Institute for Public Accuracy - * Torture * Executive Privilege

Institute for Public Accuracy
915 National Press Building, Washington, D.C. 20045
(202) 347-0020 * http://www.accuracy.org * ipa@accuracy.org
___________________________________________________

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

* Torture * Executive Privilege

DAVID COLE, dcole@law.georgetown.edu,
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/07/24/2705
Professor at Georgetown University Law Center, Cole wrote in the
recent piece "Bush's Torture Ban is Full of Loopholes": "[A]n executive

order that categorically bans torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading
treatment is a significant step in the right direction. ... But how
much
of a step the administration has really taken remains a serious
question. The actual tactics the CIA is authorized to use remain
classified, based on the bogus claim that agency interrogators need to
keep detainees guessing about how far they can go in order to
interrogate effectively. ... While the executive order flatly forbids
torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, its failure to
specify permissible and impermissible techniques seems designed to
leave
the CIA wiggle room."
Cole added: "The executive order's most revealing words come at the

end. Its final section states that the order creates no rights
enforceable by any victim against the United States or its employees,
while expressly offering CIA employees a defense against any attempt to

hold them liable for abuse. The ultimate purpose of the law, in other
words, is to protect the potential perpetrators, not the potential
victims."
Cole is author of several books on civil liberties including "Enemy

Aliens: Double Standards and Constitutional Freedoms in the War on
Terrorism."

MARJORIE COHN, Libertad48@san.rr.com, http://www.marjoriecohn.com
Cohn is a professor at Thomas Jefferson School of Law and president

of the National Lawyers Guild. She is the author of the book "Cowboy
Republic: Six Ways the Bush Gang Has Defied the Law" and just wrote the

piece "Showdown Looming Over Executive Privilege."

MARK ROZELL, mrozell@gmu.edu, http://mason.gmu.edu/~mrozell
Author of the book "Executive Privilege: Presidential Power,
Secrecy
and Accountability," Rozell just wrote the Legal Times piece "It's an
Executive Privilege: A battling president and Congress should remember
why we compromise." The article is available online:


For more information, contact the Institute for Public Accuracy at
(202) 347-0020; or David Zupan at (541) 484-9167.


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