House Democrats Urge Inquiry Into Interrogations

WASHINGTON - Nearly 60 House Democrats on Saturday urged the Justice Department to appoint a special counsel to examine whether top Bush administration officials may have committed crimes in authorizing the use of harsh interrogation tactics against suspected terrorists.

In a letter to Attorney General Michael Mukasey, the lawmakers cited what they said is "mounting evidence" that senior officials personally sanctioned the use of waterboarding and other aggressive tactics against detainees in U.S.-run prisons overseas. An independent investigation is needed to determine whether such actions violated U.S. or international law, the letter stated.

"This information indicates that the Bush administration may have systematically implemented, from the top down, detainee interrogation policies that constitute torture or otherwise violate the law," it said. The letter was signed by 56 House Democrats, including House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers Jr., D-Mich., and House Intelligence Committee members Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., and Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y.

The request was prompted, in part, by new disclosures of high-level discussions within the Bush administration that reportedly focused on specific interrogation practices. Some of the new detail was contained in a report last month by the Justice Department's inspector general, which described a series of White House meetings in which the controversial tactics were vigorously debated.

Conyers, whose committee already is looking into the role played by administration lawyers in authorizing aggressive measures, said a broader probe is needed.

"We need an impartial criminal investigation," said Conyers, who called the detainee controversy "a truly shameful episode" in U.S. history. Justice officials had not yet studied the letter and would not comment.

The House letter suggested a broad inquiry that would examine the consequences of administration decisions at U.S. detention sites in Iraq; at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; and in former secret prisons operated by the CIA. The letter said interrogation policies had resulted in "abuse, sexual exploitation and torture" that may have violated the War Crimes Act of 1996 and the American Anti-Torture Act of 2007.

Human rights groups have been calling for such an investigation for several years.