UN Praises US for Openness in Torture Report

The United States Senate’s release of a controversial CIA torture report — widely seen as being a politically-motivated attack — has been met with both the ire and praise of many in the international community. Most recently, the United Nations had rosy words of praise for the U.S. in its decision to release the sensitive information.

This week, the new United Nations high commissioner for human rights, Prince Zeid Ra’ad Zeid al-Hussein, welcomed the release of the report, remarking that “Few countries will admit that their state apparatus has been practicing torture, and many continue shamelessly to deny it,” according to the New York Times. Al-Hussein then reportedly went on to site the UN’s Convention Against Torture reinforcing the UN’s view that CIA torturers and their superiors must be held accountable.

The release of the torture report by Congress has opened a forum of criticism in the Arab world which has been used to fan the flames of its anti-American hostility towards the west. The Times notes that in Lebanon, social media and Arabic-language newspapers reportedly directed their anger toward Arab countries like Saudi Arabia and Jordan, who are seen as allies to the United States.

“The convention lets no one off the hook — neither the torturers themselves, nor the policy-makers, nor the public officials who define the policy or give the orders,” al-Hussein said.

Breitbart News National Security Editor Dr. Sebastian Gorka recently remarked, in an interview with Al Jazeera America, that while he condemned torture methods as “unproductive professionally,” citing immoral underpinnings, he was doubtful that the agents who performed said acts would be prosecuted because of the extensive research and briefings done on both high-ranking CIA officials as well as Congress on the issue at hand. “This was a programmatic initiative that was reviewed by lawyers inside the Pentagon and DOJ, and which was briefed to the Congress,” Dr. Gorka said.

Recently, Israel signed a deal with Jordan to supply them with gas over a 15-year period. However, this past Wednesday, a debate was sparked in Jordan’s Parliament with leaders calling on other Arab nations, such as Algeria, to provide them with reasonable gas prices so that Jordan could avoid the “shame” of having to buy gas from the “Zionist enemy.” According to Algemeiner, one “moderate” MP (Member of Parliament) by the name of Atef Kawar reportedly said “the Arabs can subdue the Jews only through the demolition of the Israeli economy.”

The deal with likely proceed as planned.

Follow Adelle Nazarian on Twitter @AdelleNaz