The second presidential debate made it painfully clear that the candidates' pasts echo forward for all of us. As 69 million Americans tuned in, both Trump and Clinton were forced to confront embarrassing scandals that occurred over a decade ago.
Much like the candidates, the CIA's dark past has reared its ugly head; however, these revelations have not seen the same mass consumption by the American electorate. With scandals breaking daily, the mainstream media have scrambled to feed our furious appetite for the latest, most up-to-date stories. This ratings-driven focus has not only left the election void of any serious policy discussions and their implications, but we have not been given the time to mediate each scandal. Scandals are forgotten as quickly as they are broken. We cannot allow this to occur with the most recent exposures about the CIA's systematic torture regime. In November, one candidate will win and our news cycle will quickly forget the victor's faults. As Americans and as human beings, we cannot afford to give the CIA this liberty.
Recently, the New York Times ran a brilliant front page story on "How U.S. Torture Left a Legacy of Damaged Minds." Their piece illustrated the broken bodies and minds of detainees who faced the CIA's brutal torture. 
Following this publication, the Washington Post ran an Op Ed. blog by Jacobsen and Margulies, two lawyers representing the Abu Zubaydah, the first US prisoner to be exposed to the CIA's enhanced interrogation practices. The Jacobsen and Margulies headline "The 'guinea pig' for U.S. torture is languishing at Guantanamo", highlighted the federal government's refusal to charge Zubaydah with any criminal infraction. Since his arrest in 2002, Zubaydah has remained in our nation's custody with no prospect of a criminal trial to decide his fate. Just as candidates need to own their histories, it is imperative the CIA admits its use of torture in many prisons around Europe and Asia and its lethal drone strikes, which have killed hundreds, maybe thousands, of innocents.
Whether the CIA tortured is not the question. Although President Obama confirmed torture in 2014, we knew it had been the case for years. The question is whether American torturers, along with those who approved of this evil practice, will ever face justice. Even as I ask this question, our nation moves further from the answer. Congress again recently blocked President Obama's effort to release more prisoners to other countries. If Trump is elected into office, we are promised the return of torture as a weapon and government sanctioned interrogation. If Clinton is elected into office, the CIA will continue to kill the innocents with drones. As the sounds of silence continue in the media, individuals face detention without charge, and unmanned aircraft, controlled by joystick from Florida or Nevada, rain fire down in the Middle East.
As Director of Amnesty in the '80s and '90s, I often bemoaned the use of torture and the inability of nations to accept accountability and bring those responsible to justice. However, many of the nations I once scorned have sought transitional justice against their human rights violators and dictators. To name a few, Chile, Peru, Argentina, El Salvador and Guatemala have all chased their human rights abusers. These nations are not afraid of their past. America, the mighty human rights lecturer, has been unable to live up to the ideals we disseminated. Since our nation's colonial past, we have considered America a City upon a Hill; an example for the rest of the world to live up to; however, this is no longer the case in terms of human rights.
South and Central America face their past
Our South and Central American brothers and sisters know that it is healthy to look ahead as well as backward. Correcting the vile past just may correct the future. Why can we Americans not follow suit? Maybe because we never torture our own citizens? Thus, we can claim innocence or naiveté about its horror and the damage to the body and mind of the victim. Some claim we pursued torture for "the greater good." Many have claimed that we leveraged torture as a means to gain vital information and protect American lives; however, the US Government has openly admitted that no valuable evidence was garnered through our barbaric acts.
While we know torture occurred, the sounds of silence continue to exist in the press and the government. This year's Presidential debates have not come close to broaching the subject of human rights. Why? It is common knowledge that the United States has tortured and held prisoners without trial. Why do we continue to allude our demons? We cannot allow denial of our wrongs to become our future; instead, I endorse chasing every human rights violator and imprisoning him or her after a fair trial.
But WHY has this not already occurred? Are we so mighty that we are above the law? Or are we so complacent that we believe if Americans do the torturing, it is somehow fine and blessed by God? My concern is even deeper.
Even after Senator Feinstein published 500+ page report on CIA's detention and interrogation program proving and detailing the CIA's savagery, we refuse to accept the truth. Even after countless headlines reporting the loss of innocent life from American drone strikes, we cannot discuss the scorched earth tactics deployed by our military and intelligence community. A departing POTUS promised to close Gitmo. It is open and working and our soldiers contain prisoners never charged. When will this charade stop? It is a human rights joke. The comedian is the USA but also the butt of the joke. In this paradox, the very soul of American democracy and what that means to so many billions of people, starving for decency and accountability, is damaged and our pompous pretense at innocence must be dropped.
Unauthorized war
Questions the media should ask
To help the media folks, namely Chris Wallace, moderator for the third debate, here are some human rights questions that must be pressed upon the candidates:
- Do you approve of the death penalty and torture?
- Do you approve of the drone strikes in 13 different Moslem countries?
- Are you for prosecution of the torturers in the CIA and those who approved of that policy?
- If we go to war (like we are in Yemen or Syria), does this need a vote of Congress?
- What would you do with Gitmo? Close it or leave it open?
- Should prisoners be held without trial be released immediately or given a fair trial?
- Would you give Gitmo territory back to Cuba so that this inane pretense of holding prisoners on "foreign territory" rather than our own cannot be used again?
- Would you approve of panel of truth and reconciliation ala South Africa for American violators of human rights abuses?
As the general election opened, Clinton used Paul Simon as a mouthpiece to unite her party during her convention. Simon performed "A Bridge a Troubled Water" in an attempt to bring the "Bernie or Bust" camp back into the folds of the Democratic Party. As the election ends, I am reminded of another Paul Simon song, The Sounds of Silence. If human rights are a lost art, then the least we Americans can do is to discuss the good old days, listen to Paul Simon's brilliant song, and let the dust of history settle on our wounded and lost consciousness.
The USA needs leaders who take human rights violators to the bar of justice, even if we lose every time. We need a leader with the courage to confront our dark past. Then at least, we can brag about the devoted few while singing that beautiful song of Paul Simon, The Sound of Silence. We cannot allow denial of our wrongs to become our future; instead, I endorse chasing every human rights violator and imprisoning him or her after a fair trial such as they are denying to others.
For more information on Jack Healey's work in Human Rights, see Human Rights Action Center and pick up Create Your Future: A Memoir by John G. (Jack) Healey