ACLU Praises New Senate Subcommittee On Human Rights, Welcomes Congressional Oversight of Torture, Rendition

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: media@dcaclu.org

WASHINGTON – The American Civil Liberties Union today applauded the debut of the new Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law. Chaired by Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), the subcommittee has jurisdiction over all human rights laws and policies and will focus on issues such as genocide, human trafficking, war crimes, torture and arbitrary detention.

The following can be attributed to Caroline Fredrickson, Director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office:

“We are eager to see the subcommittee get to work to reveal these abuses committed in our name and with our tax dollars. The America we hold in our hearts is not a place where persons can be kidnapped off the streets and flown to foreign countries and subjected to torture, or where detainees can be held at Guantanamo Bay indefinitely and without any due process. America must once again set the high standards that we champion around the world.

“We look forward to the subcommittee’s work on these vital issues, and our thanks go to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy and Senator Durbin for their roles in its creation.”