An independent report by the U.S.-based Constitution Project has concluded that the United StatesExperts and 11 panel members from both political parties, the military, every branch of government, and the legal, ethics, and medical fields reached that conclusion after conducting interviews in Guantanamo Bay, Afghanistan, Iraq, and at CIA detention facilities. They also talked to former detainees and former U.S. and foreign officials.RFE/RL correspondent Heather Maher asked Amrit Singh, senior legal officer for national security and counterterrorism issues at the Open Society's Justice Initiative, about the report's findings.It's not a surprise because there is now an overwhelming body of evidence, including U.S. government documents, that demonstrate beyond any doubt that the United States was torturing its prisoners, and that torture was in fact being conducted as a matter of policy that was authorized by officials at the very highest levels of government.U.S. courts have, unfortunately, closed their doors to the victims of the CIA secret detention and rendition program. But there are courts all over the world that are now hearing these cases. In particular, the European Court of Human Rights is now going to be reviewing cases brought against Poland, Romania, and Lithuania for their collaboration in the secret CIA detention program. And just last year, in the case of rendition victim [and German citizen], the European Court specifically found that Macedonia had violated the European Convention on Human Rights by collaborating with the CIA in his abduction and secret detention.Yes, I think so. The report confirms that these techniques were ineffective and exposed the United States to censure and liability around the world, but also, this finding has been confirmed by seasoned interrogators who have actually undertaken interrogations of some of the prisoners that were subjected to the interrogation program. And the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence has recently authored a report that also apparently concludes, based on its review of classified information, that enhanced interrogation techniques and secret detention sites were terrible mistakes.Absolutely. And this is a very credible, independent report that unequivocally finds that the United States engaged in torture. It only demonstrates that the United States' moral authority has been diminished throughout the world. The capacity of the United States to call on other governments to respect human rights is severely undermined by the findings in this report.President Obama made a mistake in stating that there was no need to "look backward." In fact, the only credible way in which the United States can turn the page on this very dark chapter in its history is by conducting investigations -- credible, effective investigations -- into the torture that was conducted by both its armed forces and the CIA.