By The World Organization Against Torture
President Donald Trump has nominated Marshall Billingslea, a man who openly advocated for the use of torture, to lead the human rights policy of the United States. This is deeply wrong in principle, and in practice puts both victims of torture and those defending them at increased risk.
The undersigned, members of the global SOS-Torture Network of the World Organization Against Torture (OMCT), urge U.S. senators to reject Billingslea’s confirmation.
As an official in the George W. Bush administration, and a member of what has been referred to as the “torture team,” Billingslea showed a particular zeal in promoting interrogation methods amounting to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.
He did so not only in violation of the absolute prohibition of torture enshrined in various international treaties to which the U.S. is a party, but even, at times, despite protests from high-ranking U.S. military lawyers.
One well-documented example is that of Mohamedou Ould Slahi, a Mauritanian detained without charge at Guantanamo Bay from 2002 until his release in 2016, whose mental health was so affected by the treatment he suffered following Billingslea’s recommendations that he had started hearing voices.
The Marine officer in charge of Slahi’s prosecution resigned rather than support court proceedings based on confessions extracted under torture.
If a man with such a track record was to become Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy and Human Rights, it would be a slap in the face of countless torture victims throughout the world – men, women and yes, children, who have survived the unspeakable.
We work with these survivors every day, or with the families of those who never came back alive from police stations, prisons or other places where authoritarian regimes routinely break bodies and minds. We do our best to help them rebuild their lives and, when they so wish, seek justice. Many among us carry out this work at great personal risk. A risk that has steadily increased over the past years, as autocrats worldwide feel emboldened to break the law with impunity.
Civilian security, democracy and human rights are all premised on the rule of law. The absolute prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, as well as accountability and justice, are its foundational norms and values. Should Billingslea be confirmed to this position, his credibility – and that of the United States – on such fundamental issues would be profoundly affected. Regimes that resort to torture, sexual abuse, and extrajudicial killings would feel they have a license to carry on without fear of consequences. The people we help would be made even more vulnerable. And our own security would weigh even less than it already does.
An official who helped develop the faulty legal justification for torture is the wrong man for the job. The U.S. Senate has for many years showed leadership in contributing to the United Nations Fund for Victims of Torture. It should stay the course and reject this nomination.
List of signatories:
1. ACAT Belgique
2. ACAT Bénin
3. ACAT Burundi
4. ACAT Cameroun
5. ACAT Canada
6. ACAT Deutschland
7. ACAT France
8. ACAT Ghana
9. ACAT Liberia
10. ACAT République Centrafricaine
11. ACAT Spain/Cataluna
12. ACAT Suisse
13. ACAT Sweden
14. ACAT Tchad
15. ACADHOSHA, DRC
16. ACI Participa, Honduras
17. Alliance pour l’universalité des droits Fondamentaux, DRC
18. Alternative Espace Niger, Niger
19. Asociación Pro Derechos Humanos de España (APRODH-E), Spain
20. Association Tchadienne pour la Promotion et la Défense des Droits de l’Homme (ATPDH), Tchad
21. Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM), India
22. Centro de Derechos Humanos Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas (FrayBa), Mexico
23. Centro de Prevencion, Tratamiento y Rehabilitation (CPTRT), Honduras
24. Centro Prodh, Mexico
25. Coalition des Organisations de Défense des Droits de l’Homme et de la Démocratie au Niger (CODDHD), Niger
26. Colectivo de Abogados “José Alvear Restrepo” (CAJAR), Colombia
27. Collectif des Associations Contre l’Impunité au Togo (CACIT), Togo
28. Committee against Torture (CAT), Russia
29. Documenta, Mexico
30. Enfants Solidaires d’Afrique et du Monde (ESAM), Bénin
31. FIACAT
32. Fundación Comité de Solidaridad con Presos Políticos (FCSPP), Colombia
33. Greek Helsinki Monitor, Greece
34. Gulf Center for Human Rights
35. Human Rights Commission of Pakistan
36. Independent Medico-Legal Unit (IMLU), Kenya
37. Instituto de Derechos Humanos de la UCA (IDHUCA), El Salvador
38. Instituto de Terapia e Investigación sobre las Secuelas de la Tortura y de la Violencia Estatal (ITEI), Bolivia
39. International Service for Human Rights (ISHR)
40. La Cimade, France
41. Lebanese Center for Human Rights (CLDH), Lebanon
42. Ligue algérienne pour la défense des droits de l’Homme (LADDH), Algérie
43. Mouvement ivorien des droits humains (MIDH), Côte d’Ivoire
44. Odhikar, Bangladesh
45. Paso del Norte, Mexico
46. Philippines Alliance of Human Rights Advocate (PAHRA), Philippines
47. PromoLex, Moldova
48. Quill Foundation, India
49. Réseau de protection des victimes, témoins et défenseurs des Droits Humains (RDDH), DRC
50. SOHRAM-Casra, Turkey
51. SOS IJM – SOS Information Juridique Multidimensionnelle, DRC
52. SOS-Torture Burundi, Burundi
53. Synergie des femmes contre les violences sexuelles (SFVS), DRC
54. Task Force Detainees of the Philippines (TFDP), Philippines
55. UDEFEGUA, Guatemala
56. World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)
57. Xumek, Argentina
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See also:
* Tribune News Service: Trump’s Human Rights Pick Marshall Billingslea Is Torture Apologist.
* CQ/Roll Call: Bush-Era Torture Memos Cast Doubt On Human Rights Nominee’s Approval.
* Amnesty USA: Marshall Billingslea Should Not be Confirmed.
* Human Rights Watch: Groups Express Serious Concern Regarding Billingslea Nomination To State Department Role.
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Previously in torture:
* Doc Of Rages.
* They Said No To Torture.
* The Trews: What Should We Think About CIA Torture.
* The Tortured History Of The Senate Torture Report.
* Torture USA.
* The Best Reporting On Detention And Rendition Under Obama.
* Primer: Indefinite Detention And The NDAA.
* The Senate Report On CIA Interrogations You May Never See.
* Guantanamo: If The Light Goes Out.
* The Prison That Just Can’t Be Closed.
* Barack Obama’s Secret Island Prison.
* Guantanamo Prisoner Lifts Lid.
* Read The Fucking Torture Report, People.
* American Torture Story – Chicago Chapter.
* Obama Administration Blocks Release Of New Torture Details.
* REVEALED: The Boom And Bust Of The CIA’s Secret Torture Sites.
* Torture By Iraqi Militias: The Report Washington Did Not Want You To See.
* ‘Stunning:’ CIA Admits ‘Mistakenly’ Deleting Copy of Senate Torture Report.
* Incommunicado’ Forever: Gitmo Detainee’s Case Stalled For 2,477 Days And Counting.
* The Terror Suspect Who Had Nothing To Give.
* Abducted, Tortured And Held 14 Years Without Trial, Gitmo Diary Author Finally Free.
* CIA Cables Detail New Deputy Director’s Role in Torture.
* How Torture Tears Apart Societies From Within.
* Homan Square: A Report Back.
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And:
* John Conroy’s Unspeakable Acts, Ordinary People: The Dynamics of Torture.
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Comments welcome.
Posted on October 10, 2019