White House OKs CIA probe methods

WASHINGTON, July 20 (UPI) -- U.S. President George W. Bush Friday issued an executive order allowing the CIA to resume some harsh interrogation methods, The New York Times reported.

The order authorizes the CIA to use an interrogation system that had been suspended following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that all detainees being held by the United States must be treated in accord with Geneva Convention restrictions.

Administration officials told the newspaper the CIA would be able to employ some interrogation methods that had been banned since the Supreme Court ruling, because the U.S. Justice Department has determined those methods do not violate the Geneva Conventions.

CIA Director Michael Hayden Friday notified agency employees that the presidential order allows them to "focus on our vital work, confident that our mission and authorities are clearly defined."

Human Rights Watch said Friday the detention and interrogation program is contrary to the Geneva Conventions.

The group said in a news release enforced disappearance -- which it called "the hallmark of the CIA program, involving secret, incommunicado detention" -- is inconsistent with the treaty.

"By international human rights and humanitarian law standards, the CIA program is illegal to its core," said Joanne Mariner, terrorism and counterterrorism director at Human Rights Watch. "Although the new executive order bars torture and other abuse, the order still can't purport to legalize a program that violates basic rights."

The specific methods authorized for the CIA are classified, but officials told the Times the agency has stopped using some controversial practices.