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   From: Whatever@whoever.tv   
      
   FBI E-Mail Refers to Presidential Order Authorizing Inhumane   
   Interrogation Techniques   
   	   
   December 20, 2004   
      
   FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   
   Contact: media@aclu.org   
      
   Newly Obtained FBI Records Call Defense Department’s Methods   
   "Torture," Express Concerns Over "Cover-Up" That May Leave FBI   
   "Holding the Bag" for Abuses   
      
   NEW YORK -- A document released for the first time today by the   
   American Civil Liberties Union suggests that President Bush issued an   
   Executive Order authorizing the use of inhumane interrogation methods   
   against detainees in Iraq. Also released by the ACLU today are a slew   
   of other records including a December 2003 FBI e-mail that   
   characterizes methods used by the Defense Department as "torture" and   
   a June 2004 "Urgent Report" to the Director of the FBI that raises   
   concerns that abuse of detainees is being covered up.   
      
   "These documents raise grave questions about where the blame for   
   widespread detainee abuse ultimately rests," said ACLU Executive   
   Director Anthony D. Romero. "Top government officials can no longer   
   hide from public scrutiny by pointing the finger at a few low-ranking   
   soldiers."   
      
   The documents were obtained after the ACLU and other public interest   
   organizations filed a lawsuit against the government for failing to   
   respond to a Freedom of Information Act request.   
      
   The two-page e-mail that references an Executive Order states that the   
   President directly authorized interrogation techniques including sleep   
   deprivation, stress positions, the use of military dogs, and "sensory   
   deprivation through the use of hoods, etc." The ACLU is urging the   
   White House to confirm or deny the existence of such an order and   
   immediately to release the order if it exists. The FBI e-mail, which   
   was sent in May 2004 from "On Scene Commander--Baghdad" to a handful   
   of senior FBI officials, notes that the FBI has prohibited its agents   
   from employing the techniques that the President is said to have   
   authorized.   
      
   http://www.aclu.org/SafeandFree/SafeandFree.cfm?ID=17216&c=206   
      
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