Doc. 11302 Report 2. The “dynamics of truth” 2.1. How President Bush’s disclosure of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) secret detention programme has accelerated the “dynamics of truth” 22. When President Bush decided on 6 September 2006 to reveal the existence of the covert programme implemented by the CIA to arrest, detain and interrogate overseas high-value terrorist suspects,3he simply glossed over the most delicate aspects, such as the implementation means chosen and (not) obtaining the prior support from the United States Congress for his administration’s “war on terror”. 23. President Bush’s disclosure was carefully worded so as to provide very little factual insight that was genuinely new or unknown. It was instead couched in imperative terms that portrayed the President as a strong Commander-in-Chief trying to prevent threats to the United States by methods – such as the CIA’s interrogation techniques – which were “tough … safe, and lawful, and necessary”. 24. The end was portrayed as paramount – “we’re getting vital information necessary to do our jobs, and that’s to protect the American people and our allies”; the means of getting there inconsequential – “I cannot describe the specific methods used – I think you understand why”. 25. Just under six weeks later, the United States Congress responded to President Bush’s clarion call4by passing the Military Commissions Act 2006 into law. As President Bush had expressly requested, the legislation draws distinctions between United States citizens and non-citizens, strips away the time-honoured right of detainees to challenge the basis for their detention (habeas corpus), and insulates the United States service personnel from prosecution for violations of common Article 3 of the four Geneva Conventions. The process that lay ahead for captured terrorist suspects was thereby mapped out, whilst the administration tried to cover the tracks that had led them there. 26. The limited disclosures of 6 September 2006, afforded a fresh focus to the mandate of my inquiry. One thing was now certain, personally acknowledged by the President of the United States: the existence of secret detention centres, which I had already confirmed in my June 2006 report. We are, however, faced with unresolved allegations that Council of Europe member states have colluded with the United States in serious human rights violations such as enforced disappearances, incommunicado (secret) detentions, and torture or cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. President Bush’s assertion that Europeans too had benefited from the programme5– which has not been substantiated by any evidence – must be put into its proper perspective if it were shown that we had forsaken our democratic values and the rule of law in order to share in those benefits. 27. In my view the protection of fundamental human rights is every bit as important as the preservation of national security cited by President Bush; indeed I hold these two objectives to be complementary, mutually reinforcing and in no way contradictory. 28. If we are to understand clearly the relationship between human rights and national security imperatives for the future, then we cannot content ourselves with partial truths about how the policies in question have been developed and implemented in the past. It is therefore our duty to get right to the bottom of the CIA’s secret detention programme in all its systemic components. The programme must not simply pass into history as a policy that seemed to breach our supposedly inviolable human rights, but about which we never learned the truth and for which we never exercised political and legal accountability. We have a right and the duty to know the truth and to analyse critically the means and methods being used in our name towards the stated goal of enhancing our common security. It is therefore indispensable to clarify the precise operational and legal basis of the CIA’s covert programme, and in particular to establish the extent to which Council of Europe member states were involved. 3. The White House, Office of the Press Secretary, “Remarks by the President on the global war on terror” (War on terror is a struggle for freedom and liberty, Bush says), speech delivered in the East Room of the White House, 6 September 2006; hereinafter “Remarks by President Bush, 6 September 2006”. 4. Ibid. The transcript shows that President Bush struck a chord with his White House audience, which included relatives of victims of the 11 September 2001 attacks: “Congress is in session just for a few more weeks, and passing this legislation ought to be the top priority. … For the sake of our security, Congress needs to act, and update our laws to meet the threats of this new era. And I know they will.” 5. Ibid. “Information from the terrorists questioned in this programme helped unravel plots and terrorist cells in Europe and other places. It’s helped our allies to protect their people from deadly enemies.” 9