Condoleezza Rice
Role in authorizing use of torture
### Role in authorizing use of torture

A [Senate Intelligence Committee](/wiki/Senate_Intelligence_Committee "Senate Intelligence Committee") reported that on July 17, 2002, Rice met with CIA director [George Tenet](/wiki/George_Tenet "George Tenet") to personally convey the Bush administration's approval of the proposed [waterboarding](/wiki/Waterboarding "Waterboarding") of alleged Al Qaeda leader [Abu Zubaydah](/wiki/Abu_Zubaydah "Abu Zubaydah"). "Days after Dr Rice gave Mr Tenet her approval, the Justice Department approved the use of waterboarding in a top secret August 1 memo." Waterboarding is considered to be torture by a wide range of authorities, including legal experts, A [rough draft](http://www.pegc.us/archive/Articles/wallach_drop_by_drop_draft_20061016.pdf)  is also available. war veterans, intelligence officials, military judges, human rights organizations, former U.S. attorney general [Eric Holder](/wiki/Eric_Holder "Eric Holder"), and many senior politicians, including former U.S. President [Barack Obama](/wiki/Barack_Obama "Barack Obama").

In 2003 Rice, Vice President [Dick Cheney](/wiki/Dick_Cheney "Dick Cheney") and Attorney General [John Ashcroft](/wiki/John_Ashcroft "John Ashcroft") met with the CIA again and were briefed on the use of waterboarding and other methods including week\-long [sleep deprivation](/wiki/Sleep_deprivation "Sleep deprivation"), forced nudity and the use of stress positions. The Senate report says that the Bush administration officials "reaffirmed that the CIA program was lawful and reflected administration policy".

The Senate report also "suggests Miss Rice played a more significant role than she acknowledged in written testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee submitted in the autumn." At that time, she had acknowledged attending meetings to discuss the CIA's use of torture, but she claimed that she could not recall the details, and she "omitted her direct role in approving the program in her written statement to the committee."

In a conversation with a student at Stanford University in April 2009, Rice stated that she did not authorize the CIA to use the torture. Rice said, "I didn't authorize anything. I conveyed the authorization of the administration to the agency that they had policy authorization, subject to the Justice Department's clearance. That's what I did." She added, "We were told, nothing that violates our obligations under the [Convention Against Torture](/wiki/United_Nations_Convention_Against_Torture "United Nations Convention Against Torture"). And so, by definition, if it was authorized by the president, it did not violate our obligations under the Conventions Against Torture."

In 2015, citing her role in authorizing the use of so\-called "[enhanced interrogation techniques](/wiki/Enhanced_interrogation_techniques "Enhanced interrogation techniques")", [Human Rights Watch](/wiki/Human_Rights_Watch "Human Rights Watch") called for the investigation of Rice "for conspiracy to torture as well as other crimes."


How might the use of torture in this context reflect on the integrity of US institutions?