I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3541 

To affirm that the United States may not engage in torture or cruel, 

inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 28, 2005 

Mr. CONYERS (for himself, Mr. SKELTON, Mr. SERRANO, Ms. ZOE LOFGREN

of California, Mr. MEEHAN, and Ms. LINDA T. SA ́NCHEZ of California) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 

Armed Services, and in addition to the Committee on International Relations, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each 

case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of 

the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To affirm that the United States may not engage in torture 

or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Promoting Responsible 

5 Interrogation Standards Enforcement Act of 2005’’ or 

6 ‘‘PRISE Act of 2005’’. 
2 

•HR 3541 IH 

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

2 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find3 ings: 

4 (1) After World War II, the United States and 

5 its allies created a new international legal order 

6 based on respect for human rights. One of its funda7 mental tenets was a universal prohibition on torture 

8 and ill treatment. 

9 (2) On June 26, 2003, the International Day in 

10 Support of Victims of Torture, President George W. 

11 Bush stated, ‘‘The United States is committed to 

12 the world-wide elimination of torture and we are 

13 leading this fight by example. I call on all govern14 ments to join with the United States and the com15 munity of law-abiding nations in prohibiting, inves16 tigating, and prosecuting all acts of torture and in 

17 undertaking to prevent other cruel and unusual pun18 ishment.’’. 

19 (3) The United States is a party to the Geneva 

20 Conventions, which prohibit torture, cruel treatment, 

21 or outrages upon personal dignity, in particular, 

22 humiliating and degrading treatment, during armed 

23 conflict. 

24 (4) The United States is a party to 2 treaties 

25 that prohibit torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrad26 ing treatment or punishment, as follows: 
3 

•HR 3541 IH 

1 (A) The International Covenant on Civil 

2 and Political Rights, done at New York on De3 cember 16, 1966. 

4 (B) The Convention against Torture and 

5 Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment 

6 or Punishment, done at New York on December 

7 10, 1984. 

8 (5) The United States filed reservations to the 

9 treaties described in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of 

10 paragraph (4) stating that the United States con11 siders itself bound to prevent ‘‘cruel, inhuman or de12 grading treatment or punishment’’ to the extent that 

13 phrase means the cruel, unusual, and inhumane 

14 treatment or punishment prohibited by the 5th 

15 amendment, 8th amendment, or 14th amendment to 

16 the Constitution. 

17 (6) Army Regulation 190–8 entitled ‘‘Enemy 

18 Prisoners of War, Retained Personnel, Civilian In19 ternees and Other Detainees’’ provides that ‘‘Inhu20 mane treatment is a serious and punishable violation 

21 under international law and the Uniform Code of 

22 Military Justice (UCMJ). . . . All prisoners will re23 ceive humane treatment without regard to race, na24 tionality, religion, political opinion, sex, or other cri25 teria. The following acts are prohibited: murder, tor-
4 

•HR 3541 IH 

1 ture, corporal punishment, mutilation, the taking of 

2 hostages, sensory deprivation, collective punish3 ments, execution without trial by proper authority, 

4 and all cruel and degrading treatment. . . . All per5 sons will be respected as human beings. They will be 

6 protected against all acts of violence to include rape, 

7 forced prostitution, assault and theft, insults, public 

8 curiosity, bodily injury, and reprisals of any kind. . 

9 . . This list is not exclusive.’’. 

10 (7) The Field Manual on Intelligence Interroga11 tion of the Department of the Army states that 

12 ‘‘acts of violence or intimidation, including physical 

13 or mental torture, threats, insults, or exposure to in14 humane treatment as a means of or an aid to inter15 rogation’’ are ‘‘illegal’’. Such Manual defines ‘‘inflic16 tion of pain through . . . bondage (other than legiti17 mate use of restraints to prevent escape)’’, ‘‘forcing 

18 an individual to stand, sit, or kneel in abnormal po19 sitions for prolonged periods of time’’, ‘‘food depriva20 tion’’, and ‘‘any form of beating’’ as ‘‘physical tor21 ture’’, defines ‘‘abnormal sleep deprivation’’ as 

22 ‘‘mental torture’’, and prohibits the use of such tac23 tics under any circumstances. 

24 (8) The Field Manual on Intelligence Interroga25 tion of the Department of the Army states that 
5 

•HR 3541 IH 

1 ‘‘Use of torture and other illegal methods is a poor 

2 technique that yields unreliable results, may damage 

3 subsequent collection efforts, and can induce the 

4 source to say what he thinks the interrogator wants 

5 to hear. Revelation of use of torture by U.S. per6 sonnel will bring discredit upon the U.S. and its 

7 armed forces while undermining domestic and inter8 national support for the war effort. It may also place 

9 U.S. and allied personnel in enemy hands at a great10 er risk of abuse by their captors.’’. 

11 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con12 gress that the reservation filed by the United States to 

13 the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhu14 man or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (‘‘Conven15 tion’’) regarding the obligation under Article 16 of the 

16 Convention— 

17 (1) should be interpreted as a substantive defi18 nition of the term ‘‘cruel, inhuman or degrading 

19 treatment or punishment’’ under Article 16 of the 

20 Convention and not as a geographical limitation on 

21 the obligations of the United States under Article 16 

22 of the Convention; and 

23 (2) should reflect the original intent of the Sen24 ate and preserve the objectives and purposes of the 

25 Convention. 
6 

•HR 3541 IH 

1 SEC. 3. HUMANE TREATMENT OF DETAINEES. 

2 (a) PROHIBITION ON TORTURE OR CRUEL, INHU3 MAN, OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT.—(1) 

4 No person in the custody or under the physical control 

5 of the United States shall be subject to torture or cruel, 

6 inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment that is 

7 prohibited by the Constitution, laws, or treaties of the 

8 United States. 

9 (2) Nothing in this section shall affect the status of 

10 any person under the Geneva Conventions or whether any 

11 person is entitled to the protections of the Geneva Conven12 tions. 

13 (b) RULES, REGULATIONS, AND GUIDELINES.—(1) 

14 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment 

15 of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall prescribe the 

16 rules, regulations, or guidelines necessary to ensure com17 pliance with the prohibition in subsection (a)(1) by the 

18 members of the Armed Forces and by any person pro19 viding services to the Department of Defense on a contract 

20 basis. 

21 (2) The Secretary shall submit to the congressional 

22 defense committees the rules, regulations, or guidelines 

23 prescribed under paragraph (1), and any modifications to 

24 such rules, regulations, or guidelines— 
7 

•HR 3541 IH 

1 (A) not later than 30 days after the effective 

2 date of such rules, regulations, guidelines, or modi3 fications; and 

4 (B) in a manner and form that will protect the 

5 national security interests of the United States. 

6 (c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—(1) The Secretary of 

7 Defense shall submit, on a timely basis and not less than 

8 twice each year, a report to Congress on the circumstances 

9 surrounding any investigation of a possible violation of the 

10 prohibition in subsection (a)(1) by a member of the Armed 

11 Forces or by a person providing services to the Depart12 ment of Defense on a contract basis. 

13 (2) A report required under paragraph (1) shall be 

14 submitted in a manner and form that— 

15 (A) will protect the national security interests 

16 of the United States; and 

17 (B) will not prejudice any prosecution of an in18 dividual involved in, or responsible for, a violation of 

19 the prohibition in subsection (a)(1). 

20 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

21 (1) The term ‘‘cruel, inhuman, or degrading 

22 treatment or punishment’’ means the cruel, unusual, 

23 and inhumane treatment or punishment prohibited 

24 by the 5th amendment, 8th amendment, or 14th 

25 amendment to the Constitution. 
8 

•HR 3541 IH 

1 (2) The term ‘‘congressional defense commit2 tees’’ means the Committees on Armed Services and 

3 the Committees on Appropriations of the Senate and 

4 the House of Representatives. 

5 (3) The term ‘‘Geneva Conventions’’ means— 

6 (A) the Convention for the Amelioration of 

7 the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in 

8 Armed Forces in the Field, done at Geneva Au9 gust 12, 1949 (6 UST 3114); 

10 (B) the Convention for the Amelioration of 

11 the Condition of the Wounded, Sick, and Ship12 wrecked Members of Armed Forces at Sea, 

13 done at Geneva August 12, 1949 (6 UST 

14 3217); 

15 (C) the Convention Relative to the Treat16 ment of Prisoners of War, done at Geneva Au17 gust 12, 1949 (6 UST 3316); and 

18 (D) the Convention Relative to the Protec19 tion of Civilian Persons in Time of War, done 

20 at Geneva August 12, 1949 (6 UST 3516). 

21 (4) The term ‘‘torture’’ has the meaning given 

22 that term in section 2340 of title 18, United States 

23 Code. 
9 

•HR 3541 IH 

1 SEC. 4. ADHERENCE BY UNITED STATES TO OBLIGATIONS 

2 UNDER THE CONVENTION AGAINST TORTURE 

3 AND OTHER CRUEL, INHUMAN OR DEGRAD4 ING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT. 

5 (a) LIMITATION ON ASSISTANCE WITH RESPECT TO

6 OBTAINING INFORMATION FROM INDIVIDUALS.—An offi7 cer or employee of the United States may not provide as8 sistance to the government of a foreign country for the 

9 purpose of obtaining information from an individual held 

10 in custody by the foreign government if the officer or em11 ployee has reason to believe that torture or cruel, inhu12 man, or degrading treatment or punishment will be uti13 lized to obtain the information. 

14 (b) LIMITATION ON ASSISTANCE WITH RESPECT TO

15 TRANSFER OF INDIVIDUALS.—An officer or employee of 

16 the United States may not encourage or otherwise assist 

17 the government of a foreign country to transfer, render, 

18 expel, return, or extradite an individual to another country 

19 if the officer or employee has reason to believe that the 

20 individual would be in danger of being subjected to torture 

21 in violation of Article 3 of the Convention Against Torture 

22 and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or 

23 Punishment. For purposes of the preceding sentence, the 

24 term ‘‘assist’’ includes the provision of personnel, informa-
10 

•HR 3541 IH 

1 tion, equipment, financial assistance, or any other form 

2 of assistance. 

Æ