Report sheds light on the “most serious issues of our time.”

Members of the American Civil Liberties Union as well as Representatives Robert Wexler (D-Fla.) and Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, met today to discuss the Department of Justice Inspector General’s report on the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s role in harsh interrogations conducted on detainees abroad. The report is expected to be released sometime today or tomorrow, according to the ACLU.

The DOJ Inspector General’s report has been in the works for about four years and its release has been long anticipated. The ACLU hopes the report will disclose the nature of the FBI’s involvement in the interrogations and what steps FBI officials took to try and stop the torture and abuse, and any new informations regarding the approval of torture for use during investigations. Congress requested the report after documents were released during litigation to enforce and Oct. 2003 ACLU Freedom of Information Act request for records concerning the treatment of prisoners in U.S. custody abroad.

Nadler hopes the report will investigate the administrations harsh use of interrogation like torture. “We now know that the instigation of torture were made at the highest level of government” and those who made the decision need to be held accountable. Nalder also offered criticism towards the FBI for the slow manner in which they acted on the complaints.

Rep. Wexler spoke about the lack of an open dialogue in Congress on the torture policy and believes that the report will “shed light on one of the most serious issues of our time.” Wexler believes that there needs to be a thorough investigation into the actions of the Bush Administration and the abuse of power and their lack of intention to engage in a meaningful dialogue with Congress about torture or any other substantive issue.