Armeen Khalili, Finalist in the Peace and Conflict Category

This letter features reporting from “Sept. 11 Judge Suppresses Confessions Due to CIA Torture” by John Ryan

Content warning: Descriptions of torture methods used by the CIA.

Dear Senator Tom Cotton,

After 9/11, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) created torture programs using lawyers, psychologists, and physicians to design and justify inhuman interrogations at CIA Black Sites and Guantameno Bay. According to The New England Journal of Medicine, of at least 117 prisoners, 39 were subjected to torture techniques, some of which were nudity, sleep deprivation, throwing prisoners against walls, blaring deafening music, punching prisoners, waterboarding, and putting prisoners in extremely painful stress positions. In the article titled “Sept. 11 Judge Suppresses Confessions Due to CIA Torture,” journalist John Ryan reports that a military judge ruled Ammar al Baluchi’s statements and confessions while housed at the CIA Black Sites and Guantameno Bay inadmissable, finding that they were tainted by years of CIA torture. This decision has been a rare instance of accountability for the CIA’s post-9/11 torture regime. As reported in The Guardian, the American Civil Liberties Union calls the CIA torture program “‘a joint criminal enterprise’ and a ‘war crime.’” The CIA was not the only one complicit, though. The New England Journal of Medicine states that medical professionals “filled four basic roles at the black sites: clearing terrorist suspects as ‘medically fit’ for torture; monitoring torture to prevent death and treat injuries; developing novel torture methods; and actually torturing prisoners,” and that “[l]awyers agreed to provide immunity assurances that specific torture techniques were legal.”

In school, I remember learning about the rule of law, and how it was a founding principle of our nation: that no person or institution is above the law. It deeply troubles me that the perpetrators of this program have not been prosecuted. As an American citizen who deeply believes in human rights, justice, and the integrity of U.S. institutions, I believe that this issue is critical to our nation’s credibility and justice system. When governments infringe on rights in the name of security, it damages public trust, the rule of law, and transparency. The American people deserve to know the full truth of what was done in our name so that future wrongdoings can be prevented and so the United States can credibly claim leadership in human rights and uphold its founding principles.

I write to you specifically in your capacity as the Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. I understand that the Intelligence Committee, in the past, authored a more than 6,700 page report on the CIA’s post-9/11 torture regime. However, as The New England Journal of Medicine states, only a “600 page report (a redacted summary of the still-classified 6000-page report)” is released to the public. The Guardian reports that the ACLU emphasizes that accountability “is about ensuring that the people behind the torture program are held accountable so history doesn't repeat itself.” The limited disclosure prevents any meaningful oversight by the American people and leaves critical questions unanswered. I urge you to move to fully declassify the report in order to ensure that future detainee interrogation practices remain within the confines of the law. Only through full transparency will we achieve the accountability necessary to ensure that this doesn’t happen again.

Sincerely,
Armeen Khalili

Armeen Khalili is a senior at The Oakridge School in Arlington, Texas. He is interested in politics and international relations and plans to study these subjects in college.

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