Torture Amendment 1157

Torture Amendment 1157 is a rebellion against the Freedom of Information Act, one of the most powerful tools American citizens have to hold their government accountable. The amendment started as a cover for Barack Obama, who promised open government without interference with the Freedom of Information Act, but then changed his mind and declared his intention to refuse a Freedom of Information Act petition for a large set of photographs of acts of torture being committed by the U.S. military. At first, senators said that the amendment 1157 would merely keep those specific photographs secret.

However, Torture Amendment 1157 goes far beyond that. The amendment gives the Secretary of Defense the power to censor any photograph of any captured and held prisoner by the US military. It makes it almost impossible for the American public to know about prisoner abuse... read more about Torture Amendment 1157 and the Freedom of Information Act.

Torture Amendment 1157 is designed to make future acts of torture by the U.S. military easy to hide. The legislation gives the Secretary of Defense the power of concealing "any photograph created before, on, or after" the passage of the amendment.

As the sponsors of the amendment, senators Lindsey Graham and Joseph Lieberman, argued in favor of amendment 1157, they justified its coverup of torture by saying that nothing would be achieved by revealing photographs of past torture, because the existence of this torture was already known. All the while, they knew full well that amendment 1157 legalizes the coverup of photographs of U.S. military torture that hasn't even taken place yet. How could they possibly argue that there would be no value in revealing the existence of new torture programs in the future?

... read more about how Torture Amendment 1157 hides acts of future torture by the US military.

Every June is Torture Awareness Month - a time when activists push to get the story about torture out to the public. One of the many outrages of Torture Amendment 1157 is that the U.S. Senate had the audacity to pass it just eleven days before the start of Torture Awareness Month.

Shamefully, the amendment was passed unanimously, without a voice vote. Not even one senator had the courage to stand against Torture Amendment 1157.

2009 began as a year of hope for opponents of torture. Now, on the eve of Torture Awareness Month, hope has turned into bitter disappointment... read more about Torture Awareness Month and Torture Amendment 1157.