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Ashcroft in contempt of congress senator biden says { June 9 2004 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s1127735.htmhttp://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s1127735.htm
Ashcroft refuses to hand over torture memo. 09/06/2004. ABC News Online
Last Update: Wednesday, June 9, 2004. 9:47am (AEST)
Ashcroft refuses to hand over torture memo
US Attorney-General John Ashcroft has refused to give politicians copies of a Justice Department memo that allegedly advised the White House that torture during war on terrorism interrogations could be justified.
The Washington Post reports that an August 2002 memo sent by the Justice Department in response to a Central Intelligence Agency request for legal guidance said international laws against torture "may be unconstitutional if applied to interrogations" conducted in the war on terrorism.
But Mr Ashcroft refused to provide the memo to politicians on the Senate Judiciary Committee.
"We believe that to provide this kind of information would impair the ability of advice-giving in the executive branch to be candid, forthright, thorough and accurate at all times," Mr Ashcroft said.
"This administration rejects torture," he said, insisting the White House did nothing to contravene the Geneva Conventions or US law.
"Congress has the right to ask whatever questions it wants," he said.
But he added: "There are certain things that, in the interest of the executive branch operating effectively, that I think it's inappropriate for the Attorney-General to say."
He added that "some of these memos may be classified in some ways for some purposes".
Democrats have expressed outrage at Ashcroft's refusal to provide the documents.
"You may be in contempt of Congress," warned Democratic Senator Joseph Biden.
"You are not allowed not to answer our questions," he said, adding that the Justice Department had "better come up with a good rationale" for refusing to furnish the memo.
The Senate's top Democrat, Tom Daschle, said at a press conference that "it's very important ... for the Congress to have the documents".
Any document that suggests torture might be permissible "undermines the rule of law in this country and around the world", he said.
Senator Ted Kennedy drew a direct link between the memo and the abuse committed by US troops against inmates at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.
"We know when we have these kinds of orders what happens," Senator Kennedy said at the hearing, holding now-familiar photos of detainees being mistreated at the facility.
"We get the stress test, we get the use of dogs, we get the forced nakedness that we've all seen ... this is what directly results when you have that kind of memoranda out there."
The Justice Department memo, addressed to White House Counsel Alberto Gonzalez, reportedly said torturing a suspect in captivity "may be justified" if it would "prevent further attacks on the United States by the Al Qaeda terrorist network".
Arguments about "necessity and self-defence could provide justifications that would eliminate any criminal liability", the 50-page document signed by Assistant Attorney-General Jay Baybee and obtained by The Washington Post said.
The memo served as basis for a March 2003 classified report prepared for Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, after commanders at the US military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, complained that they were not getting enough information from prisoners.
The Wall Street Journal on Monday revealed the 2003 report.
The August 2002 memo, The Washington Post wrote, argued that inflicting moderate or fleeting pain did not necessarily constitute torture, which "must be equivalent in intensity to the pain accompanying serious physical injury, such as organ failure, impairment of bodily function, or even death".
The newspaper said US Army manuals on interrogations were more restrictive, banning such practices as pain induced by chemicals or bondage; forcing an individual to stand, sit or kneel in abnormal positions for prolonged periods of time; and food deprivation.
-- AFP
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