Terrorism Interrogators Immune From Prosecution, '03 Memo Says

Since Rescinded, the Document Granted Nearly Unfettered Presidential Power

By Dan Eggen and Josh White
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Federal laws prohibiting assault and other crimes did not apply to military interrogators who questioned al-Qaeda captives because the president's ultimate authority as commander-in-chief overrode such statutes, according to a newly declassified 2003 Justice Department memo released today.

The memo--which was rescinded just nine months after it was issued--provides an expansive argument for nearly unfettered presidential power in a time of war, contending that numerous laws and treaties that forbid torture or cruel treatment should not apply to the interrogations of enemy combatants overseas.

The 81-page document was sent to the Pentagon's general counsel on March 14, 2003 by John C. Yoo, then a deputy in the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel, and became the legal foundation for the Defense Department's use of aggressive interrogation practices.

The memo asserts that domestic and international laws and treaties, as well as the U.S. Constitution, would not apply to U.S. interrogations in foreign lands because of the president's inherent wartime powers.

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