US President Barack Obama says CIA agents who used harsh interrogation techniques on terrorism suspects during the Bush era will not be prosecuted¹.

美国总统奥巴马称布什时期在对待恐怖行动中使用严厉审讯手段的CIA员工将不会收到起诉。

Critics say the methods approved in the memos³ amount to torture

Mr Obama banned the use of methods such as sleep deprivation⁴ and simulated（伪装的，模仿的） drowning in his first week in office.

He has now released four memos detailing techniques the CIA was able to use under the Bush administration.

Rights groups have criticised his decision to protect CIA agents involved in the interrogation（审问） procedures.

Amnesty International said the Department of Justice appeared to be offering a "get-out-of-jail-free card" to individuals who were involved in acts of torture.

The Centre for Constitutional Rights, which has championed the legal rights of the "war on terror" detainees（被拘留者）, also expressed its disappointment.

"It is one of the deepest disappointments of this administration that it appears unwilling⁵ to uphold the law where crimes have been committed by former officials," it said in a statement.

Harsh techniques

On Thursday, the Obama administration published four secret memos detailing legal justification⁶ for the Bush-era CIA interrogation programme, whose methods critics say amounted to torture.

Announcing the publication of the memos, Mr Obama gave an assurance that "those who carried out their duties relying in good faith upon legal advice from the Department of Justice... will not be subject to prosecution⁷".

One of the documents contained legal authorisation for a list of specific harsh interrogation techniques, including pushing detainees against a wall, facial slaps, cramped⁸（狭促的，难懂的） confinement⁹（封闭，密封）, stress positions and sleep deprivation.

The memo² also authorises the use of "waterboarding", or simulated drowning, and the placing of a detainee into a confined space with an insect.

Critics of the Bush administration's interrogation programme say the memos provide evidence that many of the methods amount to torture under US and international law.

During his first week in office, President Obama issued an executive order officially outlawing¹⁰ the use of harsh interrogation techniques by the CIA, and forcing the agency to adhere（坚持，依附） to standards laid out in the US Army Field Manual.

The release of the memos stems（堵住，阻止） from a request by civil rights group the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).