Repères 29/04/08 - Torture : George W. Bush s'affranchit une nouvelle fois du droit international

Lutte antiterroriste : les agents de la CIA seraient autorisés à contourner le droit international
LEMONDE.FR avec AFP et Reuters 27.04.08

"L'administration Bush a affirmé au Congrès que les agents du renseignement américain pouvaient, pour lutter contre le terrorisme, avoir recours à des méthodes d'interrogatoires interdites par le droit international..."

 

Administration Says Particulars May Trump Geneva Protections
Washington Post Sunday, April 27, 2008

"The Geneva Conventions' ban on "outrages against personal dignity" does not automatically apply to terrorism suspects in the custody of U.S. intelligence agencies, the Justice Department has suggested to Congress in recent letters that lay out the Bush administration's interpretation of the international treaty.

Lawyers for the department, offering insight into the legal basis for the CIA's controversial interrogation program, reasserted in the letters the Bush administration's long-held view that it has considerable leeway in deciding how the conventions' rules apply to the harsh questioning of combatants in the war on terrorism.

While the United States is legally bound by the conventions' Common Article 3 and its requirement to treat detainees humanely, the definition of humane treatment can vary, depending on the detainee's identity and the importance of the information he possesses, a Justice Department official wrote last September and this March to a Democrat on the Senate intelligence committee..."

 

Letters Give C.I.A. Tactics a Legal Rationale
New York Times 27/04/08

"The Justice Department has told Congress that American intelligence operatives attempting to thwart terrorist attacks can legally use interrogation methods that might otherwise be prohibited under international law..."