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Guatemala shows why the CIA must be held accountable for torture
BY ELIZABETH OGLESBY, OPINION CONTRIBUTOR — 03/30/18 04:30 PM EDT 28 THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY CONTRIBUTORS ARE THEIR OWN AND NOT THE VIEW OF THE HILL
Gina Haspel's nomination for CIA chief has reignited debate over accountability for torture. A bi-partisan group of Senators, including John McCain (R-Ariz.), is demanding greater transparency from the CIA on Haspel's involvement in waterboarding and other acts of torture at the "black site" she ran in Thailand, as well as her role in destroying videotapes of torture sessions.
As discussions around Haspel's nomination heat up, other contentious legal proceedings — the current genocide trials in Guatemala — remind us that U.S. sanctioning of torture has a long, dark history with which we have yet to reckon.
Guatemala shows us why amnesia is dangerous and why the Senate must reject Haspel's nomination.
On March 9, just days before Haspel's nomination, I testified in a courtroom in Guatemala City in the dual genocide trials against the former Guatemalan dictator, General Efraín Ríos Montt (1982-1983), and his intelligence chief, General José Mauricio Rodríguez Sánchez.
More:
http://thehill.com/opinion/international/381043-guatemala-shows-why-the-cia-must-be-held-accountable-for-torture