I have been playing tourist this week with my brother, visiting me from Tennessee. One of the places we visited was Independence Hall, the birthplace of American democracy. As the park ranger told the story about the making of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, he highlighted how radical the documents were for their time. The Declaration of Independence starts with these words:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
These words are not just inspirational, they are aspirational. We haven’t always got things right. It took 150 years for women to get the right to vote, and almost 200 years before African-Americans could fully participate in our democracy. But we have moved in the right direction – slowly, frustratingly slowly at times. I don’t think it’s an accident, it’s because as a nation we do aspire to our ideals.
The United States of America has the oldest governing document in the world, despite being a relatively young country. Our founding fathers were wise and designed our country to be a nation of laws, not of men. That means that no one is above the law, not even the president. Not even if the president thinks he’s doing the right thing.
Others on this site have written movingly about their opposition to torture. I may not have their way with words, but I think government-approved torture is an unforgivable evil. I don’t think we should debate whether it “works” or not. It doesn’t matter. We’re supposed to be a civilized nation, a nation of laws. We claim to lead the world, but we need to lead the world by example and not just by the force of our military or our economy.
More and more details about torture authorized by our government are being revealed every day. There are so many, I’m having a hard time keeping up with them. I want to make sure that we know what was done in our name, and that we never forget. I want to make sure that people are punished for their part in this great injustice, and not just low-level grunts like Lyndie England and Charles Graner.
I want to make sure torture never happens again. I feel powerless to do anything. There’s really not much I can do, but I want to make sure that our less admirable actions are not flushed down the memory hole. That’s why I have written a resolution, to be voted on at the Democratic convention on Saturday (text below). The resolution will be presented for a vote by the whole convention. I realize it’s not much, but I don’t know if torture will ever be investigated if we the people don’t force it.
RESOLUTION TO INVESTIGATE ALLEGATIONS OF TORTURE BY THE U.S. GOVERNMENT
Whereas, the 1st Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees the people a right to petition the government for a redress of grievances; and
Whereas, there are serious allegations that the United States tortured detainees in its custody as well as other acts specifically outlawed by U.S. and international laws and treaties; and
Whereas, these allegations include “waterboarding, ” “stress positions,” “enforced nudity,” “sleep deprivation,” defined by U.S. law as torture and prosecuted against Japanese soldiers (Tokyo Tribunals, 1946-1948), U.S. citizens (U.S. v Parker, 1983) and U.S. servicepeople (Charles Graner, Lyndie England); and
Whereas, there are allegations that this torture was authorized at the highest levels of our government;
Therefore, be it resolved that the Delaware Democratic Party urges that the President and the United States Department of Justice to appoint a Special Prosecutor to investigate and if necessary prosecute U.S. officials who may have authorized and performed torture on detainees in U.S. custody;
Therefore, be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be sent to the Office of the President of the United States, the Office of Vice President of the United States, the Office of the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, the Majority Leader of the United States Senate and the Attorney General of the United States, and that copies of the signed resolution be sent to each member of the Delaware delegation to the United States Senate and House of Representatives.
Adopted this 16th day of May 2009