President George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, DC
Dear President Bush:
On behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union and its more than 400,000 members, I am writing to ask you to clarify your role in determining the appropriate boundaries of military interrogation of detainees held in Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantánamo Bay, and elsewhere.
According to an FBI document released in response to a Freedom of Information Act request (attached), an ""Executive Order signed by President Bush"" authorized the use of a number of abusive and coercive interrogation methods by military interrogators. The author discusses how FBI employees, who were forbidden from using such techniques because they are contrary to Bureau policy, should distinguish these interrogation methods from unauthorized abuse of prisoners they were expected to report.
According to the memo, the Executive Order authorized techniques including ""stress positions, MWDs [military working dogs], sleep management, hoods, stripping . . . and environmental manipulation (e.g., loud music)."" The memo advises that FBI employees would not report such detention practices as ""abuse"" because they may have been authorized by that Executive Order.
We respectfully urge you to confirm or deny the existence of the Executive Order referenced in the FBI memo. We also urge you to issue prompt and public guidance to all officials involved in detainee operations that forbids the use of all such abusive methods of interrogation.
Your prompt attention to this matter is appreciated.
Sincerely,
Anthony D. Romero
Executive Director