"If the Americans are doing it, and they're not accountable, then who's going to come to your rescue?"

-Moazzam Begg, Detainee #558 in Guantanamo Bay.

Moazzam Begg's statement, made after years of detention without charge, echoes the sentiments of many Americans and much of the world who have traditionally viewed the United States as a pillar of the rule of law.

The documentary TORTURING DEMOCRACY tells the story of how the United States government circumvented tradition and law to adopt torture as official policy. The film, produced by award-winning filmmaker Sherry Jones, draws on interviews, archival footage, and recently declassified documents to piece together the development and dissemination of torture tactics from Bagram in Afghanistan to Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib -- and the document trail leads right to the top of the chain of command.

PLEASE NOTE: Due to rights restrictions we will not be able to stream TORTURING DEMOCRACY online.

You can watch the entire film at the TORTURING DEMOCRACY Web site.

Also on the TORTURING DEMOCRACY Web site, explore a timeline of events, read related articles, and delve into the archive of official documents.

Sherry Jones is an award-winning producer with dozens of television documentaries to her credit. Based in Washington, D.C. she heads Washington Media Associates, an independent production company.

Jones' films have won eight Emmy Awards, three duPont-Columbia Awards for Excellence in Broadcast Journalism, three George Foster Peabody Awards for significant and meritorious achievement in broadcasting, two Robert F. Kennedy awards for outstanding coverage of the problems of the disadvantaged, three Edward R. Murrow awards from the Overseas Press Club of America, and two consecutive Silver Baton awards from the American Bar Association.

In addition to a 28-year collaboration with Bill Moyers, she has produced more than 20 films for the PBS documentary series, FRONTLINE. She has also produced dozens of other programs for PBS — including the Emmy-winning WATERGATE PLUS 30: SHADOW OF HISTORY; six documentaries based in the former Soviet Union — including the award-winning FRONTLINE special, RETURN OF THE CZAR; and three specials for ABC NEWS, including PETER JENNINGS REPORTING: THE MISSILES OF OCTOBER, the story of the Cuban missile crisis from the points of view of all three countries involved; HIROSHIMA: WHY THE BOMB WAS DROPPED, broadcast on the 50th anniversary of Hiroshima; and, in June 2004, PETER JENNINGS REPORTING: GUANTANAMO. That film, which was broadcast on the eve of the historic Supreme Court decision in Rasul v. Bush, was the first long-form television investigation into the Bush administration's detention and interrogation policies.

In September, 2004, she produced 9/11: FOR THE RECORD, a NOW WITH BILL MOYERS special. Jones also produced DEAD WRONG: INSIDE AN INTELLIGENCE MELTDOWN, an examination of pre-Iraqi War intelligence — which first aired in August, 2005, as a special edition of CNN PRESENTS.

Her most recent production was MOYERS ON AMERICA: CAPITOL CRIMES, a 90-minute expose of the Jack Abramoff/Tom Delay scandals, broadcast in October, 2006, on PBS.

Sherry Jones is a Fellow of the National Security Archive, and has been honored as a "Woman of Vision" by Women in Film and Video. She holds a Masters degree in Journalism from Northwestern University, and is a member of the Medill School of Journalism's Hall of Fame. Published May 29, 2009.

Guest photos by Robin Holland