207. In his first days in office, President Obama signed Executive Orders 13491 and 13492, stressing the US commitment to Common Article 3 as a minimum baseline for treatment in detention, including detention conditions and the interrogation of detainees arrested in the context of any armed conflict. He reaffirmed the importance of humane treatment in all circumstances and of the prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment of individuals in the custody or effective control of the US government or detained in one of the facilities it operates, controls or owns, consistent with the requirements of the Torture Convention Implementation Act, the DTA and the CAT. He further revoked Executive Order 13440, as well as all relevant executive directives, orders, regulations and Office of Legal Counsel opinions related to the detention or interrogation of detainees that had been adopted between September 2001 and the date of his inauguration. Additionally, he enjoined US personnel to use Army Field Manual 2-22.3 as the guide for interrogations, and directed the CIA to close any detention facility it was operating.361 208. ODIHR welcomes the explicit prohibition of abusive techniques in the revised Army Field Manual such as “waterboarding”, forcing detainees to be naked, sexual humiliation and the use of military dogs.362 However, it is of concern that the list of unauthorized interrogation techniques, even if it is non-exhaustive, no longer includes a reference to stress positions, sleep deprivation and improper use of restraints.363 Additionally, an appendix provides that the “use of separation must not preclude the detainee getting four hours of continued sleep every 24 hours” and authorizes the use of goggles or blindfolds and earmuffs for up to 12 hours as part of the “separation” regime.364 Concerns have been raised that this appendix may allow for the interrogation of a detainee for periods of up to 40 hours without sleep over an initial period of 30 days, which is renewable. This would effectively allow for the use of sleep deprivation during a potentially indefinite period, and amount to torture or illtreatment. Furthermore, the Army Field Manual does not explicitly forbid slaps during interrogations, exposure to extreme changes in temperature falling short of causing hypothermia, and prolonged solitary confinement.365 ODIHR notes US assurances that nothing in the Manual, including Appendix M, authorizes or condones the use of sleep manipulation or sensory deprivation, and that interrogation guidelines are to be applied Techniques’”, 27 November 2002 (approved by Secretary Rumsfeld on 2 December 2002), <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/documents/dodmemos.pdf>. 361 Barack H. Obama, Executive Order 13491, op. cit., note 351; Barack H. Obama, Executive Order 13492, op. cit., note 83. See, also, “Opening Statement, Mary E. McLeod, Acting Legal Adviser, U.S. Department of State, Committee Against Torture, November 12-13, 2014 – Geneva”, p. 2, <http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CAT/Shared%20Documents/USA/INT_CAT_STA_USA_18815_E.pdf>. 362 “Human Intelligence Collector Operations”, FM 2-22.3 (FM 34-52), Department of the Army, 6 September 2006, paras. 5-75, <http://www.fas.org/irp/doddir/army/fm2-22-3.pdf>; “The U.S. Army Field Manual on Interrogation: A Strong Document in Need of Careful Revision”, Human Rights First website, p. 2, <http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/wpcontent/uploads/pdf/Army_Field_Manual.pdf>. 363 The Report of The Constitution Project's Task Force on Detainee Treatment, op. cit., note 183, p. 359. 364 “Human Intelligence Collector Operations”, Department of the Army, op. cit., note 362, Appendix M. “Separation” is a “restricted interrogation technique” aimed at preventing a detainee from communicating with others by removing him from other detainees and their environment. 365 UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and counter-terrorism, Report to the Human Rights Council, A/HRC/6/17/Add.3, op. cit., note 22, para. 35; The Report of The Constitution Project's Task Force on Detainee Treatment, op. cit., note 183, p. 327; UN CAT, Concluding observations on the combined third to fifth periodic reports of the United States of America, op. cit., note 107, para. 17. 87