ABSTRACT
This chapter examines accountability for US torture after 9/11. The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) rulings illustrate both the opportunities and challenges associated with holding states responsible for human rights violations in a pluralistic system with multiple centers of enforcement. The chapter summarizes attempts to hold the United States accountable through criminal prosecutions and civil actions in the United States and internationally. It describes the litigation in the ECtHR that resulted in judgments against Macedonia and Poland for their respective participation in Central Intelligence Agency torture. The chapter discusses the implications of the cases for future enforcement of human rights in the counterterrorism context. The greatest success in closing the accountability gap has been achieved through litigation in supranational human tribunals against other states for their complicity in US torture. Domestic criminal investigations into US torture have accordingly been narrow in scope.
