Just before the beginning of Torture Awareness Month, the Senate unanimously voted to add Torture Amendment 1157 onto a military supplemental spending bill. The amendment grants the Secretary of Defense the power to conceal photographic evidence of severe torture and other forms of abuse, even rape.

Now the bill is going into conference committee, to be negotiated over between members of the House and Senate. There is a chance, a small chance, that Torture Amendment 1157 will be removed from the final legislation. So, Lindsey Graham, one of the authors of Torture Amendment 1157, spoke on the floor of the Senate this week in its defense:

“I stand up in support of my friend and colleague from Connecticut, Senator Lieberman. We were able to get passed a piece of legislation, through an amendment on the supplemental bill, that is directly on point regarding the pending court case, the subject matter of which is releasing additional detainee photos of past abuse. The President has looked at these photos, and we all understand that it is more of the same – that the photos in question came from American troops’ cameras, who were engaged in inappropriate activity. Disciplinary action has been taken where appropriate, and nothing new is to be learned. There is no new evidence of crimes by people who have yet to be dealt with.”

These justifications given by Senator Graham sound all well and good, on the surface, if you haven’t actually read Torture Amendment 1157. If you have read the text of Torture Amendment 1157, you know that what Graham is saying doesn’t match with the reality of what the amendment actually does.

Senator Graham speaks as if the amendment only applies to photographs that have already been taken, that have already been thoroughly examined, and which the public already knows about. However, that’s simply not true, and as one of the authors of Torture Amendment 1157, Graham must know that he is being dishonest.

The truth is that Torture Amendment 1157 clearly grants the power to the government to conceal evidence of torture that has not yet been revealed, and even torture that has not yet taken place. Torture Amendment 1157 presumes that future acts of torture will take place, and condones that torture by assisting in its concealment. The legislation “shall take effect on the date of enactment of this Act and apply to any photograph created before, on, or after that date“. (emphasis most definitely mine).

Not one member of the United States Senate has openly discussed this aspect of Torture Amendment 1157. All public statements about the amendment pretend that it is something that it is not. Why the deception? Why the silence?

If the United States Senate could bring itself to approve, by unanimous voice vote, such a despicable piece of pro-torture legislation, then it ought to at least have the decency to discuss it honestly.

The Senate’s action comes just one day before the beginning of Torture Awareness Month. Waterboarding is included as a form of torture in the legislation.

Sadly, we have learned this week that an impression of honesty can be a facade.

Just a couple of weeks ago, President Obama told us of photographs of torture that he was seeking to keep secret, “I want to emphasize that these photos that were requested in this case are not particularly sensational.”

Yesterday, it was revealed what those photographs really show. They show American soldiers and prison guards raping prisoners and engaging in acts of sexual torture. These photographs don’t just show what was being done in Abu Ghraib. They show acts of this nature in five other American-run prisons, outside of Iraq.

These photographs are evidence of an international campaign of sexual torture planned by the U.S. government.

How on Earth could President Obama tell us that these photographs are “not particularly sensational”? How can we ever trust a word that comes out of Obama’s mouth again?

What’s more, now that Torture Amendment 1157 has been passed by the U.S. Senate, how will we know when we’re being lied to again?

Sadly, only 36 members of the House of Representatives have cosponsored Nadler’s legislation, and the bill has stalled in committee. The following are the 36 U.S. representatives who have cosponsored H.R. 893. If your representative’s name is not on this list, and call to make a formal request for support of the American Anti-Torture Act of 2009.

Rep. Sanford Bishop (D-GA, District 2), District Office Phone Number: 706-320-9477
Rep. Timothy Bishop (D-NY, District 1), District Office Phone Number: 631-696-6500
Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR, District 3), District Office Phone Number: 503-231-2300
Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA, District 9), District Office Phone Number: 540-980-4310
Rep. Lois Capps (D-CA, District 23), District Office Phone Number: 805-546-8348
Rep. Michael Capuano (D-MA, District 8), District Office Phone Number: 617-621-6208
Rep. Lacy Clay (D-MO, District 1), District Office Phone Number: 314-367-1970
Rep. John Conyers (D-MI, District 14), District Office Phone Number: 313-961-5670
Rep. William Delahunt (D-MA, District 10), District Office Phone Number: 800-870-2626
Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT, District 3), District Office Phone Number: 203-562-3718
Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX, District 25), District Office Phone Number: 512-916-5921
Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY, District 17), District Office Phone Number: 718-796-9700
Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-PA, District 2), District Office Phone Number: 215-848-9386
Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA, District 51), District Office Phone Number: 619-422-5963
Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY, District 22), District Office Phone Number: 607-273-1388
Rep. Paul Hodes (D-NH, District 2), District Office Phone Number: 603-358-1023
Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ, District 12), District Office Phone Number: 609-750-9365
Rep. Michael Honda (D-CA, District 15), District Office Phone Number: 408-558-8085
Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH, District 10), District Office Phone Number: 216-228-8850
Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY, District 14), District Office Phone Number: 718-932-1804
Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN, District 4), District Office Phone Number: 651-224-9191
Rep. James McGovern (D-MA, District 3), District Office Phone Number: 508-460-9292
Rep. James Moran (D-VA, District 8), District Office Phone Number: 703-971-4700
Rep. Eleanor Norton (D-DC, District 0), District Office Phone Number: 202-783-5065
Rep. Ed Pastor (D-AZ, District 4), District Office Phone Number: 602-256-0551
Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX, District 14), District Office Phone Number: 979-285-0231
Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY, District 15), District Office Phone Number: 212-663-3900
Rep. Steven Rothman (D-NJ, District 9), District Office Phone Number: 201-646-0808
Rep. Robert Scott (D-VA, District 3), District Office Phone Number: 757-380-1000
Rep. Carol Shea-Porter (D-NH, District 1), District Office Phone Number: 603-641-9536
Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA, District 27), District Office Phone Number: 818-501-9200
Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-CA, District 10), District Office Phone Number: 707-428-7792
Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD, District 8), District Office Phone Number: 301-891-6982
Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT, District 0), District Office Phone Number: 888-605-7270
Rep. Robert Wexler (D-FL, District 19), District Office Phone Number: 561-988-6302
Rep. David Wu (D-OR, District 1), District Office Phone Number: 800-422-4003

Senator Graham ought to have thought about this idea before he let it escape through his lips. The truth is that the history of waterboarding is a history of centuries of failure.

When waterboarding was used to force confessions of witchcraft, was it successful? No, unless you consider a false confession a form of success. Does Lindsey Graham really believe all those people were really witches?

More broadly, waterboarding became infamous as a method of torture when it was used by the Inquisition. The goal of the Inquisition was to quash religious heresy and maintain the absolute control of Europe by the Catholic Church. Was it successful? Not in the slightest. Most Europeans today are not Catholics. The use of waterboarding by the Catholic zealots of the Inquisition actually fueled anti-Catholic sentiment and helped lead to the eventual withering of Catholicism in Europe.

Senator Graham is right about one thing: Waterboarding has used for hundreds of year. However, the persistence of waterboarding torture isn’t due to its success. Rather, waterboarding has continued, in spite of its overwhelming failure, because waterboarding is emotionally appealing to the leaders of autocratic regimes, and to groups of people who value vengeance over freedom.

One of those media personalities, radio host Erich Muller (nicknamed Mancow on the air), had just that sort of reaction to waterboarding. He didn’t think it was torture – not even close. So, when Muller was challenged to experience waterboarding himself to see what he thought of it, he agreed.

The waterboarding was held today, and 8:40 in the morning, with Muller rested and well-prepared to deal with whatever the procedure could do to him. Unlike prisoners who endure the procedure at the hands of the U.S. government, Muller could stop it at any time, just by signaling the people pouring the water. Muller wasn’t tied down, and he knew exactly what was going to happen to him.

Yet, even with that amount of control and preparation, Muller lasted less than seven seconds before he panicked and demanded that the waterboarding stop. He had thought he could handle it, but the experience was, he said afterwards, “absolutely torture”.

If you’re one of those people who thinks that waterboarding is no big deal, are you willing to do what Erich Muller did, and submit to the procedure yourself?

Here’s a video of Muller’s reaction, right after breaking down under his own waterboarding:

The legislation, S. AMDT. 1157 to H.R. 2346, creates a special exception to the Freedom of Information Act, undermining that landmark open government legislation. The loophole allows the United States Secretary of Defense to keep photographs documenting the practice of torture by the U.S. military – even when petitions are properly filed through the Freedom of Information Act.

Most alarming, the legislation, crafted by United States Senator Joseph Lieberman, grants the power to conceal photographs of US military torture to be taken in the future, not just in the past.

This legislation thus creates the appearance that the United States Senate expects, and is planning for, the US military to torture additional prisoners in the future, and to take photographs documenting that torture. The Senate, rather than confronting this torture, is helping to make the torture easier to take place, and to keep out of the public eye.

Worst of all, the Senate passed amendment 1157, already being referred to as the Censorship of Photographs of Future Torture Amendment, was passed unanimously. Not a single member of the United States Senate, Republican or Democrat, opposed the pro-torture legislation.

2009 began as a year of hope for opponents of torture. Now, on the eve of Torture Awareness Month, hope has turned into bitter disappointment.

Torturers are counting on the general public, the non-tortured, to remain silent. They need our indifference to give safe space for their abuses. They’re betting that because torture has never happened to us personally, we won’t care enough to stop it from happening to other people.

You don’t have to go comply with the torturers’ expectations. You can join organizations that are active in resisting torture, get involved in their work, or start an anti-torture campaign of your own. Every action counts.

Please, lend your voice. Help to break the silence that enables torture to thrive.