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PSC 371: Seminar in World Politics & Terrorism
Notes on the US Rules on Torture and Interrogation
From Andrew Romano, 'How Terrorism Led America Toward Torture,"
Evan Thomas and Michael Hirsh, "The Debate Over Torture,"
and Sen. John McCain, "Torture's Terrible Toll,"
Newsweek, 21 Nov. 2005, citing Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and news reports.
Compiled by Prof. Jeremy Lewis, revised 20 Nov. 2005.
"No physical or mental torture, nor any other form of coercion, may be inflicted on prisoners of war." -- Article 17 of the third Geneva Convention, 1949. "No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment." -- Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948. "No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war ... or any other public emergency may be invoked as a justification of torture," defined as "any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physcial or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person." -- 1985 UN Convention Against Torture, ratified by US in 1994. The Convention bans "cruel, inhuman or degrading" treatment.
Geneva "and US policy expressly prohibit acts of violence or intimidation, inlcuding physical or mental torture, threats [or] insults ... as a means of or aid to interrogation." -- US Army Field Manual, 1992 (under revision, 2005).
"AQ and Taliban individuals under the control of the DOD are not entitled to POW status for the purposes of the Geneva Convention of 1949." -- Donald Rumsfeld, Defense Secretary, 19 Jan. 2002. Justice Dept memo 22 Jan. 2002, to White House and DOD says Geneva would not apply to AQ detainees, and customary international law is not binding because it is not a federal law. White House counsel Alberto Gonzales advises President, 25 Jan. 2005, that Geneva conventions are "quaint" and "obsolete" for "new kind of war". Presidential directive, 7 Feb. 2002, says Geneva conventions do not apply to AQ suspects captured in Afghanistan, and neither they not Taliban would have POW status. Humane treatment would instead be derived from US national values. Justice Dept memo, 1 Aug. 2002, narrowly defines "torture" threshold under US law and Geneva conventions as only when equivalent to pain of "organ failure, impairment of bodily function, or even death."
Rumsfeld, Sec. Def., tentatively approved 16 interrogation techniques in Dec. 2002 for "uncooperative" detainees. He then narrowed the list in April 2003, but officials could request his permission for unapproved methods. Approved Dec. 2002 until April 2003 only: prolonged standing; nudity; sensory deprivation; hooding during questioning; prolonged interrogation; using phobias (e.g. dogs); shaving beards. Approved Dec. 2002 or April 2003: Good cop /bad cop; rapid-fire questioning; grabbing, poking or pushing; sleep adjustment; unpleasant smells. Never approved: exposure to cold; slapping; waterboarding (except approved for CIA), threat of death to detainees or families; sleep deprivation.
More aggressive techniques used by professional army interrogators against high value targets at Guantanamo from Dec. 2002. Transferred to "strategic interrogation" by Military Police of much broader class of prisoners in Iraq in summer 2003, with guidance from Guantanamo's Lt. Gen. Geoffrey Miller.
Afghanistan: Army's Dep. COS George Fay has reported from Dec. 2002, nudity; isolation; stress positions; fear of dogs; sleep and light deprivation. Guantanamo Bay: nudity; isolation; stress positions; fear of dogs. Abu Ghraib: punching, slapping and kicking; nudity & women's underwear; forced group masturbation; one dog bite; and photographing dead detainees.
President Bush, Vice President Cheney, Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld, director of Central Intelligence Goss, and some of their staff.
Lawyers and officers within DOD, FBI and elsewhere. State dept and national security council staff. Public interest groups. Senator John McCain's bill to outlaw torture passed the US Senate 90-9 (though not House) in November 2005. McCain noted that international opinion did cause North Vietnam to reduce its abuse of prisoners from 1970 onwards.