Reading Room Document

Interrogation of al Qaeda Operative

This memorandum, known colloquially as one of the "torture memos" and subsequently rescinded, reviews whether the proposed CIA interrogations of Abu Zubaydah (which would include attention gasp, walling, facial hold, facial slap, cramped confinement, wall standing, stress positions, sleep deprivation, insects placed in the confinement box, and waterboarding) comply with the federal prohibition on torture, codified at 18 U.S.C. §§ 2340–2340A. The letter concludes that since the proposed interrogation techniques do not introduce long-term health consequences or the requisite intensity of pain and suffering prohibited by § 2340A, the interrogations are legal. The OLC does not provide release dates for its opinions, so the release date listed is the date on which the opinion was authored. The original opinion is available at https://justice.gov/olc/file/886076/download.

August 1, 2002