Bush and Rumsfeld painted the U.S. abuse of prisoners in Iraq as the work of a few individuals. So how do you explain this August 1, 2002 memo from Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel for Alberto R. Gonzales, counsel to President Bush?
Bush and Rumsfeld painted the U.S. abuse of prisoners in Iraq as the work of a few individuals. So how do you explain this August 1, 2002 memo from Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel for Alberto R. Gonzales, counsel to President Bush?
“Re: Standards of Conduct for Interrogation under 18 U.S.C. 2340-2340A”
(pdf)
Source:
Justice Dept. Memo Says Torture ‘May Be Justified’
The Washington Post
What the memo painstakingly does is explain how under U.S. law (Sections 2340?2340A of title 18 of the United States Code), anything you do to a prisoner short of death, permanent injury, or lasting mental harm does not constitute torture:
“Because the acts inflicting torture are extreme, there is (a) significant range of acts that though they might constitute cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment fail to rise to the level of torture.”
(p. 46)
The memo also helpfully points out:
“…both the European Court on Human Rights and the Israeli Supreme Court have recognized a wide array of acts that constitute cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, but do not amount to torture. Thus, they appear to permit, under international law, an aggressive interpretation as to what amounts to torture…”
This, plus Bush’s June 10 comments:
