H.R.5122, Section 1061
John Warner National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007 (Engrossed Amendment as Agreed to by Senate)
SEC. 1061. REPORT ON CLARIFICATION OF PROHIBITION ON CRUEL, INHUMAN, OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT.
(a) FINDINGS- Congress makes the following findings:
(1) It is critical that members of the Armed Forces have clear guidelines about the legality of interrogation techniques as they seek critical intelligence in the War on Terrorism.
(2) To avoid confusion, any determination made about the legality of various interrogation techniques must be consistent across the United States Government.
(3) Confusion continues about the permissibility of various interrogation techniques, even after the enactment of the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 (title X of division A of Public Law 109-148).
(4) In testimony before the Senate and in written response to queries from the Senate, senior military commanders, Judge Advocates General of the Armed Forces, and various civilian officials of the Executive Branch have given incomplete or varying answers to questions on what constitutes cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment.
(5) It is critical to clarify these matters in order to ensure that members of the Armed Forces do not receive unclear or misleading guidance on such matters.
(b) REPORT- Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the President shall submit to the congressional defense committees a report setting forth the coordinated and definitive legal opinion of the United States Government on whether each of the following interrogation techniques constitutes cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment (as defined in section 1002(d) of the Detainee Treatment Act of 2006 (as defined in the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 (119 Stat. 2740; 42 U.S.C. 2000dd(d)):
(1) Waterboarding, or any other technique using water, bags, or other devices or substances to induce a sensation of drowning or asphyxiation.
(2) Sleep deprivation, including, at a minimum, depriving a prisoner of sleep for 24 hours or more or permitting five or less hours of sleep per day over a period of three or more days.
(3) Stress positions, including the use of any technique in which a prisoner is placed or shackled in a painful or awkward position (including prolonged standing or crouching, shackling arms above the head for prolonged periods, or the use of shackles or handcuffs in a manner which causes pain due to the swelling of tissue over a prolonged period of time).
(4) The use of extreme temperatures as an aid to interrogation.
(5) The use of beatings, slapping, or violent shaking.
(6) The use of dogs as an aid to interrogation.
(7) The use of nakedness or other forms of sexual humiliation as an aid to interrogation.
(c) ELEMENTS- The report under subsection (b) shall state, for each interrogation technique listed in that subsection, the following
(1) Whether the technique would constitute cruel and unusual punishment under the Constitution of the United States if used on a United States citizen within the United States.
(2) Whether the technique would constitute cruel and unusual punishment under the Constitution of the United States if used on a United States citizen outside the United States.
(3) Whether the technique would be legal if used to interrogate a member of the Armed Forces of the United States by a state party to the Geneva Conventions.
(4) Whether the technique would be legal if used to interrogate a United States citizen by a state party to the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
(d) CERTIFICATION ON NATURE OF OPINIONS- The report under subsection (b) shall include a certification that the legal opinions set forth in the report are the coordinated and definitive opinion of the United States Government binding on all departments and agencies of the United States Government, any personnel of such departments and agencies, and any contractors of such departments and agencies.
(e) DISSEMINATION OF OPINIONS-
(1) IN GENERAL- The President shall ensure the dissemination of the legal opinions set forth in the report to all departments and agencies of the United States Government, together with the instruction that such opinions be further disseminated to all personnel of such departments and agencies and all contractors of such departments and agencies.
(2) CERTIFICATION ON DISSEMINATION- The report shall include a certification regarding compliance with the requirement in paragraph (1).
(f) DEFINITIONS- In this section:
(1) The term `Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment' means the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, done at New York, December 10, 1984, and entering into force June 26, 1987 (T. Doc. 100-20).
(2) The term `Geneva Conventions' means--
(A) the Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field, done at Geneva August 12, 1949 (6 UST 3114);
(B) the Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded, Sick, and Shipwrecked Members of Armed Forces at Sea, done at Geneva August 12, 1949 (6 UST 3217);
(C) the Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, done at Geneva August 12, 1949 (6 UST 3316); and
(D) the Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, done at Geneva August 12, 1949 (6 UST 3516).