U.S. closes the book on Bush-era torture
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced on Aug. 30 that no one would be prosecuted for the deaths of a prisoner in U.S. custody in Afghanistan in 2002 and one in 2003. The Justice Department had already ruled out prosecutions related to the use of waterboarding and other "enhanced" interrogation techniques, and this week's announcement was the final confirmation that there would be no effort to pursue legal action related to the "enhanced interrogations" carried out by the CIA under the Bush administration. Holder emphasized that the decision not to prosecute "was not intended to, and does not resolve, broader questions regarding the propriety of the examined conduct." Several days later, Human Rights Watch released a new report on detainees reportedly handed over to Qaddafi's regime for interrogation as part of the CIA's rendition program. The report contained a previously unknown instance of waterboarding.
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