SHAFR John Yoo and Torture

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We, the undersigned, members of the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations (SHAFR) and/or participants at the 2008 annual meeting of SHAFR, believe that the legal opinions of John Yoo on the legality of torture are morally abhorrent and constitute the untenable advocacy of war crimes by or on behalf of the United States. The opinions are in contravention of both the criminal laws and the treaty obligations of the United States. We believe that Yoo's legal opinions on the unfettered exercise of executive power are legally unsound and pose a grave threat to the separation-of-powers feature of the Constitution.



In an August 2002 memorandum that he co-authored and in a recently released March 2003 memorandum that he authored, Yoo stated that federal statutes against torture, assault, maiming, and interstate stalking cannot restrict the President in his capacity as Commander-in-Chief. He licensed the use of atrocious and clearly illegal practices such as "waterboarding" by narrowing the legal standards for "torture," defining it as a practice requiring the victim to experience intense pain or suffering equivalent to pain associated with death, organ failure or permanent damage resulting in loss of significant bodily functions. Yoo's arguments have provided the legal foundation and justification for the commission of war crimes, including torture and cruel and inhumane treatment of prisoners, as one component of a constitutionally indefensible expansion of executive power. Yoo's arguments contravene the letter and spirit of the U. N. Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions, both of which were ratified by the U.S. Senate, and are the "law of the land" under Article VI of the Constitution. Yoo furthermore stated in his memoranda that arguments for self-defense or necessity could be used in defense of torture, despite the Convention's unequivocal statement that "[n]o exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war may be invoked as a justification of torture."



We, the undersigned, strongly affirm the need for U.S. policy to respect human rights both internationally and within the United States. We call upon the executive and legislative branches to forbid torture and cruel and inhumane treatment of detainees under all circumstances, wherever they are held and whatever their nationality.

73 Signatures

  • Paul Kramer
    • Institutional affiliation, if any
    • University of Iowa
    • SHAFR member?
    • No
    • Additional comment
    • В
  • Naoko Shibusawa
    • Institutional affiliation, if any
    • Brown University
    • SHAFR member?
    • No
  • Christopher Endy
    • Institutional affiliation, if any
    • Cal State Los Angeles
    • SHAFR member?
    • No
  • Barbara Keys
    • Institutional affiliation, if any
    • University of Melbourne
    • SHAFR member?
    • No
    • Additional comment
    • В
  • John Swenson-Wright
    • Institutional affiliation, if any
    • University of Cambridge
    • SHAFR member?
    • No
  • Barak Kushner
    • Institutional affiliation, if any
    • University of Cambridge
    • SHAFR member?
    • No
  • Marilyn B. Young
    • Institutional affiliation, if any
    • NYU
    • SHAFR member?
    • No
  • Frank Costigliola
    • Institutional affiliation, if any
    • University of Connecticut
    • SHAFR member?
    • No
  • Melani McAlister
    • Institutional affiliation, if any
    • George Washington University
    • SHAFR member?
    • No
  • David Zietsma
    • Institutional affiliation, if any
    • Redeemer University College
    • SHAFR member?
    • No
  • Ira Chernus
    • Institutional affiliation, if any
    • University of Colorado
    • SHAFR member?
    • No
  • Omar Hassan Dphrepaulezz
    • Institutional affiliation, if any
    • University of Connecticut
    • SHAFR member?
    • No
  • Amy Kaplan
    • Institutional affiliation, if any
    • University of Pennsylvania
    • SHAFR member?
    • No
  • Theodore Brown, Jr.
    • Institutional affiliation, if any
    • The University of Tennessee
    • SHAFR member?
    • No
  • William I. Hitchcock
    • Institutional affiliation, if any
    • Temple University
    • SHAFR member?
    • No
  • Lubna Qureshi
    • Institutional affiliation, if any
    • Northwestern University
    • SHAFR member?
    • No
  • Bruce Cumings
    • Institutional affiliation, if any
    • U of Chicago
    • SHAFR member?
    • No
  • Emily S. Rosenberg
    • Institutional affiliation, if any
    • University of California, Irvine
    • SHAFR member?
    • No
  • T. Christopher Jespersen
    • Institutional affiliation, if any
    • North Georgia College & State University
    • SHAFR member?
    • No
  • Petra Goedde
    • Institutional affiliation, if any
    • Temple University
    • SHAFR member?
    • No
  • Jana K. Lipman
    • Institutional affiliation, if any
    • St. Joseph's College
    • SHAFR member?
    • No
  • Andrew Rotter
    • Institutional affiliation, if any
    • Colgate University
    • SHAFR member?
    • No
  • Carol Anderson
    • Institutional affiliation, if any
    • University of Missouri
    • SHAFR member?
    • No
  • Michael Sherry
    • Institutional affiliation, if any
    • Northwestern University
    • SHAFR member?
    • No
  • Scott Rohrer
    • Institutional affiliation, if any
    • Oklahoma State University
    • SHAFR member?
    • No
  • Tim Borstelmann
    • Institutional affiliation, if any
    • University of Nebraska-Lincoln
    • SHAFR member?
    • No
  • Mark Bradley
    • Institutional affiliation, if any
    • University of Chicago
    • SHAFR member?
    • No
  • Brad Simpson
    • Institutional affiliation, if any
    • University of Maryland, Baltimore County
    • SHAFR member?
    • No
  • Sheyda Jahanbani
    • Institutional affiliation, if any
    • University of Kansas
    • SHAFR member?
    • No
  • Carolyn Eisenberg
    • Institutional affiliation, if any
    • Hofstra University
    • SHAFR member?
    • No
  • Theodore A. Wilson
    • Institutional affiliation, if any
    • University of Kansas
    • SHAFR member?
    • No
  • Michael E. Latham
    • Institutional affiliation, if any
    • Fordham University
    • SHAFR member?
    • No
  • Seth Jacobs
    • Institutional affiliation, if any
    • Boston College
    • SHAFR member?
    • No
  • Sean L. Malloy
    • Institutional affiliation, if any
    • U.C. Merced
    • SHAFR member?
    • No
  • Suzanna Reiss
    • Institutional affiliation, if any
    • University of Hawai'i Manoa
    • SHAFR member?
    • No
  • Matthew Connelly
    • Institutional affiliation, if any
    • Columbia
    • SHAFR member?
    • No
  • Jeremy Behreandt
    • Institutional affiliation, if any
    • student
    • SHAFR member?
    • No
  • Ryan G. Dickson
    • Institutional affiliation, if any
    • Temple University (student)
    • SHAFR member?
    • No
  • Scott Laderman
    • Institutional affiliation, if any
    • University of Minnesota, Duluth
    • SHAFR member?
    • No
  • Gordon Chang
    • Institutional affiliation, if any
    • stanford univ.
    • SHAFR member?
    • No
    • Additional comment
    • В
  • Joyce Antler
    • Institutional affiliation, if any
    • Brandeis University
    • SHAFR member?
    • No
  • Anthony Gronowicz
    • Institutional affiliation, if any
    • City University of New York
    • SHAFR member?
    • No
  • Linda Gordon
    • Institutional affiliation, if any
    • NYU
    • SHAFR member?
    • No
  • Arnold Offner
    • Institutional affiliation, if any
    • Lafayette College
    • SHAFR member?
    • No
    • Additional comment
    • John Yoo's so-called legal opinions are abhorrent, and I do not think there is any basis whatsoever for them in legal jurisprudence. They reflect the mindset of someone devoted to justifying the behavior of a dictatorial regime. I view this behavior as tantamount to war crimes activity.
  • Mark T. Gilderhus
    • Institutional affiliation, if any
    • Texas Christian Univ
    • SHAFR member?
    • No
  • Matthew Redinger
    • Institutional affiliation, if any
    • Montana State University Billings
    • SHAFR member?
    • No
  • Joseph A. Palermo
    • Institutional affiliation, if any
    • California State University, Sacramento
    • SHAFR member?
    • No
  • Jeremy Kuzmarov
    • Institutional affiliation, if any
    • Bucknell University
    • SHAFR member?
    • No
    • Additional comment
    • I will be presenting at the conference and am dismayed by whomever decided to invite him.
  • Walter & Joan McElligott
    • Institutional affiliation, if any
    • None
    • SHAFR member?
    • No
    • Additional comment
    • Another petition for one who believes killing 100,000 Iraqis is his right?
  • Lester D. Langley
    • Institutional affiliation, if any
    • University of Georgia (Emeritus)
    • SHAFR member?
    • No
    • Additional comment
    • I am committed to the war against terrorism. I am also committed to the rule of law. If I have to choose, I choose the rule of law.