An August 2002 memo, provoked by a CIA request for interrogation guidance, suggested that the president's commander-in-chief authorities meant that those acting at his direction would be immune from prosecution for torture.
Awadh's case has been taken up by the Open Society Justice Initiative (OSJI), a human rights body founded by the philanthropist George Soros, which says his mistreatment not only calls into question the UK government's commitment to avoid involvement in torture, but points to a loophole in interrogation guidance for British intelligence officers, which was rewritten after the coalition was formed.
Three senior defense officials said Wednesday that the new procedures clarified the prohibition against the use of muzzled dogs in interrogations, gave specific guidance to field units as to how long they could hold prisoners before releasing them or sending them to higher headquarters for detention, and made clear command responsibilities for detainee operations.
Months after Zubaydah's interrogation, Tenet issued formal guidance approving brutal interrogation techniques, including waterboarding.
"We consider it a missed opportunity that no specific guidance on interrogation techniques was provided to the commanders responsible for Afghanistan and Iraq," the report summary said.
C.I.A. policies on interrogation have always followed legal guidance from the Department of Justice.
Gonzales said he could not remember who had requested the legal guidance on permissible interrogation tactics -- many officials have said it was the CIA -- but he acknowledged under questioning that high-pressure interrogation techniques were discussed in White House meetings at which he was present.
You are saying that between the date of Abu Zubaydah's capture, which was March 28 , 2002 and July 24 , 2002 the date on which the CIA was said to have first received oral guidance on enhanced interrogation techniques from Jay Bybee, Abu Zubaydah was subjected to torture?
In every case, he said, the plans followed the guidance in the rules of interrogation that Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez, the top ground commander in Iraq, approved on Oct. 12.
"The fact of the matter remains that the program was established in accordance with detailed, measured guidance from the Department of Justice, and the interrogation methods used to question detainees have been lawful, safe and effective.
"Over the course of the next several weeks, the custodians at the prison asked for additional guidance, but there were no interrogations," Mr. Di Rita said.
