Leahy Seeks Newly
Disclosed Documents
Relating To Bush Administration’s
Interrogation And Detention Policies
…Previously
Unknown Presidential Order and 2nd DOJ ‘Torture’ Memo
Revealed In Pending FOIA Case
WASHINGTON (Friday, Nov. 17) – Senator
Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) has sent a letter to Attorney General Alberto
Gonzales seeking the release of previously unknown documents,
relating to the Bush Administration’s interrogation and detention
policies, that came to light as a result of a pending Freedom of
Information Act lawsuit.
Leahy, the ranking Democratic member
of the Judiciary Committee – and the panel’s incoming chairman for
the 110th Congress – has for years been pressing the Bush
Administration for answers about its torture and detention policies
in light of reports of prisoner abuse and secret renditions. Leahy
had previously requested all documents relating to the treatment of
detainees from the Department of Justice, the FBI, the CIA and the
Department of Defense, though none of those requests produced these
documents that the CIA acknowledged as part of a FOIA lawsuit filed
by the American Civil Liberties Union.
Leahy said the documents are important
to Congress’s oversight duties. “The American people and their
representatives in Congress are entitled to know the truth about the
Bush Administration’s interrogation policies and practices that have
engendered criticism at home, contributed so negatively to the image
of the United States around the world and served to undercut our
efforts against terrorism,” he said.
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The text of the
letter follows.
A pdf
version is available.
November 16, 2006
The Honorable Alberto Gonzales
Attorney General
United States Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20530
Dear Attorney General Gonzales:
Recent press accounts indicate that,
after years of denials, the Central Intelligence Agency has
acknowledged the existence of additional documents detailing the
Bush Administration’s interrogation and detention policy for
terrorism suspects. According to press reports, the CIA recently
disclosed the existence of two interrogation-related documents – a
presidential directive regarding the CIA’s interrogation methods and
detention facilities located outside of the United States, and an
August 2002 Department of Justice Memorandum to the CIA General
Counsel regarding CIA interrogation methods (the “2nd
Bybee memo”) – in connection with an ongoing FOIA lawsuit brought by
the American Civil Liberties Union.
As you know, for more than two years,
I have repeatedly sought answers from the Department of Justice, the
FBI, the CIA, and the Department of Defense regarding reported and,
in some instances, documented cases of the abuse of detainees in
U.S. custody. The photographs and reports of prisoner abuse in
Iraq, Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere that have emerged during the past
two years depict an interrogation and detention system operating
contrary to U.S. law and the Geneva Conventions.
Prisoner abuse is one aspect of a
broader problem, which includes the use of so-called “extraordinary
renditions” to send people to other countries where they will be
subject to torture. We diminish our own values as a Nation – and
lose credibility as an advocate of human rights around the world –
by engaging in, or outsourcing, torture.
The American people deserve to have
detailed and accurate information about the role of the Bush
Administration in developing the interrogation policies and
practices that have engendered such deep criticism and concern at
home and around the world. I ask that you promptly respond to the
following questions and document requests.
1. Please produce any and all directives, memoranda, and/or
orders, including any and all attachments to such documents,
regarding CIA interrogation methods or policies for the treatment of
detainees, including but not limited to the directive signed by
President Bush governing CIA interrogation methods, or allowing the
CIA to set up detention centers located outside of the United
States.
2. Please produce any and all Department of Justice
directives, memoranda, and/or guidance, including any and all
attachments to such documents, regarding CIA detention and/or
interrogation methods, including but not limited to the August 2002
Memorandum from the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel
to the CIA General Counsel regarding CIA interrogation methods (the
“2nd Bybee memo”).
3. Please produce any and all documents in the custody of
the Department of Justice regarding the legality of specific
interrogation tactics and/or federal criminal prohibitions on
torture and abuse that were used in the preparation of the 2nd
Bybee memo referenced above.
4. Please state whether the 2nd Bybee memo was
withdrawn, replaced, or modified after the Administration withdrew
the Office of Legal Counsel’s memorandum regarding U.S. obligations
under anti-torture law, dated August 2002 (the “1st Bybee
Memo”) in December 2004. If so, please produce any and all
revisions, or modifications of the 2nd Bybee memo.
5. Please produce any and all Department of Justice
documents that interpret, or advise on, the scope of interrogation
practices permitted and prohibited by the Detainee Treatment Act or
the Military Commissions Act.
6. Please produce an index of any and all documents relating
to investigations and/or reviews conducted by the Department of
Justice into detainee abuse by U.S. military or civilian personnel
in Guantanamo Bay, Abu Ghraib prison, or elsewhere.
I look forward to comprehensive
responses to the above questions and document requests.
Sincerely,
PATRICK LEAHY
United States Senator
cc: General Michael V. Hayden, USAF
Director
Central Intelligence Agency
Room Number 7D56 OH
Washington, D.C. 20505
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