TO: President George W. Bush
Vice President Richard B. Cheney
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld
Attorney General John Ashcroft
Members of Congress
This is a statement on the memoranda, prepared by the White House, Department of Justice, and Department of Defense, concerning the war powers of the President, torture, the Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War of August 12, 1949, and related matters. The Administration's memoranda, dated January 9, 2002, January 25, 2002, August 1, 2002 and April 4, 2003, ignore and misinterpret the U.S. Constitution and laws, international treaties and rules of international law. The lawyers who approved and signed these memoranda have not met their high obligation to defend the Constitution.
Americans have faith that our government respects the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, laws passed by Congress, and treaties which the United States has signed. We have always looked to lawyers to protect these rights. Yet, the most senior lawyers in the Department of Justice, the White House, the Department of Defense, and the Vicethe most basic rights of all human beings.President's office have sought to justify actions that violate the most basic rights of all human beings.
...These memoranda and others like them seek to circumvent long established and universally acknowledged principles of law and common decency. The memoranda approve practices that the United States itself condemns in its annual Human Rights Report. No matter how the memoranda seek to redefine it, torture remains torture. The belated repudiation of the August 2002 memorandum (which had been signed by Jay S. Bybee, then Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel and now a Federal Judge) is welcome, but the repudiation does not undo the abuses that this memorandum may have sanctioned or encouraged during the nearly two years that it was in effect. The subsequent repudiation, coming after public outcry, confirms its original lawless character.
Moreover, the claim that the President’s authority as Commander-in-Chief allows him to ignore laws, treaties, and the Constitution relevant to human rights, and thereby to shield those acting on his authority who violate domestic and international law by their interrogation methods and other behavior, directly contradicts several major Supreme Court decisions, numerous statutes passed by Congress and signed by Presidents, and specific provisions of the Constitution itself.
While the facts cited above are established, much, however, is still not known, for the Administration refuses to produce other memoranda and documents relating to treatment of prisoners and detainees.
We therefore:
(1) Call upon the Administration to release all memoranda relating to such treatment and on Congress to require their production if they are not released; and (2) Call for an appropriate inquiry into how and why such memoranda were prepared and by whom they were approved, and whether there is any connection between the memoranda and the shameful abuses that have been exposed and are being investigated at Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad and at other military prisons.
Vice President Richard B. Cheney
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld
Attorney General John Ashcroft
Members of Congress
This is a statement on the memoranda, prepared by the White House, Department of Justice, and Department of Defense, concerning the war powers of the President, torture, the Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War of August 12, 1949, and related matters. The Administration's memoranda, dated January 9, 2002, January 25, 2002, August 1, 2002 and April 4, 2003, ignore and misinterpret the U.S. Constitution and laws, international treaties and rules of international law. The lawyers who approved and signed these memoranda have not met their high obligation to defend the Constitution.
Americans have faith that our government respects the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, laws passed by Congress, and treaties which the United States has signed. We have always looked to lawyers to protect these rights. Yet, the most senior lawyers in the Department of Justice, the White House, the Department of Defense, and the Vicethe most basic rights of all human beings.President's office have sought to justify actions that violate the most basic rights of all human beings.
...These memoranda and others like them seek to circumvent long established and universally acknowledged principles of law and common decency. The memoranda approve practices that the United States itself condemns in its annual Human Rights Report. No matter how the memoranda seek to redefine it, torture remains torture. The belated repudiation of the August 2002 memorandum (which had been signed by Jay S. Bybee, then Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel and now a Federal Judge) is welcome, but the repudiation does not undo the abuses that this memorandum may have sanctioned or encouraged during the nearly two years that it was in effect. The subsequent repudiation, coming after public outcry, confirms its original lawless character.
Moreover, the claim that the President’s authority as Commander-in-Chief allows him to ignore laws, treaties, and the Constitution relevant to human rights, and thereby to shield those acting on his authority who violate domestic and international law by their interrogation methods and other behavior, directly contradicts several major Supreme Court decisions, numerous statutes passed by Congress and signed by Presidents, and specific provisions of the Constitution itself.
While the facts cited above are established, much, however, is still not known, for the Administration refuses to produce other memoranda and documents relating to treatment of prisoners and detainees.
We therefore:
(1) Call upon the Administration to release all memoranda relating to such treatment and on Congress to require their production if they are not released; and (2) Call for an appropriate inquiry into how and why such memoranda were prepared and by whom they were approved, and whether there is any connection between the memoranda and the shameful abuses that have been exposed and are being investigated at Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad and at other military prisons.
(pdf)
There follows two-and-a-half three-column pages of attorney signatures.
I'm guessing the letter never made it to some of its intended recipients. And I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for those memoranda to be produced. In fact, when Bush loses the election, I expect the document shredders will be running day and night through January.
...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.
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