President issues executive order banning torture and CIA prisons.

AuthorCrook, John R.

In parallel with his order to end detentions at Guantanamo Bay, President Obama issued an executive order reversing policies and practices of the Bush administration relating to interrogation and detention of terrorism suspects. (1) The order revokes Executive Order 13,440, which limited application of Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions; (2) bans torture and humiliating and degrading treatment of persons in U.S. custody or control detained in armed conflicts; limits U.S. interrogation techniques to those authorized by Army Field Manual 2-22.3 (FM 22.3); (3) directs the Central Intelligence Agency to close "as expeditiously as possible" any detention facilities that it operates; bars the future operation of such CIA facilities; and requires prompt notification to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) regarding persons the United States holds in armed conflicts, along with ICRC access to such persons.

The order does not prohibit nonjudicial renditions of prisoners. Section 5 creates a cabinet-level task force, chaired by the attorney general, to "study and evaluate" the practice of renditions and whether additional interrogation practices and techniques should be authorized for intelligence agencies. (4) A substantial excerpt follows:

By the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, in order to improve the effectiveness of human intelligence gathering, to promote the safe, lawful, and humane treatment of individuals in United States custody and of United States personnel who are detained in armed conflicts, to ensure compliance with the treaty obligations of the United States, including the Geneva Conventions, and to take care that the laws of the United States are faithfully executed, I hereby order as follows:

Section 1. Revocation. Executive Order 13440 of July 20, 2007, is revoked. All executive directives, orders, and regulations inconsistent with this order, including but not limited to those issued to or by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from September 11, 2001, to January 20, 2009, concerning detention or the interrogation of detained individuals, are revoked to the extent of their inconsistency with this order....

Sec. 2. Definitions. As used in this order: ... [The order here defines Army Field Manuals 2-22.3 and 34-53; Common Article 3; the Convention Against Torture; and the Geneva Conventions.]

(f) "Treated humanely," "violence to life and person,"...

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