The Torture Report: A Historical Perspective

Dec 11, 2014

The release of a 600-page executive summary of the CIA torture report on Tuesday gave confirmation and imagery to many of our saddest suspicions and vague understandings of the CIA’s use of torture. The report, conducted by the Senate Intelligence Committee between 2009 and 2013, reveals that the U.S. carried out post-9/11 “enhanced interrogation techniques” in an ineffective and fear-fueled effort to prevent terrorism. In an attempt to protect our nation, we lost our values, and then tried to destroy the evidence. Still, many shameful specifics are now public knowledge:

Interrogators have exposed detainees to dark, cold isolation, forced rectal feedings, threats to family members, simulated drowning, 180 hours of sleep deprivation, and much more. The Justice Department still hasn’t pressed any federal charges.

This government transparency is new, but the sins are old. Sojourners has advocated for the end and exposure of U.S. torture techniques for years. Take a look at the Sojourners articles below to learn more about the effects of the program and the dreary history that precipitated the report.

January 2003: From Torture to Truth by Diana Ortiz

August 2004: The Theology of Torture by Jim Wallis

January 2006: Losing our Souls by Chuck Gutenson

June 2006: Inside Man: An Interview with Glen Kumekawa by Rose Marie Berger

February 2008: Art as a Permanent Accusation by Rose Marie Berger

July 2008: ‘History will honor your actions’ by Louis Vitale

April 2009: Torture: What part of ‘do not repay evil for evil’ don’t you understand by Ryan Roderick Beiler

July 2009: What’s Done in the Dark by Valerie Elvert Dixon

July 2011: The Body in Pain by Robin Kirk

April 2012: Destroying our rights to save them by Diana Ortiz

August 2013 Jesus and the Top Secret Empire by Reta Haltman Finger

April 2014: In the Name of Security by David Gushee
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