Gina Haspel Risks Arrest in Europe Because of Her Involvement in Bush Era Torture Program

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When the president announced that Gina Haspel would replace Mike Pompeo as the first women to head to the CIA, he failed to mention that she would face arrest if she travels to any of the European Union countries because of her history with torture.

The European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights, located in Germany, responded to the announcement with a warning.

In a statement, the ECCHR’s General Secretary, Wolfgang Kaleck said:

Those who commit, order or allow torture should be brought before a court – this is especially true for the senior officals from powerful nations.”
Kaleck went on to say, “The prosecutor must, under the principle of universal jurisdiction, open investigations, secure evidence and seek an arrest warrant. If the deputy director travels to Germany or Europe, she must be arrested.

Since the case was filed with Germany prosecutors December 17, 2014, Mr. Trump was aware of Haspel’s precarious legal status or should have been if he read his briefing materials.

It’s worth noting that Senator Dianne Feinstein requested to have Haspel’s torture file declassified.

In a letter to Haspel and outgoing CIA director Mike Pompeo, Feinstein said the file is needed to evaluate Haspel’s history.

As we move forward with the nomination process for Miss Haspel, my fellow Senators and I must have the complete picture of Ms. Haspel’s involvement in the program in order to fully and fairly review her record and qualifications. I also believe the American people deserve to know the actual role the person nominated to be the director of the CIA played in what I consider one of the darkest chapters in American history.

Senator Feinstein shared the letter in a tweet.

Gina Haspel was involved in one of the darkest chapters in American history. Senators who will vote on her nomination MUST know the exact role she played in the CIA’s torture program. pic.twitter.com/NhlT9Zrucp

— Sen Dianne Feinstein (@SenFeinstein) March 15, 2018

Haspel’s involvement in the Bush era torture program should be enough to know that she is ill suited to be the CIA’s director.

As Alberto Moro of Politico wrote, Hapsel was a

participant in the torture program. She reportedly ran the CIA’s torture “black site” in Thailand and directly supervised the inhuman interrogations of Al Quaeda suspects Abu Zubaydah and Abdal-Rahim al-Nashiri. Later, when a congressional committee sought to exercise its constitutional oversite of the RDI program, Haspel was instrumental in the destruction of videos of the black site waterboarding sessions – against the advice of superiors in the Bush administration.

Anyone in their right mind should know that this information alone should preclude Gina Hapsel from being confirmed.

Donald Trump is not a normal president, with a normal moral compass. With this nomination, it’s very possible that Trump intends to make good on his “promise” to reinstate the torture program – based on his belief that torture “works”.

Even if torture does work, which it doesn’t, it’s a war crime. War criminals belong in jail, not in power.