Gonzales grilled over torture

Alberto Gonzales faced a grilling from US senators on his suitability to take up the post of head of the justice department after telling the White House parts of the Geneva Convention on the treatment of prisoners of war were "obsolete".

The hearing came as the Pentagon announced an investigation into allegations of prisoner abuse at Guantnamo Bay following the release of files by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) detailing mistreatment at the military prison in Cuba.

As Mr Gonzales’s confirmation hearing got under way, the White House refused to provide senators additional documents detailing his role in the decision to allow aggressive interrogations of detainees.

The Democrat senator Edward Kennedy told Mr Gonzales that policies he supported or helped formulate "have been used by the administration, the military and the CIA to justify torture and Geneva Convention violations by military and civilian personnel".

Other Democrats continued the attack, with Senator Patrick Leahy saying "America’s troops and citizens are at greater risk" because of policies that are "tantamount to torture".

Mr Gonzales yesterday vowed to abide by international treaties on prisoner rights. "I will no longer represent only the White House. I will represent the United States of America and its people. I understand the difference between the two roles," he said. "Contrary to reports I consider the Geneva conventions neither obsolete nor quaint." He added: "I have been deeply troubled and sickened by reports of abuse.

"I share his [President George Bush’s] resolve that torture and abuse will not be tolerated by this administration ... if confirmed I will ensure the department of justice vigorously pursues those responsible."

A memo Mr Gonzales wrote in 2002 argued that the "new paradigm" of the war on terrorism "renders obsolete Geneva’s strict limitations on questioning of enemy prisoners and renders quaint some of it". It was seen by Democrats as giving tacit administration approval to the use of "coercive" interrogation techniques by military personnel in Cuba and Iraq.

A month later, Mr Bush signed an order declaring he had the authority to bypass the accords "in this or future conflicts". Mr Bush’s order also said the Geneva treaty’s references to prisoners of war did not apply to al-Qaeda members or "unlawful combatants" from the Taleban.

Mr Gonzales repeated the argument that terrorists are not soldiers and so are not covered by the Geneva treaty. Nonetheless, he said, "we must be committed to preserving civil rights and civil liberties".

Since the Republicans control the Senate, Mr Gonzales is expected to be confirmed as attorney general. If so, he would become the highest ranking Hispanic public servant in American political history.

Mr Gonzales’s confirmation hearing was held as the Pentagon said it would investigate FBI reports that suggested the abuse of prisoners at Baghdad’s Abu Ghraib prison was inspired by treatment of detainees at Guantanamo Bay. The reports also claimed the abuse was sanctioned by a higher authority than had previously been thought. "You won’t believe it!" one agent wrote of the conditions in which prisoners were being held and the treatment they were receiving.

So far 137 servicemen and women have been either punished or face courts-martial as a result of a series of investigations into the abuse of prisoners.

The FBI documents have described suspects being shackled hand and foot in a foetal position on a floor for 18 to 24 hours, and left to urinate and defecate on themselves. Others said Pentagon interrogators impersonated FBI agents at the base and used "torture techniques" on a prisoner.

"Mr Gonzales bears much of the responsibility for creating the legal framework and permissive atmosphere that led to the torture and abuse at Guantanamo and elsewhere," said Anthony Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, which obtained the documents under freedom of information laws.