Legal Commentary

ACLU Gets DOJ Legal Documents on Interrogation Policies

By Jeralyn

Today's document release on detainee interrogations continues. The ACLU has received Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel Letters and Memos to CIA Regarding Detention and Interrogation Policies - Documents Responsive to 2009 Torture FOIA. They include:

• August 31, 2006 Letter to Rizzo from OLC concerning Conditions of Confinement

• August 31, 2006 Memorandum to Rizzo from OLC concerning Application of Detainee Treatment Act to Conditions of Confinement

• 2007 OLC opinion on Interrogation Techniques

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• August 23, 2007 Letter from OLC to CIA

• November 6, 2007 Letter from OLC to CIA

• November 7, 2007 Letter from OLC to CIA

• June 11, 2009 Memorandum for the Attorney General written by David Barron

The ACLU says:

“The background paper and the rest of the Justice Department OLC documents turned over today shed further light on the origins and scope of the Bush administration’s torture program,” said Amrit Singh, a staff attorney for the ACLU. “These documents provide critical details about the CIA’s detention and interrogation program following the enactment of the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005, which prohibited the cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of prisoners in U.S. custody overseas. It is troubling to see that many of the CIA’s coercive interrogation methods survived despite the passage of that law. Collectively, the OLC documents, along with the CIA Inspector General report released earlier today, further underscore the need for a full investigation into the torture of prisoners and those who authorized it.

The Obama administration made a commitment to transparency, and the release of documents related to the Bush administration’s torture program is a positive step.”

More of the newly released Office of Legal Counsel documents are here.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on August 25, 2009 (boomark / email).