The Yoo Torture Memo
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 9/11, Bad Decisions, Bush, Cheney, Civil Liberties, Constitution, Ethics, Foreign Policy, Guantanamo Bay, Iraq, Islam, Law, Military, Terrorism, The War On Terrorism, The World, Torture, WarAll 70+ pages of it.
In the March 14, 2003 memo, Yoo says the Constitution was not in play with regard to the interrogations because the Fifth Amendment (which provides for due process of law) and the Eighth Amendment (which prevents the government from employing cruel and usual punishment) does “not extend to alien enemy combatants held abroad.”:The memo goes on to explain that federal criminal statutes regarding assault and other crimes against the body don’t apply to authorized military interrogations overseas and that statutes that do apply to the conduct of U.S. officials abroad pertaining to war crimes and torture establish a limited obligation on the part of interrogators to refrain from bodily harm.
It also defines the United States’ obligations under the United Nations Convention Against Torture and other international treaties prohibiting torture to be confined to ensuring that interrogators do not apply “cruel and unusual punishment” as defined by American constitutional law, regardless of differing international standards.
And it restates the oft-repeated view held by administration officals that the Geneva Conventions, which governs the treatment of prisoners of war, does not apply to members of al Qaeda and the Taliban.
This policy was abandoned about a year later.
Here are the pdfs. Remember, you can enlarge the print by clicking over and going to SlideShare.
Part One:
Part Two:
