US Reverses Policy on Military Detainees

[Dardedar]

US Reverses Policy on Military Detainees
By Demetri Sevastopulo
The Financial Times

Tuesday 11 July 2006

The Pentagon has decided in a major policy shift that all detainees held in US military custody around the world are entitled to protections under the Geneva Conventions, according to two people familiar with the move.

The FT has learned that Gordon England, deputy defence secretary, sent a memo to senior defence officials and military officers last Friday, telling them that Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions - which prohibits inhumane treatment of prisoners and requires certain basic legal rights at trial - would apply to all detainees held in US military custody.

This reverses the policy outlined by President George W. Bush in 2002 when he decided members of al-Qaeda and the Taliban did not qualify for Geneva protections because the war on terrorism had ushered in a "new paradigm...[that] requires new thinking in the law of war".

The policy U-turn comes on the heels of the Supreme Court ruling last month that the military commissions Mr Bush created to try prisoners at Guantanamo Bay contravened both US law and the Geneva Conventions.

The White House had argued that Mr Bush, as commander-in-chief, had the authority to convene the military commissions. Critics who rejected this interpretation said the commissions were unjust because, for instance, defendants were unable to see all the evidence levelled against them.

In a stunning rebuke of Mr Bush, the Supreme Court ruled 5-3 that his administration had overshot its authority in constituting the controversial commissions, concluding that they did not offer defendants sufficient legal rights.

The court also suggested that the administration work with Congress to reach a solution that would address the problems, including the introduction of evidence.

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The Rest

[Barbara Fitzpatrick]

Now let's see how long it takes for them to actually be released.

[Guest]

Oh they are not going to release them. And let's just see how this plays regarding CIA detainees and those secret prisons. This Admin has constantly pulled new legal rabbits out of hats to expand its powers. No doubt it will continue to do so. This is a big victory for decency and "the rule of law" those conservatives like to pretend to believe in....but just one.

[Barbara Fitzpatrick]

Of course, if W & co keep breaking these laws that the Courts keep affirming, they could quite possibly be taken to court once they are out of office. I don't hold my breath - even less for them being prosecuted while in office - but the possibility is there. W could have a first - first president imprisoned for breaking constitutional laws!