CAT/C/56/D/536/2013
enemy combatants”—and their subsequent trial by military tribunals, which he
ordered would not be subject to standard principles of law or the usual rules of
evidence. 2 He also took action to strip detainees of the power to seek a remedy, not
only in any United States court but also in “any court of any foreign nation, or any
international tribunal”. 3
2.6 In early 2002, Mr. Bush decided that the Geneva Convention relative to the
Treatment of Prisoners of War (Third Geneva Convention) did not apply to the conflict
with Al-Qaida or members of the Taliban and that they would not receive the
protections afforded under that convention. 4 Mr. Bush approved and oversaw a
multifaceted global detention programme in which “enhanced interrogation”
techniques were employed, including practices that constitute tor ture. 5 This system
included a CIA detention programme directed at “high-value” detainees who were
held at secret sites around the globe, the use of extraordinary rendition to send
terrorist suspects or persons of interest to third countries known to employ torture, and
detention by United States military and other government agents at locations outside
the United States, including Guantánamo Bay, where detainees were subjected to acts
of torture, including interrogation methods employed in the aforementione d CIA
programme. 6 In his memoirs and elsewhere, Mr. Bush admitted that he personally
authorized the waterboarding of detainees in United States custody as well as other
interrogation techniques. 7
2.7 In their joint report dated 27 February 2006, five special rapporteurs 8 arrived at
the conclusion that the interrogation methods described met the definition of torture.
In addition, jurisprudence from various international bodies qualifies the various
interrogation methods authorized and overseen by Mr. Bush as torture and/or cruel,
inhuman or degrading treatment, including exposure to extreme temperatures, 9 sleep
deprivation, 10 punching or kicking, 11 isolation in “coffin” cells for prolonged periods, 12
threats of ill-treatment, 13 solitary confinement, 14 forced nudity 15 and waterboarding. 16
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
4
Military Order of November 13, 2001: Detention, Treatment and Trial of Certain Non -Citizens in
the War against Terrorism, Federal Register, vol. 66, No. 2, 16 November 2001, pp. 57831-57836.
Available from www.fas.org/irp/offdocs/eo/mo-111301.htm.
Ibid., sect. 7 (b) (2).
John Yoo and Robert J. Delahunty, memorandum for William J. Haynes II, General Counsel,
Department of Defense, United States Department of Justice, “Application of treaties and laws to al
Qaeda and Taliban detainees”, 9 January 2002, pp. 1 and 11.
International Committee of the Red Cross, “ICRC report on the treatment of fourteen ‘high value
detainees’ in CIA custody”, report to John Rizzo, Acting General Counsel, CIA, 14 February 2007 .
Available from www.nybooks.com/media/doc/2010/04/22/icrc-report.pdf.
Memorandum for Record, Department of Defense, Joint Task Force 170, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba .
Available from www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/documents/GitmoMemo10-09-03.pdf.
George W. Bush, Decision Points (Crown Publishing Group, 2010), pp. 169-171.
Situation of detainees at Guantánamo Bay: report of the Chairperson-Rapporteur of the Working
Group on Arbitrary Detention; the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers;
the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment;
the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief; and the Special Rapporteur on the right of
everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
(E/CN.4/2006/120).
European Court of Human Rights, Tekin v. Turkey (application No. 64570/01), judgment of 19 July
2007 and Akdeniz v. Turkey (application No. 25165/94), judgment of 31 May 2005; Human Rights
Committee, communication No. 577/1994, Polay Campos v. Peru, Views adopted on 6 November
1997, para. 9.
European Court of Human Rights, Ireland v. United Kingdom (application No. 5310/71), judgment
of 18 January 1978, para. 167.
Committee against Torture, communication No. 207/2002, Dimitrijevic v. Serbia and Montenegro,
decision adopted on 24 November 2004, para. 5.3; communication No. 269/2005, Ben Salem v.
Tunisia, decision adopted on 7 November 2007, para. 16.4; communication No. 291/2006, Ali v.
Tunisia, decision adopted on 21 November 2008, para. 15.4.
Committee against Torture, summary account of the proceedings concerning the inquiry on Turkey,
Official Records of the General Assembly, Supplement No. 44 (A/48/44/Add.1), 1993, para. 52;