(A water temperature of 10 °C (50 °F) often leads to death in one hour.). March 2009: ICRC report publicly reported: On March 15, 2009, Mark Danner provided a report in the New York Review of Books (with an abridged version in the New York Times) describing and commenting on the contents of a report by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Report on the Treatment of Fourteen “High Value Detainees” in CIA Custody (43 pp., February 2007). The CIA interrogation strategies were based on work done by James Elmer Mitchell and Bruce Jessen in the Air Force’s Survival Evasion Resistance Escape (SERE) program. They’re appropriate, they’re in conformity with our international requirements and with US law.” During the discussions John Ashcroft is reported as saying “Why are we talking about this in the White House? We appreciate your help. In the letter CIA Director Panetta wrote Senator McCain that. Freedom of Information Act Electronic Reading Room. Or lies? “The bill Congress sent me would take away one of the most valuable tools in the war on terror – the CIA program to detain and question key terrorist leaders and operatives.” Bush said that the methods used by the military are designed for interrogating “lawful combatants captured on the battlefield”, not the “hardened terrorists” normally questioned by the CIA. Danner quotes the ICRC report as saying that, “in many cases, the ill-treatment to which they were subjected while held in the CIA program, either singly or in combination, constituted torture. Army Field Manual 2.22.3 Section 513 is the current basis for all legal interrogations carried out by the - United States. 16 The 2015 McCainFeinstein Amendment expanded this - prevention to cover the entire U.S. government, particularly meant to prevent future CIA-led enhanced interrogation programs. Massachusetts senator Edward Kennedy described Bush’s veto as “one of the most shameful acts of his presidency”. The Current Legal Status of Enhanced Interrogation Techniques Within United States domestic law, 18 U.S.C. The documents show that top U.S. Officials were intimately involved in the discussion and approval of the harsher interrogation techniques used on Abu Zubaydah. A bipartisan report in released 2008 stated that: a February 2002 memorandum signed by President George W. Bush, stating that the Third Geneva Convention guaranteeing humane treatment to prisoners of war did not apply to al-Qaeda or Taliban detainees, and a December 2002 memo signed by former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, approving the use of “aggressive techniques” against detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, as key factors that lead to the extensive abuses. The Central Intelligence Agency's use of "enhanced interrogation techniques" was "not an effective means of acquiring intelligence or gaining cooperation from detainees," a Senate report claims. The Bush administration told the CIA in 2002 that its interrogators working abroad would not violate US prohibitions against torture unless they “have the specific intent to inflict severe pain or suffering”, according to a previously secret US Justice Department memo released on July 24, 2008. out military-led enhanced interrogation. Condoleezza Rice specifically mentioned the SERE program during the meeting stating “I recall being told that U.S. military personnel were subjected to training to certain physical and psychological interrogation techniques…”. Enhanced interrogation techniques or alternative set of procedures were terms adopted by the George W. Bush administration in the United States to describe interrogation methods used by US military intelligence and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to extract information from individuals captured in the “War on Terror” after the September 11 attacks in 2001. Thank you for visiting CIA.gov. Various revisions of the extended techniques were issued. So here is the sentence you have to give. Debates concerning effectiveness or reliability of techniques. General Mukasey, just following orders is no defense! Many other techniques developed by the CIA constitute inhuman and degrading treatment and torture under the United Nations Convention against Torture and Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The memo is signed by then-CIA director George Tenet and dated January 28, 2003. International calls on Obama to investigate and prosecute. In response, on January 15, 2003, Rumsfeld suspended the approved interrogation tactics at Guantánamo Bay until a new set of guidelines could be produced by a working group headed by General Counsel of the Air Force Mary Walker. On July 12, 2005, members of a military panel told the committee that they proposed disciplining prison commander Major General Geoffrey Miller over the interrogation of Mohammed al Qahtani, who was forced to wear a bra, dance with another man, and threatened with dogs. '” I can live with that tradeoff. Stephen Soldz, Steven Reisner and Brad Olson wrote an article describing how the techniques used mimic what was taught in the SERE-program: “the military’s Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape program that trains US Special Operations Forces, aviators and others at high risk of capture on the battlefield to evade capture and to resist ‘breaking’ under torture, particularly through giving false confessions or collaborating with their captors”. The United Nations Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment -Professor Manfred Nowak- on January 20, 2008 remarked on German television that, following the inauguration of Barack Obama as new President, George W. Bush has lost his head of state immunity and under international law the U.S. is now mandated to start criminal proceedings against all those involved in these violations of the UN Convention Against Torture. Comment from Donald Rumsfeld: “I stand for 8-10 hours a day. ABC stated further that the last use of waterboarding was in 2003. In early 2002, following Abu Zubaydah's capture, assertedly Jose Rodriguez head of the CIA's clandestine service, asked his superiors for authorization for what Rodriquez called an "alternative set of interrogation procedures." American interrogators called the brutal practices "enhanced interrogation techniques" and they were used at secret "black site" prisons — and at … After the killing of Osama bin Laden, a Washington Post report, quoting U.S. officials including former attorney general Michael Mukasey, asserted that the interrogation of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Abu Faraj al-Libbi provided a courier’s pseudonym “al-Kuwaiti” which ultimately allowed them to locate Bin Laden. Please use the links below or the search form to find the information you seek. Either way. The terror suspect, who is being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, reportedly gave up information that indirectly led to the the 2003 raid in Pakistan yielding the arrest of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, an alleged planner of the September 11, 2001, attacks, Kiriakou said. V. Enhanced Interrogation Techniques Enhanced Interrogation Techniques are best used when information is urgently needed to save lives that are in immediate danger, such as on the battlefield or when we have reason to believe that an attack is imminent. §§ 2340A renders illegal the act of torture or conspiracy to commit torture by a U.S. national or any individual within the United States. Jordan Paust concurred by responding to Mukasey’s refusal to investigate and/or prosecute anyone that relied on these legal opinions: it is legally and morally impossible for any member of the executive branch to be acting lawfully or within the scope of his or her authority while following OLC opinions that are manifestly inconsistent with or violative of the law. The working group based its new guidelines on a legal memo from the United States Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel written by John Yoo and signed by Jay S. Bybee, which would later become widely known as the “Torture Memo.” General Counsel Mora led a faction of the Working Group in arguing against these standards, and argued the issues with Yoo in person. The High Court judges also stated that a criminal investigation, by the UK’s attorney general, into possible torture has begun. The congressmen involved in calling for such an investigation included John Conyers, Jan Schakowsky, and Jerrold Nadler. And that’s important for people around the world to understand.” The administration adopted the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 to address the multitude of incidents of detainee abuse. A report by Human Rights First (HRF) and Physicians for Human Rights (PFH) stated that these techniques constitute torture. I can live with the person who makes that tradeoff. Central Intelligence Agency. Although the Army Field Manual contains a number of express and implied protections to ensure that these techniques are not abused, for the reasons that follow, the Committee is right to raise concerns about the continued authorization of Physical Separation and Field Expedient Separation even while other Enhanced Interrogation Techniques have been expressly prohibited by, inter alia, the … How to Build Trust in a Relationship Using CBT? What we do know is that government officials decided not to inform a lawfully constituted body, created by Congress and the president, to investigate one the greatest tragedies to confront this country. Browse the Collections | Advanced Search | Search Help. During the American war on terror the Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld issued “enhanced interrogation techniques” that went farther than those authorized in the Army Field Manual. Hypothermia: The prisoner is left to stand naked in a cell kept near 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10 degrees Celsius), while being regularly doused with cold water in order to increase the rate at which heat is lost from the body. Enhanced interrogations unnecessary; Army Field Manual is sufficient A bill on interrogation techniques was passed on February 13, 2008 in the US Senate, in a 51 to 45 vote, limiting the number of techniques allowed to only "those interrogation techniques explicitly authorized by the 2006 Army Field Manual." It is of note that in a 2007 report by investigator Dick Marty on secret CIA prisons, the phrase “enhanced interrogations” was stated to be a euphemism for torture. But I felt duty-bound to be true to the facts. ‘Even though it may have worked, I still don’t want you doing it.’ That requires courage. Following the September 11 attacks in 2001, several memoranda analyzing the legality of various interrogation methods were written by John Yoo from Office of Legal Counsel. It specifically details 18 techniques approved for interrogators to use on their subjects, and lists forbidden methods. The report, “Experiments in Torture: Human Subject Research and Evidence of Experimentation in the ‘Enhanced’ Interrogation Program”, published by the advocacy group Physicians for Human Rights, described personnel in the CIA’s Office of Medical Services (OMS) performing research on the prisoners as the above techniques were used both serially and in combination. Atlantic Monthly writer Andrew Sullivan asserts the first use of a term comparable to “enhanced interrogation” was a 1937 memo by Gestapo Chief Heinrich Muller coining the phrase “Verschärfte Vernehmung,” German for (according to Sullivan) “sharpened,” “intensified” or “enhanced interrogation” to describe subjection to extreme cold, sleep deprivation, and deliberate exhaustion among other techniques. The interrogator’s “good faith” and “honest belief” that the interrogation will not cause such suffering protects the interrogator, the memo adds. “Because the danger remains, we need to ensure our intelligence officials have all the tools they need to stop the terrorists,” Bush said in his weekly radio address . In addition, many other elements of the ill-treatment, either singly or in combination, constituted cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.”, Investigation of enhanced interrogation techniques and calls for prosecution, Request for Special Counsel Probe of Harsh Interrogation Tactics. The UN report also admonishes against secret prisons, the use of which, is considered to amount to torture as well and should be discontinued. The letter was addressed to Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey observing that: “… information indicates that the Bush administration may have systematically implemented, from the top down, detainee interrogation policies that constitute torture or otherwise violate the law.”, “Because these apparent ‘enhanced interrogation techniques’ were used under cover of Justice Department legal opinions, the need for an outside special prosecutor is obvious.”. Despite these shortcomings of experience and know-how, the two psychologists boasted of being paid $1000 a day plus expenses, tax-free by the CIA for their work. Covered are Attention Grasp, Walling, Facial Hold, Facial Slap (Insult Slap), Cramped Confinement, Wall Standing, Stress Positions, Sleep Deprivation, Water Board, Use of Diapers, Insects and Mock Burial. so we can fix the link as soon as possible. The New York Times terms the techniques “harsh” and “brutal” while avoiding the word “torture” in most but not all news articles, though it routinely calls “enhanced interrogation” torture in editorials. The Washington Post reported in January 2009 that Susan J. Crawford, convening authority of military commissions, stated in response to the interrogation of Mohammed al-Qahtani, one of the so-called “20th hijacker” of the September 11 attacks: “The techniques they used were all authorized, but the manner in which they applied them was overly aggressive and too persistent…. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. A March 22, 2005, sworn statement by the former chief of the Interrogation Control Element at Guantánamo said instructors from SERE also taught their methods to interrogators of the prisoners in Cuba. In the end, no detainee in CIA custody revealed the facilitator/courier’s full true name or specific whereabouts. The CIA Web Team, If you have reached this page from a link within CIA.gov, please. The reason Crawford decided not to prosecute al-Qahtani was because his treatment fell within the definition of torture. Waterboarding: The prisoner is bound to an inclined board, feet raised and head slightly below the feet. The Washington Post described the report by the Intelligence Science Board: There is almost no scientific evidence to back up the U.S. intelligence community’s use of controversial interrogation techniques in the fight against terrorism, and experts believe some painful and coercive approaches could hinder the ability to get good information, according to a new report from an intelligence advisory group. Torture Act, and the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005. Responding to the so-called “torture memoranda” Scott Horton pointed out the possibility that the authors of these memoranda counseled the use of lethal and unlawful techniques, and therefore face criminal culpability themselves. This creates an intense amount of pressure on the legs, leading first to pain and then muscle failure. Some view these techniques as morally unjustifiable and to others it seems to be a small price to pay for finding the source to stop the War to Terror. Later, after Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was captured, he just “confirmed” the courier’s pseudonym. Subsequent disclosures in 2010 revealed that Jose Rodriguez Jr., head of the directorate of operations at the CIA from 2004 to 2007, ordered the tapes destroyed because what they showed was so horrific they would be “devastating to the CIA,” and that “the heat from destroying is nothing compared to what it would be if the tapes ever got into public domain.” The New York Times reported that according to “some insiders” an inquiry into the C.I.A.’s secret detention program which analysed these techniques “might end with criminal charges for abusive interrogations.” In an Op-ed for the New York Times Tom Kean and Lee Hamilton, chair and vice chair of the 9/11 Commission stated: As a legal matter, it is not up to us to examine the C.I.A.’s failure to disclose the existence of these tapes. . The national security orders mandate that interrogation techniques in the Army Field Manual be used by all intelligence and law enforcement services; call … These attempts to falsify the facilitator/courier’s role were alerting. KUBARK Manual: Produced by the CIA in 1963 (and declassified in 1997), the KUBARK Counterintelligence Interrogation Manual served as a comprehensive guide for training interrogators in exploitation techniques including, among other things, “coercive counterintel-ligence interrogation of resistant sources.” The manual In December 2007 it became known that the CIA had destroyed videotapes depicting prisoners being interrogated. However, President Obama, Attorney General Holder, and Guantanamo military prosecutor Crawford called some of the techniques torture. sleep deprivation, isolation, exposure to extreme temperatures, enclosure in tiny spaces, bombardment with agonizing sounds at extremely damaging decibel levels, and religious and sexual humiliation.” Under CIA supervision, Miller and Jessen adapted SERE into an offensive program designed to train CIA agents on how to use the harsh interrogation techniques to gather information from terrorist detainees. The U.S. military used the We would like to show you a description here but the site won’t allow us. Responding to the ruling, David Davis, the Conservative MP and former shadow home secretary, commented: The ruling implies that torture has taken place in the [Binyam] Mohamed case, that British agencies may have been complicit, and further, that the United States government has threatened our high court that if it releases this information the US government will withdraw its intelligence cooperation with the United Kingdom. And the fact is it did work. A third memo instructs interrogators to keep records of sessions in which “enhanced interrogation techniques” are used. Some of these psychologists essentially “tried to reverse-engineer” the SERE program, as the affiliate put it. Since 1930, the United States had defined sleep deprivation as an illegal form of torture. The British government has determined the techniques would be classified as torture, and dismissed President Bush’s claim to the contrary. A report by Human Rights First (HRF) and Physicians for Human Rights (PFH) stated that these techniques constitute torture. US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia said on BBC Radio 4 that since these methods are not intended to punish they do not violate the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution, barring “cruel and unusual punishment”, and as such may not be unconstitutional. Stop. Following NPR’s controversial ban on using the word torture and Ombudsman Alica Shepard’s defense of the policy that “calling waterboarding torture is tantamount to taking sides”, Berkeley Professor of Linguistics Geoffrey Nunberg pointed out that virtually all media around the world, other than what he called the “spineless U.S. media”, call these techniques torture. The less redacted version of the August 1, 2002 memo signed by Assistant Attorney General Jay Bybee (regarding Abu Zubaydah) and four memos from 2005 signed by Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Steven Bradbury addressed to CIA and analysing the legality of various specific interrogation methods, including waterboarding, were released by Barack Obama administration on April 16, 2009. Why is standing [by prisoners] limited to four hours?”, According to the February 16, 2008 edition of The Economist, Rumsfeld also wrote in a 2002 memo; “I stand for 8-10 hours a day. This was not any one particular act; this was just a combination of things that had a medical impact on him, that hurt his health. For under unendurable pain a man confesses anything that is required of him, true or false, and his evidence is worthless.”. 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