Parts of Geneva Convention are “quaint” and outdated
Gonzales authored a controversial memo in January of 2002 that explored whether Article III of the Geneva Convention applied to Al Qaeda & Taliban fighters captured in Afghanistan and held in detention facilities around the world, including Guantanamo
Bay, Cuba. The memo made several arguments both for and against providing Article III protection to Al Qaeda fighters. He concluded that Article III was outdated and ill-suited for dealing with captured Al Qaeda fighters. He described as “quaint” the
provisions that require providing captured Al Qaeda fighters “commissary privileges, scrip, athletic uniforms, and scientific instruments”. He also argued that existing military regulations and instructions from the President were more than adequate to
ensure that the principles of the Geneva Convention would be applied. He also argued that undefined language in the Geneva Convention could make officials and military leaders subject to the War Crimes Act of 1996 if mistreatment was discovered.
Source: Wikipedia, Alberto Gonzales article
, Jul 31, 2007
The basic changes in human rights policies were discussed and adopted in the White House, the Justice Department, and the Department of Defense--with spasmodic dissent from the State Department. Reports have revealed these kinds of official declarations:
"The President, despite domestic and international laws constraining the use of torture, has the authority as Commander in Chief to approve almost any physical or psychological actions during interrogation, up to and including torture."
--Department of Defense
"In my judgment, this new [post 9/11] paradigm renders obsolete Geneva's strict limitations on questioning of enemy prisoners and renders quaint some of its provisions."
--White House legal counsel Alberto Gonzales, now Attorney General, the chief law enforcement officer of the US
