To the editor:

As the nation anticipates the Obama administration’s promise of Guantanamo’s closure, it is important not to underestimate the damage a lame duck president can still inflict on the nation’s human rights record. We must remain informed and vigilant, as the Bush administration’s past actions have taught us that no human or civil right is inviolable in their eyes.

Bush retains the power to pardon any number of people potentially responsible for the egregious acts committed in the war on terror. That means those who might have participated in torture, indefinite detention without charge or trial and the CIA’s secret detention program could go unpunished. At the same time, international law prohibits the issuing of pardons, amnesties and similar measures designed to prevent accountability for abuses such as torture, war crimes and enforced disappearance. In the next month, we shall see if the president continues his administration’s pattern of defiance.

Just as important as accountability is the truth about human rights abuses. An independent commission of inquiry should be established to tell this sad chapter of U.S. history, and then close it for good.

President Bush still has a chance to do the right thing. Nine human rights groups organizations, including Amnesty International, have called on the president to reject impunity for crimes committed in the war on terror. We the people must urge him to heed their calls, and set the stage for the U.S. government to counter terror with justice, not abuse.

Nicole Tichenor,
Lawrence