> > >

Suggested Reading

Web Resources
Comprehensive compilations of the publicly released torture memos, as well as a range of other documents and analyses, are available at the following websites:

The Torture Archive in the National Security Archive, George Washington University, http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/torture_archive/
American Civil Liberties Union’s Accountability for Torture Campaign, http://www.aclu.org/accountability/index.html
ACLU’s Torture Report Diary, http://www.thetorturereport.org
The Center for Constitutional Rights’ Torture Team Cards, http://ccrjustice.org/torture-team-cards

Government Documents
Many of the secret torture memos have been released to the public, either voluntarily by the Obama Administration or by court order in litigation brought by the ACLU pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act. Links to publicly available documents are included below; some memos known to exist are still secret.

August 1, 2002 Memo from Jay Bybee to Alberto Gonzales, “Standards of Conduct for Interrogation Under 18 U.S.C. §§ 2340-2340A” http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/documents/dojinterrogationmemo20020801.pdf
August 1, 2002 Memo from John Yoo to Alberto Gonzales http://news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/doj/bybee80102ltr.html.
August 1, 2002 Memo from Jay Bybee to John Rizzo, “Interrogation of Al Qaeda Operative” http://luxmedia.vo.llnwd.net/o10/clients/aclu/olc_08012002_bybee.pdf.
December 30, 2004 Memo from Daniel Levin to James Comey, “Legal Standards Applicable Under 18 U.S.C. §§ 2340-2340A” http://www.usdoj.gov/olc/18usc23402340a2.htm.
May 10, 2005 Memo from Steven Bradbury to John Rizzo, “Application of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2340-2340A to Certain Techniques That May Be Used in the Interrogation of a High Value al Qaeda Detainee” http://luxmedia.vo.llnwd.net/o10/clients/aclu/olc_05102005_bradbury46pg.pdf.
May 10, 2005 Memo from Steven Bradbury to John Rizzo, “Application of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2340-2340A to the Combined Use of Certain Techniques in the Interrogation of High Value al Qaeda Detainees” ttp://luxmedia.vo.llnwd.net/o10/clients/aclu/olc_05102005_bradbury_20pg.pdf.
May 30, 2005 Memo from Steven Bradbury to John Rizzo, “Application of United States Obligations Under Article 16 of the Convention Against Torture to Certain Techniques that May Be Used in the Interrogation of High Value al Qaeda Detainees” http://luxmedia.vo.llnwd.net/o10/clients/aclu/olc_05302005_bradbury.pdf
August 31, 2006 Memo from Steven Bradbury to John Rizzo, “Application of the Detainee Treatment Act to Conditions of Confinement at Central Intelligence Agency Detention Facilities” http://www.aclu.org/torturefoia/released/082409/olc/08312006%20Memorandum%20to%20Rizzo.pdf
July 20, 2007 Memo from Steven Bradbury to John Rizzo, “Application of the War Crimes Act, the Detainee Treatment Act, and Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions to Certain Techniques that May Be Used by the CIA in the Interrogation of High Value al Qaeda Detainees” http://www.aclu.org/torturefoia/released/082409/olc/2007%20OLC%20opinion%20on%20Interrogation%20Techniques.pdf
January 15, 2009 Memo from Steven Bradbury to File, “Status of Certain OLC Opinions Issued in the Aftermath of the Terrorist Attacks of September 11, 2001” http://www.aclu.org/projects/foiasearch/pdf/DOJOLC000769.pdf.
CIA Office of Inspector General’s Report, “Special Review: Counterterrorism Detention and Interrogation Activities (September 2001–October 2003),” May 7, 2004, released August 24, 2009 www.aclu.org/oigreport/.

Commentary and Articles

The Anti-Torture Memos: Balkinization Posts on Torture, Interrogation, Detention, War Powers, Executive Authority, DOJ and OLC, by Yale Law School Professor Jack Balkin, former Georgetown Law Professor and current OLC lawyer Marty Lederman, and other leading legal scholars http://balkin.blogspot.com/2005/09/anti-torture-memos-balkinization-posts.html
“The Torture Memos: The Case Against the Lawyers,” By David Cole, The New York Review of Books, Volume 56, Number 15, October 8, 2009 http://www.nybooks.com/articles/23114
"What Went Wrong: Torture and the Office of Legal Counsel in the Bush Administration," an analysis of the legal flaws of the 2005 torture memos by Emily Berman, counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice, presented to the Senate Judiciary Committee http://www.brennancenter.org/content/resource/emily_bermans_statement_for_the_record_for_hearing_on_torture_and_the_offic/
The New York Times Reading Room, “The Memos: Torture Redefined” http://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/16/the-memos-torture-redefined/
“Outsourcing Torture: The Secret History of America’s ‘Extraordinary Rendition’ Program,” Jane Mayer, The New Yorker (Feb. 14, 2005) http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2005/02/14/050214fa_fact6
“The Hidden Power: The Legal Mind Behind the White House’s War on Terror,” Jane Mayer, The New Yorker (July 3, 2006) http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/07/03/060703fa_fact1

Books

The Torture Memos, by David Cole
http://www.thenewpress.com/index.php?option=com_title&task=view_title&metaproductid=1787
Torture Team, by Philippe Sands
http://www.tortureteam.com/
The Dark Side, by Jane Mayer
http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl/9780385526395.html
Takeover: The Return of the Imperial Presidency and the Subversion of American Democracy, by Charlie Savage http://www.charliesavage.com/book.htm
The Terror Presidency: Law and Judgment Inside the Bush Administration, by Jack Goldsmith
http://books.wwnorton.com/books/detail.aspx?ID=8602
Administration of Torture: A Documentary Record from Washington to Abu Ghraib and Beyond, by Jameel Jaffer and Amrit Singh
http://cup.columbia.edu/book/978-0-231-14052-2/administration-of-torture
Angler, by Barton Gellman
http://www.bartongellman.com/