V. Issue an Executive Order to Implement the Ban on Torture and Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment

The appalling abuses inflicted upon those held by the United States in Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantanamo, and elsewhere around the world are all too notorious. Particularly in the three years that followed the September 11 attacks, US armed forces and intelligence agencies frequently used interrogation techniques that included stripping detainees naked, subjecting them to extremes of heat, cold, and noise, and depriving them of sleep for long periods-in violation of the Geneva Conventions and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. The apparently routine infliction of pain, discomfort, and humiliation expanded in some cases to include vicious beatings, sexual degradation, near drowning, and near asphyxiation. Some detainees died under torture.

The US government's misguided embrace of torture and other abusive interrogation techniques has undermined its counterterrorism efforts, diminished America's moral authority, and helped fuel anti-American sentiment around the world. As President-elect Obama said during his campaign, "we need to restore our values, because as the counter-insurgency manual reminds us, torture sets back our mission to keep the people on our side."[4]

Earlier this year, the US Congress attempted to enforce the ban on torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment by passing legislation that would have required the CIA to comply with the humane treatment standards adopted by the military in the Army Field Manual. President Bush vetoed that legislation, however, insisting that the CIA be allowed to operate by its own rules.

President Obama should now implement through executive order what Congress tried to do via legislation. Specifically, he should:

(1)Issue an executive order that bans all torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment by requiring the CIA to abide by the interrogation rules that the US military has adopted in the Army Field Manual on Human Intelligence Collector Operations.

(2)Declare publicly that US domestic law (including the Detainee Treatment Act) bars the use of abusive interrogation techniques such as "waterboarding," extended sleep deprivation, and forced exposure to extremes of heat and cold.

(3)Direct the attorney general to rescind all Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel opinions authorizing or justifying abusive and inhumane treatment of detainees in US custody or effective control.