‘Anti-torture treaties do not apply to al-Qaida’

THE confidential US Justice Department memos criticised by Democrats as laying the legal foundation for Iraqi prisoner abuses were aimed mainly at showing that international treaties banning torture do not apply to al-Qaida and Taliban prisoners, Bush administration officials say.

The department’s lawyers concluded that Taliban and al-Qaida fighters are not protected by the Geneva Conventions because they do not satisfy four main conditions of the treaty itself. Those include requirements to obey laws of war, wear insignia recognisable from a distance and operate under the command of a responsible individual.

Iraqi prisoners are protected under the treaty partly because Iraq is a participating nation in the Geneva Conventions and the US is an occupying power.

William Moschella, assistant attorney general for legislative affairs, said in a letter released Wednesday that, despite this important difference, US President George W Bush early in the Afghanistan conflict issued orders that al-Qaida and Taliban prisoners be treated consistently with Geneva Conventions principles.

The letter was the administration’s most detailed attempt to address increasing criticism from Democratic Congress members and human rights activists about what they consider a concerted effort to circumvent US and international laws against torture during the fight against terrorism.

Human rights lawyers took the unusual step of filing a racketeering lawsuit yesterday against US civilian contractors who worked at the Abu Ghraib prison. The suit alleges contractors conspired to execute, rape and torture prisoners during interrogations to boost profits from military payments.