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Week Ending September 7, 2007

Executive Order 13440 Interpretation of the Geneva Conventions Common Article 3 as applied to a program of detention and interrogation operated by the US CIA.

Resting on his authority as Commander In Chief including the authority for the use of military force (Public Law 107-40) The President asserts that:

The US is engaged in an armed conflict with al Qaeda, the Taliban and associated forces;

Al Qaeda is responsible for the September 11^th attacks and many other terrorist attacks;

That the President determined on Feb. 7, 2002 that al Qaeda, the Taliban and others are unlawful enemy combatants who are not entitled to protections under the 3^rd Geneva Convention providing for treatment of prisoners of war and in this EO reaffirms that determination.

The President then notes that that under the Military Commissions Act he has the authority to interpret the meaning and application of the Geneva Conventions and does so as such:

Cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment means the cruel, unusual and inhumane treatment or punishment prohibited by the 5^th, 8^th and 14^th amendments to the US Constitution and that that is the authority for all such matters including satisfaction of international obligations of the US. That determination then, applies to the program of detention and interrogation by the US CIA. The application of those standards are to be applied without adverse distinction to the detainees race, color, religion or faith, sex birth or wealth.

The President further determines that a program of detention and interrogation approved by the Director of  the CIA fully complies with the obligations of the US under the Geneva Convention Common Article 3 provided the conditions of confinement and interrogation practices do not include torture as defined in the US Code, any other acts prohibited in the US Code including murder, torture, cruel and inhuman treatment, mutilation or maiming, intentionally causing serious bodily injury, rape, sexual assault, taking of hostages or performing biological experiments.

The program may not include other acts of violence serious enough to be considered comparable to murder, torture and cruel and inhuman treatment and any other such acts prohibited by the Military Commissions Act (Public Law 109-366 and the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 (Public Law 109-163), willful and outrageous acts of personal abuse 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 sexually indecent acts undertaken to humiliate or force 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 acts to denigrate the religion, religious practices or religious objects of the individual.

The conditions of confinement and interrogation practices are to be used with an alien detainee who is determined by the CIA Director to be a member or part of al Qaeda, the Taliban or associated organizations and who is likely to be in possession of information that could assist in detecting, mitigating or preventing terrorist attacks such as attacks within the US or against US Armed Forces or other personnel, citizens or facilities or against US allies or could assist locating the senior leadership of al Qaeda, the Taliban or other associated forces.

The CIA Director must consider the practices, based on professional advice to be safe for use with each detainee with whom they are used.

Detainees in the program must 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.

The Director shall issue written policies to govern the program, including guidelines of CIA personnel and implement requirements to ensure a safe and professional operation of the program, the development of an approved plan for each detainee, appropriate training for interrogators, effective monitoring of the program including with respect to medical matters.

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