SOURCE: Jan 22, 2002 - Department of Justice memo to White House and Defense Department Counsels regarding the application of the War Crimes Act and the Geneva Conventions
The 37-page memo, written by Assistant Attorney General Jay S. Bybee, is addressed to White House Counsel Alberto R. Gonzales and General Counsel at the Pentagon William J. Haynes II. The memo states that President Bush is not bound by international obligations to Afghanistan because it is a "failed state," and that therefore the War Crimes Act of 1984 and the Geneva Convention do not apply to prisoners from the Afghanistan conflict. [The memo was released on June 22, 2004. Obtained from The Washington Post website at www.washingtonpost.com.] http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB127/
This site contains copyrighted material the use of which in some cases has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Such material is made available for the purposes of news reporting, education, research, comment, and criticism, which constitutes a 'fair use' of such copyrighted material in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. It is our policy to respond to notices of alleged infringement that comply with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (found at the U.S. Copyright Office) and other applicable intellectual property laws. It is our policy to remove material from public view that we believe in good faith to be copyrighted material that has been illegally copied and distributed by any of our members or users.