A Debate on Torture: Legal Architect of CIA Secret Prisons, Rendition vs. Human Rights Attorney 2/3

As the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence feuds with the CIA over the declassification of its 6,000page report on the agency's secret detention and interrogation programs, we host a debate between former CIA acting general counsel John Rizzo and human rights attorney Scott Horton. This comes as the United Nations Human Rights Committee has criticized the Obama administration for closing its investigations into the CIA's actions after September 11. A U.N. report issued Thursday stated, "The Committee notes with concern that all reported investigations into enforced disappearances, torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment that had been committed in the context of the CIA secret rendition, interrogation and detention programmes were closed in 2012 leading only to a meager number of criminal charges brought against lowlevel operatives." Rizzo served as acting general counsel during much of the George W. Bush administration and was a key legal architect of the U.S. interrogation and detention program after the Sept. 11 attacks. He recently published a book titled, "Company ManThirty Years of Controversy and Crisis in the CIA." Attorney Scott Horton is contributing editor at Harper's Magazine and author of the forthcoming book, "The Lords of SecrecyThe National Security Elite and America's Stealth Foreign Policy."

Watch and share the full debate uninterrupted:

Democracy Now!, is an independent global news hour that airs weekdays on 1,200+ TV and radio stations Monday through Friday. Watch our livestream 89am ET at

Please consider supporting independent media by making a donation to Democracy Now! today, visit

FOLLOW DEMOCRACY NOW! ONLINE:

Twitter: @democracynow

Subscribe on YouTube

Listen on SoundCloud

Daily Email News Digest