On August 1, 2002, a memo signed by Jay S. Bybee, then assistant attorney general in the Office of Legal Counsel, was submitted to Alberto Gonzales, who was then counsel to the president. The memo, dated August 1, 2002, carries the official name “Standards of Conduct for Interrogation under 18 U.S.C. §§2340-2340A.” The stated purpose of the memo was to set forth the views of the Office of Legal Counsel regarding the standards of conduct to be followed by U.S. interrogators under the international Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, as implemented through the U.S. Code. The memo’s narrow definition of torture caused a scandal and was officially repudiated by the George W. Bush administration in June 2004. The Justice Department itself did not effectively rescind the memo until December 30, 2004, on the eve of the confirmation hearings of Alberto Gonzales for attorney general of the United States.

See also “In the News: Torture documents”