CBS NEWS: Group Urges Probe into Alleged Bush Era Torture

In a 107-page report issued Tuesday, titled "Getting Away with Torture: The Bush Administration and the Mistreatment of Detainees", Human Rights Watch said that such an investigation should examine the roles of the former president, Vice President Dick Chaney, Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld and CIA Director George Tenet. The group claims Mr. Bush had the ultimate power on detainee operations, and that he publicly approved the CIA's use of torture. Cheney was the "driving force" in establishing legal justifications for the detention policies, Rumsfeld approved the interrogation methods that involved torture, and Tenet sanctioned the CIA's use of water-boarding and other forms of torture. The group also said in the report that the Bush Administration endorsed interrogation practices by the CIA that would qualify as torture, created an illegal clandestine CIA detention program in which prisoners were detained in secret locations without informing their families, or allowing access to the International Red Cross, and that the detainees were illegally sent to other countries such as Egypt and Syria, where they would most likely be tortured. Human Rights Watch also said there are many classified documents on detention and interrogation policies, among them a presidential authorization of secret prisons that would bolster a case for a criminal investigation. It added that the government's disregard for human rights following September 11 has diminished the moral standing of the United States, set a negative example for other governments, and undermined US government efforts to reduce anti-American militancy around the world. The report also recommended to President Obama that he should authorize the attorney general to launch a criminal investigation into the detention practices and examine US officials' roles regarding torture. It also asked Congress to create a non-partisan commission to investigate detainee mistreatment, and that foreign governments should have the power to prosecute American officials who were allegedly involved in crimes against detainees.