Interpretation of the Geneva Conventions Common Article 3 as Applied to a Program of Detention and Interrogation Operated by the Central Intelligence Agency, 40707-40709 [07-3656]

Agencies

• Executive Office of the President
• Presidential Documents

[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 141 (Tuesday, July 24, 2007)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 40707-40709]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 07-3656]



[[Page 40705]]

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Part III





The President





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Executive Order 13440--Interpretation of the Geneva Conventions Common 
Article 3 as Applied to a Program of Detention and Interrogation 
Operated by the Central Intelligence Agency


                        Presidential Documents 



Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 141 / Tuesday, July 24, 2007 / 
Presidential Documents

___________________________________________________________________

Title 3--
The President

[[Page 40707]]

                Executive Order 13440 of July 20, 2007

                
Interpretation of the Geneva Conventions Common 
                Article 3 as Applied to a Program of Detention and 
                Interrogation Operated by the Central Intelligence 
                Agency

                By the authority vested in me as President and 
                Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces by the 
                Constitution and the laws of the United States of 
                America, including the Authorization for Use of 
                Military Force (Public Law 107-40), the Military 
                Commissions Act of 2006 (Public Law 109-366), and 
                section 301 of title 3, United States Code, it is 
                hereby ordered as follows:

                Section 1. General Determinations. (a) The United 
                States is engaged in an armed conflict with al Qaeda, 
                the Taliban, and associated forces. Members of al Qaeda 
                were responsible for the attacks on the United States 
                of September 11, 2001, and for many other terrorist 
                attacks, including against the United States, its 
                personnel, and its allies throughout the world. These 
                forces continue to fight the United States and its 
                allies in Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere, and they 
                continue to plan additional acts of terror throughout 
                the world. On February 7, 2002, I determined for the 
                United States that members of al Qaeda, the Taliban, 
                and associated forces are unlawful enemy combatants who 
                are not entitled to the protections that the Third 
                Geneva Convention provides to prisoners of war. I 
                hereby reaffirm that determination.

                (b) The Military Commissions Act defines certain 
                prohibitions of Common Article 3 for United States law, 
                and it reaffirms and reinforces the authority of the 
                President to interpret the meaning and application of 
                the Geneva Conventions.

                Sec. 2. Definitions. As used in this order:

                (a) ``Common Article 3'' means Article 3 of the Geneva 
                Conventions.

                (b) ``Geneva Conventions'' means:

(i) the Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and 
Sick in Armed Forces in the Field, done at Geneva August 12, 1949 (6 UST 
3114);

(ii) the Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of Wounded, Sick 
and Shipwrecked Members of Armed Forces at Sea, done at Geneva August 12, 
1949 (6 UST 3217);

(iii) the Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, done at 
Geneva August 12, 1949 (6 UST 3316); and

(iv) the Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time 
of War, done at Geneva August 12, 1949 (6 UST 3516).

                (c) ``Cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or 
                punishment'' means the cruel, unusual, and inhumane 
                treatment or punishment prohibited by the Fifth, 
                Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution 
                of the United States.

                Sec. 3. Compliance of a Central Intelligence Agency 
                Detention and Interrogation Program with Common Article 
                3. (a) Pursuant to the authority of the President under 
                the Constitution and the laws of the United States, 
                including the Military Commissions Act of 2006, this 
                order interprets the meaning and application of the 
                text of Common Article 3 with respect to certain 
                detentions and interrogations, and shall be treated as 
                authoritative for all

[[Page 40708]]

                purposes as a matter of United States law, including 
                satisfaction of the international obligations of the 
                United States. 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 requirements set forth in 
                this section shall be applied with respect to detainees 
                in such program without adverse distinction as to their 
                race, color, religion or faith, sex, birth, or wealth.

                (b) I hereby determine that a program of detention and 
                interrogation approved by the Director of the Central 
                Intelligence Agency fully complies with the obligations 
                of the United States under Common Article 3, provided 
                that:

(i) the conditions of confinement and interrogation practices of the 
program do not include:

(A) torture, as defined in section 2340 of title 18, United States Code;

(B) any of the acts prohibited by section 2441(d) of title 18, United 
States Code, including murder, torture, cruel or inhuman treatment, 
mutilation or maiming, intentionally causing serious bodily injury, rape, 
sexual assault or abuse, taking of hostages, or performing of biological 
experiments;

(C) other acts of violence serious enough to be considered comparable to 
murder, torture, mutilation, and cruel or inhuman treatment, as defined in 
section 2441(d) of title 18, United States Code;

(D) any other acts of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment 
prohibited by the Military Commissions Act (subsection 6(c) of Public Law 
109-366) and the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 (section 1003 of Public Law 
109-148 and section 1403 of Public Law 109-163);

(E) willful and outrageous acts of personal abuse done for the purpose of 
humiliating or degrading the individual in a manner so serious that any 
reasonable person, considering the circumstances, would deem the acts to be 
beyond the bounds of human decency, such as sexual or sexually indecent 
acts undertaken for the purpose of humiliation, forcing the individual to 
perform sexual acts or to pose sexually, threatening the individual with 
sexual mutilation, or using the individual as a human shield; or

(F) acts intended to denigrate the religion, religious practices, or 
religious objects of the individual;

(ii) the conditions of confinement and interrogation practices are to be 
used with an alien detainee who is determined by the Director of the 
Central Intelligence Agency:

(A) to be a member or part of or supporting al Qaeda, the Taliban, or 
associated organizations; and

(B) likely to be in possession of information that:

(1) could assist in detecting, mitigating, or preventing terrorist attacks, 
such as attacks within the United States or against its Armed Forces or 
other personnel, citizens, or facilities, or against allies or other 
countries cooperating in the war on terror with the United States, or their 
armed forces or other personnel, citizens, or facilities; or

(2) could assist in locating the senior leadership of al Qaeda, the 
Taliban, or associated forces;

(iii) the interrogation practices are determined by the Director of the 
Central Intelligence Agency, based upon professional advice, to be safe for 
use with each detainee with whom they are used; and

(iv) detainees in the program receive the basic necessities of life, 
including adequate food and water, shelter from the elements, necessary 
clothing, protection from extremes of heat and cold, and essential medical 
care.

                (c) The Director of the Central Intelligence Agency 
                shall issue written policies to govern the program, 
                including guidelines for Central Intelligence Agency 
                personnel that implement paragraphs (i)(C), (E), and 
                (F) of subsection 3(b) of this order, and including 
                requirements to ensure:

[[Page 40709]]

(i) safe and professional operation of the program;

(ii) the development of an approved plan of interrogation tailored for each 
detainee in the program to be interrogated, consistent with subsection 
3(b)(iv) of this order;

(iii) appropriate training for interrogators and all personnel operating 
the program;

(iv) effective monitoring of the program, including with respect to medical 
matters, to ensure the safety of those in the program; and

(v) compliance with applicable law and this order.

                Sec. 4. Assignment of Function. With respect to the 
                program addressed in this order, the function of the 
                President under section 6(c)(3) of the Military 
                Commissions Act of 2006 is assigned to the Director of 
                National Intelligence.

                Sec. 5. General Provisions. (a) Subject to subsection 
                (b) of this section, this order is not intended to, and 
                does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or 
                procedural, enforceable at law or in equity, against 
                the United States, its departments, agencies, or other 
                entities, its officers or employees, or any other 
                person.

                (b) Nothing in this order shall be construed to prevent 
                or limit reliance upon this order in a civil, criminal, 
                or administrative proceeding, or otherwise, by the 
                Central Intelligence Agency or by any individual acting 
                on behalf of the Central Intelligence Agency in 
                connection with the program addressed in this order. 
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

                THE WHITE HOUSE,

                    July 20, 2007.

[FR Doc. 07-3656
Filed 7-23-07; 10:16 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P