US reveals memos on interrogation

US: The publication of the formerly classified memos coincides with an embarrassing admission by the administration that its…

US: The publication of the formerly classified memos coincides with an embarrassing admission by the administration that its claim in April that it was winning the war on terror was based on incorrect statistics that showed less terrorist activity in 2003, rather than more. Conor O'Clery reports from New York.

The release of the White House documents comes as public confidence sinks in the Bush administration's handling of the war on terror.

Mr Bush, in a secret February 2002 directive, agreed with the Attorney General John Ashcroft that the Geneva Conventions did not apply to al-Qaeda or the Taliban but ordered that prisoners be treated "humanely" and "to the extent appropriate and consistent with military necessity, in a manner consistent with the principles of Geneva."

He based his right to exercise such authority in this "and future conflicts" on the fact that the Geneva Conventions assumed the existence of "regular" armed forces fighting on behalf of states.

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"However, the war against terrorism ushers in a new paradigm, one in which groups with broad, international reach commit horrific acts against innocent civilians, sometimes with the direct support of states," Mr Bush said.

"Our nation recognises that this new paradigm - ushered in not by us, but by terrorists - requires new thinking in the law of war, but thinking that should nevertheless be consistent with the principles of Geneva."

Mr Bush ruled that none of the provisions of Geneva applied to the conflict with al-Qaeda anywhere in the world because it was not a High Contracting Party to Geneva, and Article 3 of Geneva did not apply to the Taliban as "the relevant conflicts are international in scope and common Article 3 applies only to 'armed conflict not of an international character'."

Bush aides also disavowed an internal Justice Department opinion that torturing al-Qaeda detainees might be legally defensible, saying that the memo would be rewritten as its advice was "overboard" and irrelevant.

Assistant attorney general Jay Bybee, now a judge, had offered a restricted definition of torture, saying only actions that cause severe pain akin to organ failure would be torture.

The memos show that the US Defence Secretary once approved the use of harsh measures for questioning prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

A memo from Mr Rumsfeld dated November 27th, 2002, agreed the use of a number of methods which were condemned as ill-treatment by the European Commission on Human Rights in cases brought by the Irish Government over interrogations of IRA suspects in 1972.

The procedures he approved included hooding, forcing detainees to stand for up to four hours, stripping them naked, intimidating them with dogs, interrogating them for up to 20 hours, forcibly shaving them, and using "mild, non-injurious physical contact".

Mr Rumsfeld revoked approval for these methods in a memo on January 15th, 2003, without giving a reason, though they were used at Abu Ghraib up to at least January of this year.

He and Mr Bush have since said that beatings, forced sex acts, and piling naked detainees in pyramids as shown in digital images from Abu Ghraib were illegal.

In April 2003, Mr Rumsfeld issued new guidelines for interrogations that prohibited removing detainees' clothes, and requiring approval for use of rewards or removal of privileges, verbal humiliation, alternating friendly and unfriendly interrogators, and isolation.

Mr Rumsfeld acknowledged last week that he ordered detainees to be held at secret locations without notifying the International Committee of the Red Cross, which is a violation of the Geneva Conventions.

After the release of the documents, Mr Bush sad, "Let me make very clear the position of my government and our country. We do not condone torture. I have never ordered torture. I will never order torture."

The release of the memos did not satisfy critics of the treatment of detainees. "These documents raise more questions than they answer," said Democratic Senator Charles Schumer.

Six US soldiers have been prosecuted under military law for abuse of detainees in Iraq and a contract CIA interrogator has been charged with beating to death a prisoner in Afghanistan.

The admission that incorrect figures on terror in 2003 were issued came two months after a report from the State Department in April was challenged in the media and Congress.

The report had been used by Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage in April as "clear evidence that we are prevailing in this fight" against terrorism.

Significant acts of terror worldwide actually reached a 21-year high in 2003.