Executive Order 13440 is an

executive order In the United States, an executive order is a directive by the president of the United States that manages operations of the federal government. The legal or constitutional basis for executive orders has multiple sources. Article Two of t ...

issued by

United States President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...

George W. Bush on July 20, 2007, ordering limited compliance with the

Geneva Conventions upright=1.15, Original document in single pages, 1864 The Geneva Conventions are four treaties, and three additional protocols, that establish international legal standards for humanitarian treatment in war. The singular term ''Geneva Conv ...

in the treatment of captives held in extrajudicial detention by the

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

. The full title of the order is: ''Executive Order 13440 – Interpretation of the Geneva Conventions Common Article 3 as Applied to a Program of Detention and Interrogation Operated by the Central Intelligence Agency''. On January 22, 2009, President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

issued

Executive Order 13493 Executive Order 13493 is an Executive Order issued by United States President Barack Obama ordering the identification of lawful alternatives to the detention of captives in the Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba. The full title of the ord ...

, which rescinded Executive Order 13440.

Reason

The opening statements of the order gives insight on the reason the order was created. Bush explains that Al Qaeda and Taliban are unlawful enemies that cause terror to the America and her allies, thus they are not entitled to the prisoner of war protections provided by the Third Geneva Conventions. He then again gives reasoning for this decision on July 21, 2007, the day after the order was issued, when Bush gave a radio address to explain the reasoning for this order. Bush states that ever since 9/11 the United States have taken many steps to keep the people safe. He also says that the terrorists group Al Qaeda, is becoming an evolving terrorist threat according to the "Terrorist Threat to the US Homeland" assessment, a summary made by the Director of National Intelligence. The order does not include torture, murder, sexual violence, inhumane treatment, and they also had to have their basic needs of living while in detention facilities. This only applies to detainees part of Al Qaeda, Taliban, and any one who could give information to help find leaders or important figures in the terrorist group. This order in general was created to obtain information from terrorists groups to protect the America and people.

References

Executive orders of George W. Bush {{US-gov-stub