Sen. Leahy Wants "Torture Memo"

Forums: Politics
Email this Topic • Print this Page

Dem judiciary leader seeks torture documents

Brian Beutler
Published: Friday November 17, 2006
In a letter addressed to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, soon to be chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee Patrick Leahy (D-VT) has requested the release of documents that outline the Bush Administration's interrogation policies.

The documents, which have long been thought to exist by observers and critics of America's national security policies, were confirmed to exist as the result of a still-pending Freedom of Information Act lawsuit by the ACLU.

One of those documents is believed to be a companion piece to the now-infamous August 2002 memorandum which redefined torture and, as a result, broadened the range of interrogation tactics permitted in the field.

The companion document, the so-called "Yoo Two" document (named after legal counsel John Yoo,) is believed to contain a list of actual techniques that have been approved by the Department of Justice?-and which therefore are legally protected interrogation methods used by intelligence operatives against suspected terrorists.

According to the ACLU, the documents specify "interrogation methods that the CIA may use against top al-Qaeda members."

Last November, a news report surfaced detailing six so-called enhanced interrogation techniques. What remains unclear, and what the documents requested by Leahy might reveal, is what among these techniques are legal in the eyes of the justice department.

"The American people and their representatives in Congress," Leahy insists, "are entitled to know the truth about the Bush Administration's interrogation policies and practices that have engendered criticism at home, contributed so negatively to the image of the United States around the world and served to undercut our efforts against terrorism,"

The full text of the letter, as obtained by RAW STORY, appears below.
link

Topic Stats
Top Replies
Link to this Topic

Type: Discussion • Score: 1 • Views: 500 • Replies: 3

No top replies

President Authorized Abu Ghraib Torture, FBI Email Says
by New Standard Friday, Nov. 17, 2006 at 12:40 PM

Among a new batch of documents rights groups have forced the gov't to release, a Bureau communication refers to a presidential Executive Order endorsing some forms of torture witnessed at Iraq prison.

http://justanotherblowback.blogspot.com/2006/11/president-authorized-abu-ghraib.html

President Authorized Abu Ghraib Torture, FBI Email Says
by New Standard Staff

Dec. 21, 2004 - Repeated references in an internal FBI email suggest that the president issued a special order to permit some of the more objectionable torture techniques used at Abu Ghraib and other US-run prison facilities around Iraq. The email was among a new batch of FBI documents revealed by civil rights advocates on Monday. Other documents describe the initiation of investigations into alleged incidents of torture and rape at detention facilities in Iraq.

The email, which was obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union, represents the first hard evidence directly connecting the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal and the White House. The author of the email, whose name is blanked out but whose title is described as "On Scene Commander -- Baghdad," contains ten explicit mentions of an "Executive Order" that the author said mandated US military personnel to engage in extraordinary interrogation tactics.

An Executive Order is a presidential edict -- sometimes public, sometimes secretive -- instituting special laws or instructions that override or complement existing legislation. The White House has officially neither admitted nor denied that the president has issued an Executive Order pertaining to interrogation techniques.
http://sf.indymedia.org/news/2006/11/1733059.php

0 Replies

I do so hope that Cheney meets up with Lehey again.

0 Replies

I was under the mistaken impression that once we ship out these detainees to secret prisons those in other countries take over the treatment or interrogation of them. Now I find out that the CIA just interrogates them (wherever) over there. (Probably not news to anyone else.) Anyway, I am wondering why the Bush administration thought it would make a difference legally if our guys (CIA) are the ones pushing the boundaries on interrogation tactics just because it is another country in secret locations. Do the rules change if you are in another country?

Quote:

The CIA has acknowledged for the first time the existence of two classified documents, including a directive signed by President George W. Bush, that have guided the agency's interrogation and detention of terror suspects.

[..]The contents of the documents were not revealed, but one of them is "a directive signed by President Bush granting the CIA the authority to set up detention facilities outside the United States and outlining interrogation methods that may be used against detainees," the civil liberties union said, based on its review of published accounts.

The second document, according to the group, is a Justice Department legal analysis "specifying interrogation methods that the CIA may use against top Al Qaeda members."

source

0 Replies

Sen. Leahy Wants "Torture Memo"

Related Topics

Quick Links

My Account

able2know