, 2001 that dispensed with our ideals and international commitments to the ultimate detriment of our national security," wrote the ambassadors. "What we do know, based on credible, and as yet uncontested reporting, leaves us of the view that [Ms. Haspel] should be disqualified from holding cabinet rank."
Gina Haspel ran a secret CIA "black site" detention facility at which at least one detainee, Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, was repeatedly tortured, including by waterboarding. Further, she played a central role in advocating for, and ultimately carrying out an order to destroy 92 videotapes of individuals in U.S. custody being subjected to torture, despite the objections of multiple Bush Administration and congressional leaders.
In their letter, the retired and former ambassadors note that Ms. Haspel's confirmation would reduce the United States' moral authority and influence, and embolden foreign governments that rely on torture and other forms of inhuman treatment to maintain power.
"The message inherent in [Haspel's confirmation] will be understood by authoritarian leaders around the world. They will welcome it, as it will allow them to proclaim, however cynically, that their behavior is no different from ours," added the ambassadors. "Her confirmation will thus undercut the work of countless diplomats, military service members, and intelligence professionals who continue to engage with their foreign counterparts on why the United States believes that torture and other forms of abuse are not only morally wrong, but strategically shortsighted and legally impermissible. In an era in which the rule of law is under considerable strain around the world, this is a cost we can ill afford."
Human Rights First is a non-profit, nonpartisan international human rights organization based in New York and Washington D.C. Human Rights First believes that building respect for human rights and the rule of law will help ensure the dignity to which every individual is entitled and will stem tyranny, extremism, intolerance, and violence.
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