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U.S. Department
Department of
of Justice
u.s.
Office of
of Legal COlll1sel
Counsel
Office

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Anomey General
Office of the Assistant Attorney

General

Washington,
20530
Washington,D.D.C.C.
20530

August 6, 2004

John A. Rizzo, Esq.
Acting General Counsel
Central Intelligence Agency
Washington, D.C. 20505

of.

Dear John:

~ This letter will confum
confirm our advice that, although it is a close and
difficult question, the use of
of the waterboard technique in the contemplated interrogation
of
difficult
outside
territory subject to United States jurisdiction would not violate any United States
~utsidc
tcuitory
U.S.C. § 2340A, nor would it violate the United States Constitution or any
statute, including 18 U.s.c.
treaty obligation of
of the United States. We will supply, at a later date, an opinion that explains the
basis for this conclusion. Our advice is based on, and limited by, the following conditions:
1. The use of
of the technique will conform
conform to the description attached to your letter to me of
of
1.
August 2, 2004 ("Rizzo Letter").
use ofllie
of the technique before each session, will
2. A physician and psychologist
psychologist will approve the usc
be present throughout the session, and will have authority to stop the use of
technique at any
of the tcchnique
time.
timc.

on_

3. There is no material change in the medical and psychological facts and assessments set out in
no medical
or psychological
the attachment to your August 2 letter, including that there are 110
medic~chological
contraindications to the use of
of the technique as you plan to employ it on
4. The technique will be used in no more than two sessions, of
of two hours each, per day. On each
day, the total time of
of the applications of
of the technique will not exceed 20 minutes. The period
over which the technique is used will not extend longer than 30 days, and the technique will not
be used on more than 15 days in this period. These limits are consistent with the Memorandum
for John A. Rizzo, Acting General Counsel, Central Intelligence Agency, from Jay S. Bybee,
Inten'ogation ofal
Assistant Attorney General, Re: Interrogation
of al Qaeda Operative (Aug. 1,2002),
1, 2002), and with
the previous uses of
of the technique, as they have been described to us. As we understand the
facts, the detainees previously subjected
subjected to the teclmique
technique "are in good physiological and

~

psychological health," see Rizzo Letter at 2, and they have not described the technique as
physically painful. This understanding of
of the facts is material to our conclusion that the
technique, as limited in accordance with this letter, would not violate any statute of
of the United
States.
of the technique,
~ We express no opinion on any other uses ofthe
tec~c, nor do we
address any techniques other than the watcrboard
whic~r
waterboard or any conditions under which
or other
of Justice's policy
detainees are held. Furthermore, this letter does not constitute the Department of
of the technique in this or any other case.
approval for use of

Sincerely,

Daniel B. Levin
Acting Assistant Attorney General