HOW BUSH'S POLICY ON TORTURE EVOLVED IS DOCUMENTED IN NEW VOLUMES PUBLISHED BY NYU'S CENTER ON LAW AND SECURITY

New York City (Oct. 1, 2004)---Three just-published volumes entitled, Torture, I, II, and III, provide, for the first time in one publication, an accessible and documented record of how the Bush Administration's policy of torture in the questioning of prisoners held on suspicion of terrorist activity evolved. A fourth volume will be published within the month.

Torture was edited and compiled by Karen J. Greenberg, executive director of New York University's Center on Law and Security, and Joshua L. Dratel, Guantanamo defense lawyer. Torture is published by the Center on Law and Security, a research and policy center that studies the legal dimensions of security and counterterrorism at national and international levels.

The project totaling more than 1,000 pages is a compilation of the so-called "torture memos" and will be valued by academics, students, lawyers, journalists, government officials, and the general public. Prior to publication, the volumes' content existed only piecemeal in the public domain.

The torture memos came about as a result of the September 11th tragedy. At the time, the Bush administration, frustrated by its inability to gain information from suspected terrorists and Talabanists at Guantanamo, asked leading figures in the White House, Department of Justice, and the Department of Defense to help find a way to justify the torture of prisoners for the purposes of extracting information. Many believe the administration specifically sought to accomplish its goal in a way that wouldn't put the torturers, or those who authorized the torture, in legal jeopardy under existing American anti-torture laws or international anti-torture conventions and treaties.

"The constructive value of publishing these volumes, especially now, is to enable open-minded reflection and self-correction," said Karen Greenberg.

Numerous distinguished and high-profile individuals contributed to the volumes. They include those who wrote the memos, ordered the torture, and carried it out.

Contributors include Deputy Assistant Attorney General John Yoo, Counsel to the President Alberto Gonzales, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Department of Defense General Counsel William J. Haynes II, and Department of Justice Assistant Attorney General Jay S. Bybee, plus many others.

"Ultimately, what the reader is left with after reading these documents is a clear sense of the systematic decision to alter the use of methods of coercion and torture that lay outside of accepted and legal norms," said editors Greenberg and Dratel. "Not only did the lawyers and policymakers knowingly overstep legal doctrine, but they did so against the advice of individuals in their midst, notably Secretary of State Colin Powell and William H. Taft, Legal Advisor to the Secretary of State."

Greenberg and Dratel describe Powell's memo (dated January 26, 2002) to Alberto R. Gonzales, Counsel to the President, as a "virtual cry in the dark."

In his memo, Powell warns that such a policy will "undermine the protections of the law of war for our troops." Powell also warns about the "negative international reaction" that will follow, and the possibility that the implementation of coercive interrogation practices will undermine public support among critical allies, making military cooperation more difficult to sustain.

The following is a content breakdown:

Volume I: The set of Internal Bush Administration Memos on the legal use of torture. Volumes II and III: Investigations and reports documenting prison abuse and human rights violations. These include: the Taguba Report on Abu Gharaib, the Mikolashek Report on Guantanamo, and the Fay-Jones Report on Interrogation Techniques. Volume IV. (Forthcoming) Reports documenting ethics and the laws of war, such as conditions of jails, military interrogation techniques and the training of military police, and intelligence reserve units. Reports include the Jacoby, Formica, Church, and Helmly Reports.

A nominal charge to cover publishing costs is asked. Individual volume costs $10; four-volume set costs $35. Shipping and handling included. Send check or money order to The Center on Law and Security, 110 West 3rd Street, Room 224, New York, N.Y. 10012 NYU Law School's Center on Law and Security (CLS) is a research and policy center that studies the legal dimensions of security and counterterrorism at national and international levels. The CLS brings together experts, practitioners, and policymakers in a series of colloquia, roundtables, conferences, and publications. The CLS receives partial funding from NYU's Center for Catastrophe Preparedness and Response (CCPR).

09/15/04