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White House to release Bush administration interrogation memos: report

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] The White House will soon make publicly available three internal memos from the Bush administration detailing aggressive interrogation techniques used against alleged top al Qaeda operatives, Newsweek reported Saturday. These so-called "torture memos" reportedly legally justify a number of interrogation techniques that some say amount to torture. The White House has decided to release the memos because an executive order bringing an end to such techniques removes the need to keep the memos confidential. Current and former intelligence officials have argued against the memos' release, warning that this could compromise national security. Last week, an article published in the New York Review of Books said that the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) characterized CIA tactics used against terrorism suspects as constituting torture in a confidential 2007 report. The report, obtained by journalist Mark Danner, alleges that some of the techniques used included waterboarding, sleep deprivation, prolonged nudity, and cold water immersion. Earlier this month, Attorney General Eric Holder reaffirmed the US government's commitment not to use waterboarding. Also that day, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) released a several memoranda and opinions from the Bush White House supporting the administration's counter terrorism policies. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in January compelling the DOJ to turn over these and other memos.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on March 23, 2009 (boomark / email).