9/11 Bill Opens the Door to Torture and Puts Refugees at Risk

WASHINGTON, DC – A bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives, which proponents say would implement the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, includes provisions that would allow the U.S. to send detainees to countries where they may face torture, Human Rights First said today. The bill, known as H.R. 10, which House leadership is pushing as "must-pass legislation," also includes a number of other anti-immigrant provisions.

"This is a wolf-in-sheep's-clothing bill," said Elisa Massimino, Washington Director of Human Rights First. "The measure includes a slew of harmful, extraneous provisions not recommended by the 9/11 Commission."

"In the aftermath of the Abu Ghraib scandal, administration officials bent over backwards to assure the world that the U.S. government does not condone torture," added Massimino. "The introduction of this bill suggests that those words may simply have been hot air."

Read background on H.R. 10
http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/Issues/talk_pts_hr10.htm

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