Retired Generals to address torture in forum

Interrogation and Torture in U.S. Policy: Forum with Former Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency and Other Retired Generals

Forum to be held at Florida State University on January 23rd at 11:30 a.m.

WASHINGTON - January 21 - Retired military leaders will discuss U.S. interrogation policy and the importance of the commander-in-chief setting the highest standards for all U.S. personnel in the treatment of prisoners. Questions about the use and legality of waterboarding, which surfaced during confirmation hearings of the Attorney General, and again with the destruction of CIA videotapes, continue to be prominent in the presidential campaign and in the media. The event, co-hosted by Human Rights First and Florida State University's Center for the Advancement of Human Rights, will take place on January 23rd at 11:30 a.m in the Claude Pepper Auditorium.

Retired military leaders Lieutenant General Harry E. Soyster, the former Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, Major General Fred E. Haynes, and Brigadier General David R. Irvine will discuss the importance of using interrogation methods that are effective, lawful and humane. They will underscore the need to ensure that interrogation and prisoner treatment policies enhance our national security, protect our troops and are consistent with American laws, values and interests.

The forum participants are part of a larger group of retired generals and admirals who are working to ensure that U.S. policy reflects a single standard of prisoner treatment consistent with the Geneva Conventions. The group has traveled to New Hampshire and Iowa, where they met individually with eight presidential candidates from both parties, and to South Carolina where they participated in forums on the topic of interrogation policy at The Citadel and the University of South Carolina. These retired military leaders are traveling to key states in the presidential campaign because they are committed to ensuring that the next commander-in-chief understands the fundamental importance of prisoner treatment issues to members of the United States Armed Forces and to our national security.


CONTACT: Human Rights First
Krista Minteer (212) 845-5207

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