Pentagon bows to pressure on Guantanamo

For all the new emphasis on Geneva protections, the memo did not expressly revoke Bush’s directive in February 2002 that “common Article 3 of Geneva does not apply to either al-Qaida or Taliban detainees.”

Instead, it noted that the Supreme Court has determined Article 3 “applies as a matter of law to the conflict with al-Qaida,” and said existing standards and procedures, except for the military commissions, already should be in compliance the article.

More legislation wanted
Administration officials testifying to the Senate Judiciary Committee asked for legislation to codify tribunal procedures so they can pass constitutional muster and still give the U.S. flexibility to deal with an unconventional foe.

“We would like to see Congress act quickly to establish a solid statutory basis for the military commission process, so that trials of captured al-Qaida terrorists can move forward again,” Bradbury said. “The United States may continue to detain the terrorists we have captured. But as of right now, we cannot effectively punish those who have committed war crimes. That is unacceptable.”

Senators were told that some 1,000 suspected terrorists are in U.S. detention around the world, including about 450 at Guantanamo. Prisoners from the Iraq war are already dealt with under the Geneva Conventions.

Administration officials cautioned against adopting a version of the military court-martial to try suspected terrorists, saying that system is in some ways more open and generous to defendants than even the civilian code. Interrogations could be deterred, for example, if terrorists were granted the court-martial right to avoid speaking until represented by counsel.

Republican Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, the committee chairman, opened the hearing by saying, “We’re not going to give the Department of Defense a blank check.”

Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the committee’s top Democrat, said “kangaroo court procedures” must be changed and any military commissions “should not be set up as a sham. They should be consistent with a high standard of American justice, worth protecting.”

International criticism for the camp
Guantanamo has been a flashpoint for both U.S. and international debate over the treatment of detainees without trial and over allegations of torture, denied by U.S. officials. Even U.S. allies have criticized the facility and process.

The camp came under worldwide condemnation after it opened more than four years ago, when pictures showed prisoners kneeling, shackled and being herded into wire cages. It intensified with reports of heavy-handed interrogations, hunger strikes and suicides.

Snow insisted that all U.S. detainees have been treated humanely. Still, he said, “We want to get it right.”

Jumana Musa, advocacy director for Amnesty International USA, said the effect of the new policy on prisoner treatment is unclear, because questionable tactics have been employed despite existing requirements for humane treatment.

“This could change nothing except for the fact that it is an admission for the first time that any law applies to al-Qaida detainees,” she said. “The issue here is really one of interpretation — and we’ve seen how they’ve interpreted torture.”

The Financial Times reported the new memo before its release.

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