President Trump nominated Gina Haspel to be the Director of the CIA. There are serious allegations that she was closely involved in the CIA’s torture program after 9/11, including at an alleged CIA secret prison in Thailand where two detainees were tortured in 2002. She is also alleged to have played a leading role in the destruction of videotaped evidence of torture committed against these two detainees. If Gina Haspel were to be confirmed with these allegations unanswered and the truth obscured by secrecy and obstruction, it would be yet another demonstration of the US government turning a blind eye to torture committed in the program. The risk for human rights posed by this situation — not least under a President who has publicly voiced his support for torture — is clear. Without transparency and full accountability for past human rights violations, their future recurrence become all the more likely. Urge your two Senators to vote NO on Gina Haspel for CIA Director unless the Department of Justice conducts a criminal investigation into her alleged role in torture. In addition, any information of her involvement in human rights violations committed in the program should be declassified and made public.If there is admissible evidence of Gina Haspel’s involvement in torture, she should be brought to trial, not handed a promotion. Her due process rights must be fully upheld.
