Letter to the editor

Every weekday since November (excepting bad weather and holidays) our group, Tackling Torture At The Top, has been holding an hour-long vigil around noon on the plaza in front of the Federal Courthouse in Minneapolis (300 4th St.) asking that those U.S. leaders who authorized torture be investigated and prosecuted. I’m there once or twice a week. My placard reads “Rendition; Torture; Investigate; Prosecute.”

One member spoke with two of the assistant federal attorneys. Both said their office would not pursue such investigations because it is the Obama Adminis-tration’s policy not to investigate. But these federal attorneys take an oath “to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic,” not an oath to uphold a policy, and especially an illegal policy.

We know the policy is illegal because we now know definitively that torture was committed. Some from the previous Adminis-tration have even bragged about it in the media. Known crimes—and one would think especially crimes of such seriousness as torture authorized by our own government—must, by law, be investigated.

Such a vigil may seem hopeless to some, and I, for one, am without hope, too. However, in all the days I’ve stood vigil, I’ve only received positive comments from passers-by, and though most people choose not to react, they still read the placard first.

I have confidence in the humanity and decency of our Constitution when it is followed. I know by their answers that those federal attorneys also understand the difference between what is right and what is convenient. So, at the very least, our vigil can do the valuable service of keeping this profoundly serious issue in mind and encouraging others to join us. And maybe some day the law will be followed by the U.S. Justice Department, when it begins to investigate the crimes of torture that have been committed in our name.

It ain’t over till it’s over.

I hope others reading this will want to join us on the plaza. You can reach us at tacklingtorture@gmail.com.

Tom Dickinson
Powderhorn resident