A COMMISSION OF INQUIRY IS ESSENTIAL IN LIGHT OF THE OPR REPORT AND VICE PRESIDENT CHENEY'S STATEMENT ABOUT THE ROLE OF THE WHITE HOUSE IN TORTURE

WASHINGTON, DC - In response to the recently released report from the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) on the conduct of lawyers at the Office of Legal Counsel between 2001 and 2008, Rev. Richard L. Killmer, Executive Director of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, issued the following statement:

"The recently released report from the Office of Professional Responsibility shows that the White House under President Bush encouraged lawyers in the Justice Department to write memos misinterpreting the law in order to sanction the use of torture.

This report corroborates former Vice President Cheney's recent statement that the lawyers in the Justice Department had just 'done what we asked them to do.'  The new facts revealed in the report plus Cheney's recent claim that he was a 'big supporter of waterboarding' make the need for a Commission of Inquiry on U.S.-sponsored torture compelling.  

A Commission of Inquiry is necessary to fully describe the scope and depth of the use of torture by the U.S., to resolve questions about the techniques that were used, and to recommend safeguards that will ensure that torture by the U.S. never happens again."