Bush issues guidelines for CIA interrogators
Wednesday, 1 August 2007
Edward Luce
George W. Bush late last week issued long-awaited guidelines for Central Intelligence Agency interrogators but withheld details of what methods would now be permitted.
The US president, who last September admitted that the CIA had been holding Al Qaeda suspects at secret detention centres around the world, said the new rules would ban the use of "cruel, inhuman or degrading" techniques and put the US in compliance with the Geneva conventions.
The White House also said the new classified guidelines would give legal certainty to CIA employees, many of whom are believed to have avoided interrogating suspects in the last few months for fear they would be held liable in US courts.
Michael Hayden, CIA director, said Mr Bush's executive order provided "the legal clarity we have sought." He added: "It gives our officers the assurance that they may conduct their essential work in keeping with the laws of the United States."
White House officials refused to say whether the CIA continues to hold terrorist suspects at secret prisons or be drawn on whether controversial techniques -- such as "water-boarding", or simulated drowning -- had been banned under the order.
Human rights groups said Mr Bush's order provided no reassurance the CIA would use "humane" techniques. "Essentially the Bush administration is saying: 'Trust us -- these rules conform with the Geneva conventions,"' said Jennifer Daskal, head of counterterrorism at Human Rights Watch. "But given its record there is absolutely no reason to take the Bush administration on trust."
Mr Bush was required to draw up the guidelines following a Supreme Court judgement last year that overruled the administration's contention that Al Qaeda suspects were ineligible for protection under the Geneva conventions.
The ruling prompted legislation that left it up to Mr Bush to interpret how to interpret article III of the Geneva conventions, which governs the interrogation of enemy detainees.
Leading Republican senators, including John McCain, John Warner and Lindsey Graham, who pushed the military tribunal legislation through Congress last September, said they were awaiting clarifications from the White House before discussing the guidelines.
"The executive order touches on a very complex area of law and we don't want to rush to judgement," they said in a statement. White House officials confirmed that General Hayden held a closed briefing for select lawmakers on the guidelines this week.
Under syndication arrangement with FE
George W. Bush late last week issued long-awaited guidelines for Central Intelligence Agency interrogators but withheld details of what methods would now be permitted.
The US president, who last September admitted that the CIA had been holding Al Qaeda suspects at secret detention centres around the world, said the new rules would ban the use of "cruel, inhuman or degrading" techniques and put the US in compliance with the Geneva conventions.
The White House also said the new classified guidelines would give legal certainty to CIA employees, many of whom are believed to have avoided interrogating suspects in the last few months for fear they would be held liable in US courts.
Michael Hayden, CIA director, said Mr Bush's executive order provided "the legal clarity we have sought." He added: "It gives our officers the assurance that they may conduct their essential work in keeping with the laws of the United States."
White House officials refused to say whether the CIA continues to hold terrorist suspects at secret prisons or be drawn on whether controversial techniques -- such as "water-boarding", or simulated drowning -- had been banned under the order.
Human rights groups said Mr Bush's order provided no reassurance the CIA would use "humane" techniques. "Essentially the Bush administration is saying: 'Trust us -- these rules conform with the Geneva conventions,"' said Jennifer Daskal, head of counterterrorism at Human Rights Watch. "But given its record there is absolutely no reason to take the Bush administration on trust."
Mr Bush was required to draw up the guidelines following a Supreme Court judgement last year that overruled the administration's contention that Al Qaeda suspects were ineligible for protection under the Geneva conventions.
The ruling prompted legislation that left it up to Mr Bush to interpret how to interpret article III of the Geneva conventions, which governs the interrogation of enemy detainees.
Leading Republican senators, including John McCain, John Warner and Lindsey Graham, who pushed the military tribunal legislation through Congress last September, said they were awaiting clarifications from the White House before discussing the guidelines.
"The executive order touches on a very complex area of law and we don't want to rush to judgement," they said in a statement. White House officials confirmed that General Hayden held a closed briefing for select lawmakers on the guidelines this week.
Under syndication arrangement with FE