Report spurs new call to investigate Bush

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A leaked Red Cross report, detailing chilling accounts of prisoner torture in “black sites” run by the Central Intelligence Agency, has underlined the need for an independent commission of inquiry into possible war crimes committed by senior officials during the presidency of George W. Bush, according to a statement by 25 prominent clergymen and women.

The Rev. Rich Kilmer, executive director of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, said, “We need to understand fully what happened so that we can effectively develop those safeguards. Investigating the past will help produce a future where the U.S. no longer engages in torture.”

“Such a commission would not preclude a simultaneous investigation by the Department of Justice or by a special prosecutor,” he said. “Where sufficient evidence exists that laws may have been broken, justice dictates that no one is above the law and prosecutions should be launched.”

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