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White
House News
President Bush Signs Executive Order
Executive
Order: Interpretation of the Geneva Conventions
Common Article 3 as Applied to a Program of Detention
and Interrogation Operated by the Central Intelligence
Agency
By the authority
vested in me as President and Commander in Chief
of the Armed Forces by the Constitution and the
laws of the United States of America, including
the Authorization for Use of Military Force (Public
Law 107 40), the Military Commissions Act of 2006
(Public Law 109 366), and section 301 of title 3,
United States Code, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. General
Determinations. (a) The United States is engaged
in an armed conflict with al Qaeda, the Taliban,
and associated forces. Members of al Qaeda were
responsible for the attacks on the United States
of September 11, 2001, and for many other terrorist
attacks, including against the United States, its
personnel, and its allies throughout the world.
These forces continue to fight the United States
and its allies in Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere,
and they continue to plan additional acts of terror
throughout the world. On February 7, 2002, I determined
for the United States that members of al Qaeda,
the Taliban, and associated forces are unlawful
enemy combatants who are not entitled to the protections
that the Third Geneva Convention provides to prisoners
of war. I hereby reaffirm that determination.
(b) The Military
Commissions Act defines certain prohibitions of
Common Article 3 for United States law, and it reaffirms
and reinforces the authority of the President to
interpret the meaning and application of the Geneva
Conventions.
Sec. 2. Definitions.
As used in this order:
(a) "Common
Article 3" means Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions.
(b) "Geneva
Conventions" means:
(i) the Convention
for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded
and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field, done at Geneva
August 12, 1949 (6 UST 3114);
(ii) the Convention
for the Amelioration of the Condition of Wounded,
Sick and Shipwrecked Members of Armed Forces at
Sea, done at Geneva August 12, 1949 (6 UST 3217);
(iii) the Convention
Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, done
at Geneva August 12, 1949 (6 UST 3316); and
(iv) the Convention
Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in
Time of War, done at Geneva August 12, 1949 (6 UST
3516).
(c) "Cruel,
inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment"
means the cruel, unusual, and inhumane treatment
or punishment prohibited by the Fifth, Eighth, and
Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution of the
United States.
Sec. 3. Compliance
of a Central Intelligence Agency Detention and Interrogation
Program with Common Article 3. (a) Pursuant to the
authority of the President under the Constitution
and the laws of the United States, including the
Military Commissions Act of 2006, this order interprets
the meaning and application of the text of Common
Article 3 with respect to certain detentions and
interrogations, and shall be treated as authoritative
for all purposes as a matter of United States law,
including satisfaction of the international obligations
of the United States. I hereby determine that Common
Article 3 shall apply to a program of detention
and interrogation operated by the Central Intelligence
Agency as set forth in this section. The requirements
set forth in this section shall be applied with
respect to detainees in such program without adverse
distinction as to their race, color, religion or
faith, sex, birth, or wealth.
(b) I hereby determine
that a program of detention and interrogation approved
by the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency
fully complies with the obligations of the United
States under Common Article 3, provided that:
(i) the conditions
of confinement and interrogation practices of the
program do not include:
(A) torture, as
defined in section 2340 of title 18, United States
Code;
(B) any of the acts
prohibited by section 2441(d) of title 18, United
States Code, including murder, torture, cruel or
inhuman treatment, mutilation or maiming, intentionally
causing serious bodily injury, rape, sexual assault
or abuse, taking of hostages, or performing of biological
experiments;
(C) other acts of
violence serious enough to be considered comparable
to murder, torture, mutilation, and cruel or inhuman
treatment, as defined in section 2441(d) of title
18, United States Code;
(D) any other acts
of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment
prohibited by the Military Commissions Act (subsection
6(c) of Public Law 109 366) and the Detainee Treatment
Act of 2005 (section 1003 of Public Law 109 148
and section 1403 of Public Law 109 163);
(E) willful and
outrageous acts of personal abuse done for the purpose
of humiliating or degrading the individual in a
manner so serious that any reasonable person, considering
the circumstances, would deem the acts to be beyond
the bounds of human decency, such as sexual or sexually
indecent acts undertaken for the purpose of humiliation,
forcing the individual to perform sexual acts or
to pose sexually, threatening the individual with
sexual mutilation, or using the individual as a
human shield; or
(F) acts intended
to denigrate the religion, religious practices,
or religious objects of the individual;
(ii) the conditions
of confinement and interrogation practices are to
be used with an alien detainee who is determined
by the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency:
(A) to be a member
or part of or supporting al Qaeda, the Taliban,
or associated organizations; and
(B) likely to be
in possession of information that:
(1) could assist
in detecting, mitigating, or preventing terrorist
attacks, such as attacks within the United States
or against its Armed Forces or other personnel,
citizens, or facilities, or against allies or other
countries cooperating in the war on terror with
the United States, or their armed forces or other
personnel, citizens, or facilities; or
(2) could assist
in locating the senior leadership of al Qaeda, the
Taliban, or associated forces;
(iii) the interrogation
practices are determined by the Director of the
Central Intelligence Agency, based upon professional
advice, to be safe for use with each detainee with
whom they are used; and
(iv) detainees in
the program receive the basic necessities of life,
including adequate food and water, shelter from
the elements, necessary clothing, protection from
extremes of heat and cold, and essential medical
care.
(c) The Director
of the Central Intelligence Agency shall issue written
policies to govern the program, including guidelines
for Central Intelligence Agency personnel that implement
paragraphs (i)(C), (E), and (F) of subsection 3(b)
of this order, and including requirements to ensure:
(i) safe and professional
operation of the program;
(ii) the development
of an approved plan of interrogation tailored for
each detainee in the program to be interrogated,
consistent with subsection 3(b)(iv) of this order;
(iii) appropriate
training for interrogators and all personnel operating
the program;
(iv) effective monitoring
of the program, including with respect to medical
matters, to ensure the safety of those in the program;
and
(v) compliance with
applicable law and this order.
Sec. 4. Assignment
of Function. With respect to the program addressed
in this order, the function of the President under
section 6(c)(3) of the Military Commissions Act
of 2006 is assigned to the Director of National
Intelligence.
Sec. 5. General
Provisions. (a) Subject to subsection (b) of this
section, this order is not intended to, and does
not, create any right or benefit, substantive or
procedural, enforceable at law or in equity, against
the United States, its departments, agencies, or
other entities, its officers or employees, or any
other person.
(b) Nothing in this
order shall be construed to prevent or limit reliance
upon this order in a civil, criminal, or administrative
proceeding, or otherwise, by the Central Intelligence
Agency or by any individual acting on behalf of
the Central Intelligence Agency in connection with
the program addressed in this order.
GEORGE W.
BUSH
THE WHITE
HOUSE,
July 20,
2007.
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