Kevin Zeese, an attorney and board member of Velvet Revolution, a Washington, D.C. based non-profit organization, describes torture as a “poison in our body politic” and that it must not be ignored (0:14).
Kevin Zeese, an attorney and board member of Velvet Revolution, a Washington, D.C. based non-profit organization, states that if President Obama does not prosecute the lawyers who defended torture in the Bush administration then he would be in violation of the law (0:25).
Velvet Revolution, a Washington, D.C. based non-profit organization, is calling for the United States government to hold torture lawyers accountable for crimes they have committed.
At a news conference Monday, prominent lawyers Bruce Fein and Kevin Zeese stated their intentions to file complaints against John Rizzo, the acting General Counsel of the CIA, and Jonathan Fredman, a lawyer for the Director of National Intelligence. Rizzo and Fredman have facilitated war crimes yet are still receiving government paychecks, said Zeese.
The United States has been criticized for allegedly torturing individuals at Guantanamo Bay, Abu Ghraib, and Bagram Air Force Base.
Zeese also stated that the “United Nations Convention Against Torture”, which was signed by President Ronald Reagan, requires the prevention of torture. Therefore, if President Obama does not prosecute Rizzo and Fredman he would be in violation of the law.
Fein, who served as an attorney under President Reagan, criticized the United States for covering up torture in the name of political expediency, rather than prosecuting those involved with it. “That’s what the Soviet Union would do. That’s what China would do, not the United States of America,” said Fein.
“The toxicity of torture is a poison in our body politic, and there is only one way to remove it. And it’s not to sweep it under the rug. We have to look at the facts, understand what happened, and then hold those accountable through the rule of law,” said Zeese.
