Bush; CIA To Comply With Geneva Convention
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President George W. Bush, under fire over the treatment of terrorism suspects, has issued new rules to ensure that detention and interrogation by the CIA comply with the Geneva Conventions’ ban on torture.
An executive order from Bush set out how to deal with detainees and gives interrogators from the U.S. spy agency new legal protections against allegations of cruel and inhumane treatment, forbidden by Common Article 3 of the conventions, CIA Director Michael Hayden said on Friday.
The Bush administration has faced pressure at home and abroad over interrogation techniques used on suspected militants at CIA prisons and other locations, including the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
“The order provides specific requirements that ensure a CIA-run terrorist detention and interrogation program would be in full compliance with U.S. obligations under Common Article 3,” Hayden said in a statement.
“The president’s action … gives us the legal clarity we have sought.”
The new order comes 10 months after the Bush administration was forced to suspend its secret prison system because of a Supreme Court ruling that cast doubt on its legality.
Fewer than 100 detainees, including suspected senior al Qaeda members, were held in CIA secret prisons over a period of five years.
A smaller number were subjected to what CIA officials describe as “enhanced interrogation measures.”
Critics said CIA methods included techniques such as simulated drowning that amounted to torture. The agency also had been buffeted by media reports that CIA officials refused to carry out interrogations for fear of legal liability.
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