Asking the Right Questions About Torture
Law Prof Eric Muller of Is That Legal? has given the subject of Justice Department lawyers providing advice on acceptable and non-acceptable interrogation techniques a lot of thought. He says the questions we should be asking are these:
In which executive departments have attorneys been called upon to review the legality under American and international law of interrogation methods such as "water boarding" (in which people are dipped into water to make them fear they're about to be drowned) and multi-year confinement of people in total isolation? (On the strategy of permanent solitary confinement, see the Declaration of Lowell Jacoby (.pdf), Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, on which the administration has relied in court.)
* What conclusions did these attorneys reach on the legality of these methods?
* How were disputes among attorneys or departments about the legality of these methods resolved? By whom?
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