Chapter 3 Conditions of Detention | 57 116. In addition, the Department of Justice’s Office of Professional Responsibility conducted an investigation into the memoranda on the use of “enhanced interrogation techniques” dated August 1, 2002. In a report issued on July 29, 2009, it asserted that the memoranda consistently favored a permissive view of the torture statute and that its legal analysis was inconsistent with the professional standards applicable to Department of Justice Attorneys. The report concluded that former Deputy Assistant Attorney General John Yoo and former Assistant Attorney General Jay Bybee “committed professional misconduct when [they] violated [their] duty to exercise independent legal judgment and render thorough, objective, and candid legal advice.” 116 117. In its response to this report, the U.S. Government indicated that investigations on the conditions of detention in Guantanamo conducted by, among others, the Inspector General of the Army, Navy, and CIA; and by Major General Ryder, the General Officer appointed by the Commander, U.S. Southern Command, led to hundreds of recommendations on ways to improve detention and interrogation operations, and the Department of Defense and the CIA have allegedly instituted processes to address these recommendations. The State also claimed that the Department of Justice conducted preliminary reviews and criminal investigations into the treatment of individuals alleged to have been mistreated while in U.S. Government custody subsequent to the September 2011 terrorist attacks, brought criminal prosecutions in several cases, and obtained the conviction of a CIA contractor and a Department of Defense contractor for abusing detainees in their custody. 117 118. The Inter-American Commission notes with deep concern, however, that no criminal actions have been brought against the persons involved in acts of torture in Guantanamo. Through its precautionary measures granted on behalf of the detainees, the IACHR has called for the United States to “thoroughly and impartially investigate, prosecute, and punish all allegations of torture and other ill-treatment of detainees.” 118 The jurisprudence of the inter-American system is clear with respect to the obligation of authorities to initiate, ex officio and immediately, an efficient, impartial and effective investigation, which must be carried out by all available legal means, once they become aware of an alleged act of torture. 119 The IACHR has determined that the failure of the United States to give effect to the 116 117 118 119 Department of Justice, Office of Professional Responsibility, Report, Investigation into the Office of Legal Counsel’s Memoranda Concerning Issues Relating to the Central Intelligence Agency’s Use of “Enhanced Interrogation Techniques” on Suspected Terrorists, July 29, 2009. Available at: https://www.aclu.org/files/pdfs/natsec/opr20100219/20090729_OPR_Final_Report_with_20100719_declassi fications.pdf Submission of the Government of the United States to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights with respect to the Draft Report on the Closure of Guantanamo, OEA/Ser.L/V.II.Doc. 30 January 2015, March 30, 2015, p. 6. IACHR, Precautionary Measure 259/02 – Detainees held by the United States in Guantanamo Bay, March 12, 2002 (extension granted on October 28, 2005). IACHR, Case No. 12.519, Garcia Lucero et al., Chile, Submission before the I/A Court HH.RR., September 20, 2011, para. 76. Available at: http://www.cidh.oas.org/demandas/12.519Eng.pdf Inter-American Commission on Human Rights | IACHR

Select target paragraph3

Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents