User:Zoticogrillo/Interrogation of al Qaeda Operative

Jay Bybee, then Assistant Attorney General of the United States of America, addressed a memorandum to John Rizzo, then the Acting General Counsel of the CIA, dated August 1, 2002, in response to the CIA’s reported request for legal opinion on 18 U.S.C. section 2340 (the torture statute) as applied to the interrogation of Abu Zubaydah. There was much opposition to releasing this memorandum to the public, and the first release was almost completely excised. It summarizes the facts regarding Abu Zubaydah and his resistance to interrogation, as related by the CIA. It summarizes the various methods of physical and psychological coercion to be used by the CIA against Zubaydah, including attention grasp, walling, facial hold, insult slap, cramped confinement (large and small and with and without an insect), wall standing, stress positions, sleep deprivation, and waterboarding. It discusses the background of Zubaydah and the possible mental effects from such abuse, the background of the consultant to be assisting, the details of the proposed coercive actions, and applies the U.S. torture statute (18 U.S.C. section 2340-2340A) to each of these proposed actions. It concludes that none of these methods, individually or simultaneously for any duration, would be considered torture according to law.

Part I
The first part reminds the reader that the advice provided in this memorandum applies only to the facts at hand, regarding Abu Zubaydah, and that the conclusions of the memorandum may change given different facts. Those facts, according to the top secret memorandum, are that Abu Zubaydah was being held by the United States, and that, "[t]he interrogation team is certain that he has additional information that he refuses to divulge" regarding terrorist groups in the U.S. or Saudi Arabia planning attacks in the U.S. or overseas, but does not give any specifics and does not mention what makes this conclusion certain. The memorandum states that it appears that the suspect has grown accustomed to their interrogation techniques, and makes vague reference to unspecific evidence of a possible attack in the United States by unknown individuals. Nonetheless, without further discussion the fact summary concludes that the "high level of threat [the reader] believe[s] now exists" is the reason why advice regarding further techniques is being sought. Continuing to summarize the fact, the memorandum then summarizes the characteristics of the professionals present during the proposed interrogation techniques, and summarizes those coercive methods. It states that the purpose of these methods will be to, "convince Zubaydah that the only way he can influence his surrounding environment is through cooperation." It is then that the memorandum describes in detail each of the techniques proposed as generally used, including attention grasp, walling, facial hold, insult slap, cramped confinement (large and small and with and without an insect), wall standing, stress positions, sleep deprivation, and waterboarding. It clarifies that a medical expert will always be present "to prevent severe physical or mental harm[.]"

Part II
Part two of this memorandum goes into great detail how the techniques described in part one will be applied in Abu Zubaydah's particular case, and spends considerable space describing to the C.I.A. in great detail their own practices, and reminds them how those practices are applied in such a way "to ensure that no prolonged mental harm would result from the use of these proposed procedures." This section reviews how no appreciable harm has ever resulted in the application of these techniques on U.S. military personnel, and that these techniques have the approval of the government medical experts who train in the application and subversion of these techniques. It also summarizes the psychological profile provided of the subject, including his involvement in high-level terrorist activities with al Qaeda and his background training operatives in interrogation resistance techniques, as well as his radical thinking, such as the fact that he "has stated during interviews that he thinks of any activity outside of jihad as "silly"." It also states that after substantial research of the individual's background, behavior and journal entries that he does not appear to suffer from any psychological disorders or disturbances. This section concludes by emphasizing the suspicion of the potential value of the information he could provide, as well as his likely strong ability to resist standard interrogation techniques.

Part III
This section provides legal analysis of the U.S. anti-torture law (18 U.S.C. section 2340-2340A) and the application of each of the proposed techniques in this particular situation. After summarizing the law, it analyses the elements of the offense of torture (inflicting severe pain or suffering), and the specific (or criminal) intent required by the statute for the offense.