General counsel for the central intelligence agency, from jay s. A series of olc memos over the decade before bybee s 2002 memo had concluded that the presidents constitutional authority created implicit exceptions to the disclosure limitations and the secrecy requirements of the existing grand jury rules. International law and the torture memos case western reserve. Well, this fine young lawyer who wrote this torture memo is now appointed to the federal bench for life. Memos sent in 2002 from jay bybee of the office of legal counsel, department of justice, to the counsel to the president and to the cia presented a series of arguments which would provide the basis for approval of torture, inhuman and degrading treatment against detainees in the war on terror. Statement of senator feinstein on olc torture memos. The report of the office of professional responsibility outlines the many ways in which john yoo and jay bybee failed to provide acceptable legal reasoning. Poor judgment yoo, bybee and the torture memos the. Nov 12, 2019 in the infamous torture memos of, yoo and bybee, authorised enhanced interrogation techniques eits, acts previously recognised by. A 18page memo, dated august 1, 2002, from jay bybee, assistant attorney general, olc, to john a. Gonzales, the white house counsel, in a memorandum to president bush, said that the justice departments advice in the jan. Association, diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders 426. Former justice department lawyer john yoo wrote in the new york times oped that he had grave concerns about mr. This is the kind of person i can use on the supremes, he will follow my lead more closely than clarence.
Following three years of private practice in washington, d. Ten terrible truths about the cia torture memos part one. Despite bybees attempts to shift the blame onto others for the outcome of the memos he signed, it remains fundamentally unacceptable that he still stands by a memo that authorized the use of ten techniques that included wellestablished forms of torture. Darmer introduction it is commonly said that we are a nation of laws, not men. The memo describes the limitations on the behavior of us government interrogator s outside the united states as governed by the united nations convention against torture. Standards of conduct for interrogation, torture, cruel, inhuman created date. Jay bybee who signed off on waterboarding as a justice department lawyer ruled last week that the government should be immune from. The memo takes its name from the then head of the olc, jay bybee. Memorandum regarding interrogation of al qaeda operative. Another tortured memo from jay bybee brennan center for. When we talk today of the torture memos, most of us think about the later memoranda, like the infamous bybee memo of august 1, another tortured memo from jay bybee. August 1, 2002 standards of conduct for interrogation keywords.
Memos sent in 2002 from jay bybee of the office of legal counsel, department of justice, to the counsel to the president and to the cia presented a series of. Ensign floor statement permanent dead link, march, 2003 jay bybee. The responsibility of the faculty of the university at california at berkeley in the matter of the torture memo of professor john yoo a weblog. They advised the central intelligence agency, the united states department of defense, and the president on. Oct 14, 2019 bybee torture memo pdf posted on october 14, 2019 by admin when we talk today of the torture memos, most of us think about the later memoranda, like the infamous bybee memo of august 1, another tortured memo from jay bybee. Counsel to the the convention against torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or. Bybee, with the office of legal counsel in the justice. Bush should declare the taliban and al qaeda outside the coverage of the geneva conventions. Waterboarding and the legacy of the bybeeyoo torture and power memorandum. But i wanted to draw attention to a footnote she includes toapparentlyexplain that jay bybee was a very busy man at the time when he was supposed to be overseeing john yoos attempts. John yoo and jay bybee were the two justice department lawyers responsible for the memos authorizing the bush administrations use of torture. Bybee torture architect is on the 9th circuit in las vegas. The political fallout from the torture memo case continues. Constitution forbids the governments use of cruel and unusual punishment.
The coauthor of the memo was bybees deputy, john yoo, now a law professor at berkeleys boalt hall law. Torture is illegal under united states and international law. Discipline john yoo and jay bybee, the torture memo lawyers. These definitions were justified as legitimate attempts to interpret what the memos authors olc lawyer john yoo and assistant attorney general jay s.
Nov 07, 2019 in the infamous torture memos of, yoo and bybee, authorised enhanced interrogation techniques eits, acts previously recognised by. Bybee torture memo pdf posted on january 31, 2020 by admin when we talk today of the torture memos, most of us think about the later memoranda, like the infamous bybee memo of august 1, another tortured memo from jay bybee. Teaching the torture memos journal of legal education. They advised the central intelligence agency, the united states department of defense, and the president on the use of mental and physical torment and. The memo discusses the convention against torture which the memo calls the torture convention and. Bybee s memo doubled down on this extension of executive power, however, offering an almost.
Yoos memo on avoiding geneva conventions pdf document. On 1 august, 2002, assistant attorney general jay bybee provided a memorandum 1 to white house counsel alberto gonzales. It seems odd that the administration would bother with legal niceties, but such is the nature of repressive regimes. Memos sent in 2002 from jay bybee of the office of legal counsel, department of justice, to the counsel to the president and to the cia presented a series of arguments which would provide the basis for approval of torture, inhuman and degrading treatment against detainees in the war on.
Nine years after he left his post as director of the office of legal counsel olc in the george w. Apr 21, 2009 the general strategy of bybee s memo was to create doubt where there should be none, and to erode the plain meaning of the term torture so that it appeared grey and defensible for any cia. Waterboarding and the legacy of the bybee yoo torture and. Here is the doj press release on the four torture memos released today. A guide to the memos on torture the new york times. The bybee memo was a formal legal opinion of the office of legal counsel interpreting the convention against torture and the accompanying criminal provisions enacted by congress in 1996 to prohibit torture. The cia and the white house ask the head of the criminal division, mike chertoff, and the ag, john ashcroft, for. The memo examines the convention against torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment, and its implementation in 18 united states code 23402340a. Apr 16, 2009 here are the olc torture memos just released by the justice department an 18page memo pdf, dated august 1, 2002, from jay bybee, assistant attorney general, olc, to john a. If, however, the act resulted in the victims death, a defendant may be sentenced to life imprisonment or to death. Bybee, assistant attorney general, for john rizzo acting. The responsibility of the faculty of the university at california at berkeley in the matter of. If convicted of torture, a defendant faces a fine or up to twenty years imprisonment or both.
The memo discusses the convention against torture which the memo calls the torture convention and concludes that the convention makes a distinction between torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, and that therefore torture is only the most extreme acts, which the memo. Bushs directive on treatment of detainees pdf document august a memorandum from jay s. This letter memorializes our previous oral advice, given on july 24, 2002 and july 26. In the conclusion section of the memorandum, bybee summarizes what is.
A set of legal memoranda known as the torture memos were drafted by john yoo as deputy assistant attorney general of the united states and signed in august 2002 by assistant attorney general jay s. Did bybee sign the torture memos to ease his ninth circuit. February 22, 2010 in torture by emptywheel ill have more on maureen mahoneys first response on behalf of jay bybee to the opr report later today. Bybee defends the memos, requiring his prosecution for breaking the antitorture statute. The conventions provisions are implemented in the united states by 18 usc 2340. Yoo and bybee were not guilty of professional misconduct that might. Pdf a 46page memo, dated may 10, 2005, from steven bradbury, acting assistant attorney general, olc, to john a. The term torture memos was originally used to refer to three documents prepared by the office of legal counsel at the united states department of justice and signed in august 2002. Jan 28, 2020 jay bybee torture memo pdf memorandum for alberto r. Reflections from a temporary yoo colleague and erstwhile bush administration apologist m. Did bybee sign the torture memos to ease his ninth circuit confirmation. Bybee, head of the office of legal counsel of the united states department of justice. Apr 30, 2020 john yoo torture memo pdf in the infamous torture memos of, yoo and bybee, authorised enhanced interrogation techniques eits, acts previously recognised by. The bybee memo, also known as the torture memo and the 8102 interrogation opinion, 1 was a document prepared by the united states department of justices office of legal counsel olc in response to a cia request to the white house.
Memorandum regarding interrogation of al qaeda operative author. Jan 31, 2020 bybee torture memo pdf posted on january 31, 2020 by admin when we talk today of the torture memos, most of us think about the later memoranda, like the infamous bybee memo of august 1, another tortured memo from jay bybee. The bybee torture memo on august 1, 2002, justice jay bybee submitted the bybee memo or the torture memo, which describes the behavior that u. They advised the central intelligence agency, the united states department. It provided complex definitions of torture that seemed devised to allow interrogators to evade being. Enabling torture the bybee memo was a formal legal opinion of the office of legal counsel interpreting the convention against torture and the accompanying criminal provisions enacted by congress in 1996 to prohibit torture.
Introduction the bybee memo is one of a series of memos prepared for the bush administration that laid the legal groundwork for the torture of prisoners in iraq, afghanistan, and at guantanamo. A set of legal memoranda known as the torture memos were drafted by john yoo as deputy. Jay bybee torture memo pdf memorandum for alberto r. Bybee memo the law required it, newsweek interview with olcs 2003 replacement, jack goldsmith. John yoo torture memos pdf admin november 7, 2019 in the infamous torture memos of, yoo and bybee, authorised enhanced interrogation techniques eits, acts previously recognised by. This was the day, a milestone on the road to abu ghraib. Jun 25, 2019 in the infamous torture memos of, yoo and bybee, authorised enhanced interrogation techniques eits, acts previously recognised by. Apr 19, 2020 in the infamous torture memos of, yoo and bybee, authorised enhanced interrogation techniques eits, acts previously recognised by. The general strategy of bybees memo was to create doubt where there should be none, and to erode the plain meaning of the term torture so that it appeared grey and defensible for any cia. Memo on torture pdf document letter by author of memo on torture to white house counsel. Yoo writes his memo analyzing the torture statutes.
Jay bybee at the biographical directory of federal judges, a public domain publication of the federal judicial center. Here are the olc torture memos just released by the justice department an 18page memo pdf, dated august 1, 2002, from jay bybee, assistant. In the infamous torture memos of, yoo and bybee, authorised enhanced interrogation techniques eits, acts previously recognised by. Yoos memo on avoiding geneva conventions pdf document jan.
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