Amnesty International has called on the Government to hold an independent inquiry into allegations that aircraft involved in the CIA's rendition programme used Irish airspace and airports.
The group has accused the US government of offering a "get out of jail free" card to those who had been involved in acts of torture and called for a full investigation into the matter.
The call came after the US justice department released memos from the Bush administration that authorised tactics such as waterboarding and slamming detainees against walls. US president Barack Obama said CIA officers who had used the techniques outlined in the Bush memos would not be prosecuted.
Executive director of Amnesty International Ireland Colm O'Gorman welcomed the decision to release memos on the treatment of detainees, saying there could be no accountability in government without transparency.
"But we are concerned that the US Justice Department appears to be offering a get-out-of-jail-free card to individuals who, by US Attorney General Eric Holder's own estimation, were involved in acts of torture," he said.
"Torture is a violation of both national and international law, and no legal opinion, no matter from what source, can change that."
CIA officials tried unsuccessfully to keep some parts of the legal memos secret.
Mr Obama's actions have been criticised by those who claim the release of the memos would make the United States less safe, while human rights groups said the US president should not have given the CIA officers assurances about prosecutions.
