Libertarian National Committee Chair Nicholas J. Sarwark released the following statement today:

“The CIA’s practice of torture confirmed by the Senate Intelligence Report released on December 9 shows the agency engaged in reprehensible and illegal behaviors that were, in effect, war crimes.

“The CIA and politicians redacted the bulk of the government’s report, which remains withheld from public view. One can only speculate as to the additional horrors that lie within the rest of the report, given the gravity of what was revealed.

“These acts of torture were immoral, disgusting, and un-American. And worse still, they were ineffective.

“Yet the CIA and the Department of Justice, which sanctioned the torture, claim that it was legal and exhibit a shocking lack of remorse for the brutality inflicted on its victims.

“Whether it’s choking a man to death for selling loose cigarettes in New York or torturing prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, the government refuses to prosecute government employees who brutalize the vulnerable. When the government investigates itself, it almost always clears itself of any
wrongdoing.

“This is why we must shut down the CIA. Its 70-year history is littered with episodes of human rights violations, illegal activities, and deception, including:
•Targeted killings and assassinations
•Overthrowing democratically elected governments,
•Human experimentation, including giving the hallucinogenic drug LSD to U.S. and Canadian citizens without their knowledge
•Dealing heroin in Asia
•Spying on Americans, members of congress, and foreign leaders,
•Shipping war prisoners to foreign countries where torture is permissible (‘extraordinary rendition’).
•Lying to Congress

“The CIA is one of sixteen U.S. spy agencies that should have been severely downsized if not abolished during the alleged ‘consolidation’ of the U.S. government’s spy apparatus in 2004.

“But rather than downsize, politicians merely added another layer of bureaucracy, increased government spending, and expanded government authority.
Full release from The Libertarian Party @ http://www.lp.org/news/press-releases/libertarian-party-calls-for-shutting-down-cia-criminal-prosecutions