US President George W. Bush on Friday ordered the Central
Intelligence Agency (CIA) to comply with the Geneva Convention's
ban on torture.
An executive order signed by Bush clarified his position that a
secret CIA detention program must be in accordance with Common
Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions on wartime detainees, which
bans torture and other cruel, inhumane treatments of prisoners.
"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 president
declared in the order.
CIA Director Michael Hayden said Bush's order sets specific
requirements for the detention and interrogation of detainees,
which will give CIA interrogators new legal protections against
claims of wrongdoing.
"Last September, the president explained how the CIA's program
had disrupted attacks and saved lives, and that it must continue on
a sound legal footing," White House spokesman Tony Snow commented
on the order.
"The president has insisted on clear legal standards so that CIA
officers involved in this essential work are not placed in jeopardy
for doing their job -- and keeping America safe from attacks," he
said.
The new order came nearly a year after the Bush administration
suspended its secret prison system and transferred inmates to the
US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, following a Supreme
Court ruling that placed the program in doubt.
The Bush administration has been under international scrutiny
over its treatment of terror suspects, including harsh
interrogation techniques and secret imprisonment.
Even under the latest executive order, it is still not clear
whether some of the most controversial interrogation practices,
including the so-called "waterboarding" which makes a prisoner feel
he or she is going to be drowned, will continue.
Moreover, according to the Military Commission Act signed by
Bush last October, the president can "interpret the meaning and
application" of international rules on prisoner treatment, a
provision aimed to allow him to authorize aggressive interrogation
methods that might otherwise be seen as illegal by international
courts.
(Xinhua News Agency July 21, 2007)
