US government officials approved brutal and illegal interrogation methods in the post-9/11 fight again terrorism, many of which are documented in unprecedented detail in a 2004 report by the CIA Inspector General that was made public on August 24, 2009. With the release of the Inspector General’s report, Attorney General Eric Holder announced that he has asked a federal prosecutor to conduct a preliminary review of post-9/11 interrogation abuses to determine whether federal laws were violated.

Holder’s decision to investigate abuses is encouraging. But it is critical that the scope of the investigation cover those who planned and authorized torture and other abuses, not just lower-level CIA operatives who used “unauthorized” techniques. Crimes such as waterboarding have long been prosecuted and punished in the United States. Yet no senior government official has been held to account for these crimes, which violate both US and international law. Any investigation that failed to reach those at the center of the policy, while pinning responsibility on line officers, would lack credibility both domestically and internationally.

Contact Attorney General Eric Holder and urge him to initiate a full-scale and open-ended criminal investigation.

Accountability for Torture: Questions and Answers