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North Carolina Stop Torture Now advocacy group.
North Carolina Stop Torture Now advocacy group.
Her nomination, pending congressional approval, is viewed by many as further evidence of this administration's support of torture and an undoing of Obama-era efforts to end it. Her work was allegedly part of a program the CIA launched after 9/11 called Rendition, Detention and Interrogation. From 2002 to at least 2006, the CIA orchestrated disappearances, torture and indefinite detention without charge of suspected terrorists.
What can a small group of committed citizens who oppose these practices do to push back? A commission against torture in North Carolina may serve as a model for how citizen-led initiatives can create transparency and accountability for abuses of power in government.
North Carolina's Involvement in CIA Torture
In 2005, The New York Times reported that two planes used in the CIA torture program were operated by a contractor based in North Carolina. Forty-nine of the known 119 CIA prisoners were flown from two rural North Carolina airfields to secret prisons or nations with lax policies on torture for violent interrogation. Haspel allegedly oversaw the so-called "black site" in Thailand, starting in 2002 where two of those suspects were held for interrogation.
The revelation about the CIA program angered a number of North Carolinians. They condemned the use of tax dollars to fund an aviation facility that was involved in what they believed was illegal and immoral activity. They wanted to end the state's participation in torture and hold accountable those who were responsible.
Comment: This is it. Right here. The war between people who have humanity and conscience against those who do evil things unapologetically, and happen to hold powerful positions in our government.