Alberto J. Mora

“ As a component under the operational control of other commands, NCIS has had gone worldwide involvement on issues of detainee custody, treatment, and criminal interrogations and, specifically, those involving the Guantanamo detainees. As a result, I gained a measure of insight into detainee treatment and interrogation practices commensurate with NCIS's scope and degree of involvement. Third, in December 200, I received a report of detainee abuse occuring at Guantanamo Naval Base, Cuba, and complaints about interrogation guidelines pertaining to those detainees. ”

“ Producing the December 2nd Memo, I expressed surprise that the Secretary had been allowed to sign it. In my view, some of the authorized interrogation techniques could rise to the level of torture, although the intent surely had not been to do so. Mr Haynes disagreed that the techniques authorized constituted torture. I urged him to think about the techniques more closely. What did "deprivation of light and auditory stimuli" mean? Could a detainee be locked in a completely dark cell? ”

“ This term describes the observed tendency among interrogators who rely on force. If some force is good, these people come to believe, then the application of more force must be better. Thus, the level of force applied against an uncooperative witness tends to escalate such that, if left unchecked, force levels, to include torture, could be reached. Dr. Gelles was concerned that this phenomenon might manifest itself at Guantanamo.
Director Brant reiterated his previous statements that he and the NCIS personnel at Guantanamo viewed any such abusive practices as repugnant. ”

“ This, I felt, was a clearly erroneous conclusion that was at variance with applicable law, both domestic and international, and trends in constitutional jurisprudence, particularly those dealing with the 8th Amendment substantive due process protections that prohibited conduct "shocking to the conscience." ”

“ In addition, the speed of the Working Group process and the division of responsibility among the various Services made it difficult to prepare detailed comments or objections to those sections not assigned to OGC. My intent at this stage was to review the final draft report when it was circulated for clearance but, based on the unacceptable legal analysis contained in the early draft versions that were likely to be retained in the final version, I anticipated that I would non-concur with detailed comments. ”

“ This responds to your request at reference (a) for a statement that chronicles any involvement by the Department of the Navy Office of the General Counself (OGC) or me personally in the development of the "interrogation rules of engagement" (IROE) for Operation Enduring Freedom. The following narrative adopts a slightly broader focus. It seeks to describe any such knowledge or involvement as OGC or I had on any impact of the interrogation techniquest used of contemplated following September 11, 2001, including participation in legal analysis or discussion of such issues. ”

“ Navy OGC was assigned the task ot develop a paper on the applicability of the 5th, 8th, and 14th Amendments to detainee interrogations. Early in this process, the Working Group was advised that the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) in the Department of Justice would be developing a comprehensive legal memorandum that was to serve as definitive guidance on the issues addressed by it. [9] I appointed LtCol Rick Schieke to serve as the OGC representative to the Working Group. [10]
I met with NCIS Chief Psychologist Dr. Michael Gelles and senior NCIS senior NCIS Special Agent Mark Fallon. ”

“ On this and the following day, I reviewed the product of research that had been begun almost immediately following the news of the detainee abuse, in particular a memorandum of law prepared under RADM Lohr's direction by Navy JAG attorneys. (ATT 5) In addition, I reviewed a letter (Att 6) dated December 26, 2002, from Kenneth Roth, the Executive Director of Human RIghts Watch, a prominent human rights organiation, to President Bush. The letter, which contained legal analysis I considered largely accurate, had been discusseded in a Washington Post article published on the same date. ”