Ken Gude, a human rights expert with the Center for American Progress, has a slightly more optimistic take on the Obama administration's human rights record than the ACLU. The ACLU's position is well summarized, I think, by Jameel Jaffer's statement that while "the Bush administration constructed a legal framework for torture, the Obama administration is constructing a legal framework for impunity.”
Gude's perspective is a bit different -- he argues that what he calls the "excessive secrecy" of the Obama administration is undermining other human rights accomplishments that are praiseworthy:
In many areas of the Obama presidency, expectations quickly outpaced any realistic capability to meet them. But it was Obama himself who promised a paradigm shift in U.S. detention policy and the most transparent presidency ever. Despite some unquestionable successes the Obama administration is still struggling to convince the public that a truly new era of American transparency and leadership on human rights has begun. Failure to live up to those standards would undermine the positive strides Obama has made on human rights policy and American national security.
Gude is pretty critical of the Obama administration: He calls the response to the news of black jails and abuse at Bagram "woefully inadequate," but he also says that "[s]ome of the criticism equating Obama and Bush is ridiculous and irresponsible."
-- A. Serwer
