Ban Torture

What do you stand for?

Documents

Document Collections:

Documents:

2002

  • January 25, 2002. Alberto Gonzales memo
    • “The war against terrorism is a new kind of war” which “renders obsolete Geneva’s strict limitations on questioning of enemy prisoners and renders quaint some of its provisions”
  • August 1, 2002, the Bybee Memo (Standards of Conduct for Interrogation under 18 U.S.C. SS. 2340-2340A)

    • We conclude that for an act to constitute torture as defined in Section 2340, it must inflict pain that is difficult to endure. Physical pain amounting to torture must be equivalent in intensity to the pain accompanying serious physical injury, such as organ failure, impairment of bodily function, or even death.
  • November 27, 2002. Memo from William J. Haynes II, General Counsel, to Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense. Approval to use those counter-resistance techniques listed in Categories I and II and the fourth technique listed in Category III [”Use of mild, non-injurious physical contact such as grabbing, poking in the chest with the finger, and light pushing”] during the interrogation of detainees at Guantanamo Bay. Rumsfeld’s handwritten note: “However, I stand for 8-10 hours a day. Why is standing limited to 4 hours?”

2003

2004

  • February 25, 2004. Department of State’s 2003 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
    • Examples of torture or other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment condemned in these reports
  • February, 2004. REPORT OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE RED CROSS ON THE TREATMENT BY THE COALITION FORCES OF PRISONERS OF WAR AND OTHER PERSONS PROTECTED BY THE GENEVA CONVENTIONS IN IRAQ DURING ARREST, INTERNMENT AND INTERROGATION (The ICRC Report) by Delegates of the International Committee of the Red Cross, February 2004
  • March, 2004. ARTICLE 15-6 INVESTIGATION OF THE 800th MILITARY POLICE BRIGADE (The Taguba Report) by Major General Antonio M. Taguba
    • Prepared by Maj. Gen. Antonio M. Taguba on alleged abuse of prisoners by members of the 800th Military Police Brigade at the Abu Ghraib Prison in Baghdad. It was ordered by Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, commander of Joint Task Force 7, the senior U.S. military official in Iraq, following persistent allegations of human rights abuses at the prison.
  • August, 2004. FINAL REPORT OF THE INDEPENDENT PANEL TO REVIEW DoD DETENTION OPERATIONS (The Schlesinger Report)
    By James R. Schlesinger, Harold Brown, Tillie K. Fowler, and General Charles A. Horner (USAF-Ret.)
  • August, 2004. AR 15-6 INVESTIGATION OF THE ABU GHRAIB DETENTION FACILITY AND 205th MILITARY INTELLIGENCE BRIGADE (The Fay Report)
    By Major General George R. Fay
  • December 30, 2004, the Levin DAG Memo (Legal Standards Applicable Under 18 U.S.C. S. 2340-2340A)
    • “This opinion…supersedes in its entirety the August 1, 2002 opinion of this Office…That statute…also prohibits certain conduct specifically intended to cause ’severe physical suffering’ distinct from ’severe physical pain.’”

2005

  • February 4, 2005.  Memo from Daniel Levin, Acting Assistant Attorney General, to William J.  Haynes II, advising that the March 2003  John Yoo memo had been superseded by subsequent legal analysis.
  • March, 2005 (?) Secret Justice Department opinion authorizing harsh interrogation techniques by the CIA. Still classified. (reported in New York Times)
  • April, 2005. Investigation into FBI Allegations of Detainee Abuse at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba Detention Facility (unclassified excerpt) (the Schmidt Report)
  • May, 2005. Break Them Down: Systematic Use of Psychological Torture by U.S. Forces. Physicians for Human Rights
  • May 6, 2005. Second Periodic Report of the United States of America to the Committee Against Torture
  • Summer 2005. “Rebuilding Iraq”, a RAND study of the planning for postwar Iraq. The 18-months of research resulted in both secret and unclassified reports, but both have been suppressed by the Defense Department. (New York Times)

2006

2007

2008

  • February 11, 2008. Statement from a bipartisan coalition of 18 former members of Congress, secretaries of state and national security officials who supported the anti-torture amendment. Partnership for a Secure America (PDF)
  • February 12, 2008. Letter from 43 military leaders supporting the Intelligence Authorization Act which requires intelligence agents of the U.S. government to adhere to the standards of prisoner treatment and interrogation contained in the U.S. Army Field Manual on Human Collector Operations (the Army Field Manual).
  • February 14, 2008. A recent study (PDF) , “Captured on Tape: Interrogation and Videotaping of Detainees in Guantánamo,” by Professor Mark Denbeaux, his colleagues, and Seton Hall Law Students, shows that more than 24,000 interrogations have been conducted at Guantanamo since 2002, and all interrogations were videotaped.

Updated frequently. Last update April 2, 2008. Please contact me to report a broken link or if you need access to a document no longer available online.