Portal:Current events/2004 June 23
June 23, 2004 (Wednesday)
- U.S. policy on (a) the use of torture to extract information from captured enemy combatants and (b) on whether the Taliban and al Qaeda detainees qualify as "prisoners of war" under the Geneva Convention:
- The White House releases a February 7, 2002, memo in which President George W. Bush ordered humane treatment of captured Taliban and al Qaeda fighters despite a Justice Department legal opinion that the Geneva Convention does not apply. Twenty-one other memos requested by Senate Democrats have not yet been released; no released memos address Iraq or Abu-Ghraib Prison. (MSNBC) (Memo) Archived 2012-08-12 at the Wayback Machine
- The U.S. administration releases a U.S. Justice Department memo asserting that the legal opinion that the president had "the legal authority to order prisoners to be tortured". The memo indicates that Donald Rumsfeld denied approval to strongly coercive physical measures, but approved what has been described as "mild, noninjurious physical contact", and use of "detainee's individuals phobias (such as fear of dogs)". (VOA) (News24)
- The U.S. administration asserts that it refused to permit the use of torture, even if to do so would be legally permissible.
- A class action lawsuit of an unprecedented 1.6 million women is allowed by a federal judge in a case about sexual discrimination at U.S. retailer Walmart. (Baltimore Sun)
- Gordon B. Hinckley, 15th president of the LDS church, awarded presidential medal of Freedom from George W. Bush.
- Iraq's interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi vows to hunt down militants threatening to assassinate him, dismissing their bloody campaign before a U.S. handover to Iraqi rule in a week's time. (Reuters) Archived 2005-04-08 at the Wayback Machine
- Saudi Arabia offers an amnesty from execution to any al Qaida-affiliated militants within the kingdom who turn themselves in within the next month. (Reuters) Archived 2004-07-22 at archive.today
- The United States abandons an attempt to shield its soldiers from war crimes prosecution by the International Criminal Court. (Washington Post)
- Mainland Chinese vandals deface the website of the Democratic Progressive Party for the second time in two weeks with People's Liberation Army propaganda. (Inquirer) Archived 2018-03-05 at the Wayback Machine (TaipeiTimes)