US Government Documents
The Torture Documents
From late 2001 onwards, numerous memos were exchanged between the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel and the White House, the Counsel to the CIA, and the Department of Defense regarding the detention and treatment of detainees in the 'War on Terror'. For an analysis of these, click here.
The Bybee Memos
Memos sent in 2002 from Jay Bybee of the Office of Legal Counsel, Department of Justice, to the Counsel to the President and to the CIA presented a series of arguments which would provide the basis for approval of torture, inhuman and degrading treatment against detainees in the 'War on Terror'.
Re: Standards of Conduct for Interrogation under 18 USC ��2340-2340A
Jay Bybee, Office of Legal Counsel, Department of Justice
(Memo for Alberto Gonzales, Counsel to the President)
1 August 2002
Interrogation of an Al Qaeda Operative
Jay Bybee, Office of Legal Counsel, Department of Justice
(Memo for John Rizzo, Acting General Counsel to the CIA)
1 August 2002
The Bradbury Memos
The Bradbury memos were issued in 2005 after the CIA had sought approval from the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel for harsher techniques than had previously been approved by the Bybee memos.
Re: Application of 18 USC ��2340-2340A to Certain Techniques That May Be Used in the Interrogation of a High Value Al Qaeda Detainee
Steven Bradbury, Office of Legal Counsel, Department of Justice
(Memo for John A Rizzo, Senior Deputy General Counsel, CIA)
10 May 2005
Re: Application of 18 USC ��2340-2340A to the Combined Use of Certain Techniques in the Interrogation of High Value Al Qaeda Detainees
Steven Bradbury, Office of Legal Counsel, Department of Justice
(Memo for John A Rizzo, Senior Deputy General Counsel, CIA)
10 May 2005
Re: Application of United States Obligations Under Article 16 of the
Convention Against Torture to Certain Techniques that May Be
Used in the Interrogation of High Value Al Qaeda Detainees
Steven Bradbury, Office of Legal Counsel, Department of Justice
(Memo for John A Rizzo, Senior Deputy General Counsel, CIA)
30 May 2005
CIA Inspector General's Investigation into the Use of 'Enhanced Interrogation Techniques'
Special Review: Counterterrorism, Detention and Interrogation Activities (September 2001-October 2003)
Inspector General, CIA
7 May 2004
The complete set of torture documents and good analysis is available on the Torture Archive website at the George Washington University National Security Archive.
