WASHINGTON ( CNN ) -- The Bush administration told the CIA in 2002 that its interrogators working abroad would not violate U.S. prohibitions against torture unless they `` have the specific intent to inflict severe pain or suffering , '' according to a previously secret Justice Department memo released Thursday . Former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft testifies before Congress July 17 about waterboarding . The interrogator 's `` good faith '' and `` honest belief '' that the interrogation will not cause such suffering protects the interrogator , the memo adds . `` Because specific intent is an element of the offense , the absence of specific intent negates the charge of torture , '' Jay Bybee , then the assistant attorney general , wrote in the memo . The 18-page memo is heavily redacted , with 10 of its 18 pages completely blacked out and only a few paragraphs legible on the others . Another memo released Thursday advises that `` the waterboard , '' or simulated drowning , does `` not violate the Torture Statute . '' It also cites a number of warnings against torture , including statements by President Bush and a then-new Supreme Court ruling `` which raises possible concerns about future U.S. judicial review of the [ interrogation ] Program . '' A third memo instructs interrogators to keep records of sessions in which `` enhanced interrogation techniques '' are used . The memo is signed by then-CIA director George Tenet and dated January 28 , 2003 . The memos were made public by the American Civil Liberties Union , which obtained the three CIA-related documents under Freedom of Information Act requests . `` These documents supply further evidence , if any were needed , that the Justice Department authorized the CIA to torture prisoners in its custody , '' said Jameel Jaffer , director of the ACLU National Security Project . The Bush administration has consistently denied that the United States tortures detainees . Reports say the CIA waterboarded three `` high-value detainees , '' including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed , although former Justice Department official Daniel Levin suggested in congressional testimony in June that there had been more than three instances of the practice , which critics call torture . The third document released Thursday was blacked out except for a line saying `` Unless otherwise approved by Headquarters , CIA officers ( redacted ) may use only Permissible Interrogation Techniques . Permissible Interrogation Techniques consist of both ( a ) Standard Techniques and ( b ) Enhanced Techniques , '' plus the instruction for interrogators to keep records of sessions in which enhanced interrogation techniques are used .
Previously secret Justice Department memo released Thursday . 18-page memo heavily redacted ; 10 of 18 pages blacked out . Comment: DOJ authorized the CIA to torture prisoners , says ACLU official .