United States Seeking To Clarify Geneva Treaty Obligations
14 September 2006
White House, Congress working to define requirements with regard to CIA program
Washington -- The Bush administration says it is working with the U.S. Congress to define U.S. obligations under Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions in order to keep its CIA interrogation program in the War on Terror operating in a manner consistent with both U.S. law and international treaty obligations.
“We want to define it, and we want to define it with crystal clarity, and it’s not just to defend the questioners … but it also serves to protect those who are in detention as well,” White House press secretary Tony Snow told reporters September 14.
The CIA interrogation program includes the coercive questioning of detainees suspected of links to terror organizations. Snow said Common Article 3 contains “vague language … that has to do with degrading and humiliating treatment.”
The treaty article tends to apply to internal conflicts, he said, and “typically has been applied to things like Rwanda.” However, the U.S. Supreme Court on June 29 ruled that Common Article 3 also applies to the War on Terror and the treatment of detainees and terror suspects. (See related article.)
In response to the ruling, the White House and Congress are seeking to pass legislation that will include an “acceptable and proper definition” of U.S. legal and international obligations “in a way that says ‘this is how we understand conformity with the international treaty,’” as well making it consistent with the U.S. Constitution, Snow said.
“There has been some suggestion that the administration wants to amend or alter Common Article 3. That is not true,” he said. “What we are trying to do is to clarify what it means and for a very important reason: we’re a nation of laws and what we want to be able to do through legislation is define clearly and legislatively what Common Article Three 3 means,” especially as it concerns the treatment of those who have been detained and questioned.
The press secretary said Common Article 3 “has very seldom been applied,” making the situation “a novel area.” He said that in 2005, the Bush administration clarified the meaning of vague terms in the Convention on Torture with the passage of the McCain amendment, named for Senator John McCain (Republican from Arizona) who was held and tortured as a prisoner during the Vietnam War.
“[W]e want to use the same sort of model now for identifying what Common Article 3 does and does not mean,” Snow said, and “the most appropriate way to do it is to take Senator McCain’s own language and apply it.”
The administration wants interrogators to know “exactly what the rules are” in their handling of detainees, he said.
If Common Article 3 is not defined under American law, Snow said the alternative is for the United States to rely on a body of international law and “the shifting and sometimes contradictory opinions of foreign prosecutors, judges and tribunals.”
“[T]here will be no certainly as to what the ground rules are for our people. Furthermore, it will be out of our hands,” he said.
President Bush has threatened to block legislation if it endangers the existence of the CIA program or if it does not adequately protect U.S. personnel, arguing that the program is essential to obtaining critical information in the War on Terror. He held meetings with Republican congressmen September 14 to discuss the proposed legislation, among other topics. (See related article.)
Snow said the CIA program “has saved lives and it has provided not only valuable intelligence but intelligence that cannot be acquired anywhere else about the identities, the means, the methods, and the locations of people deeply involved in ongoing terrorist activities.”
He criticized draft legislation being circulated in Congress saying it would compromise the CIA officers who conduct the interrogation program. If the legislation becomes law, Snow said, “the CIA program would have to be shut down.”
The press secretary also repeated President Bush’s assurances that the United States does not practice torture, saying, “our treaty obligations when it comes to torture and the treatment of prisoners are very clear and we abide by them.”
“The problem is there are some ‘players’ who are simply lawless. Al-Qaida would qualify.”
For additional information, see Detainee Issues.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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