Hearsay, Coerced Testimony Allowed in Prosecutions
Manual Gives Wide Leeway for Detainee Trials
The Defense Department has drafted a manual for trying detainees at the Guantanamo, Cuba, jail that would allow terror suspects to be imprisoned, convicted and executed on the basis of hearsay evidence or coerced testimony.
According to a copy of the manual obtained by The Associated Press, a terror suspect's defense lawyer cannot reveal classified evidence in their defense until the government has had a chance to review it.
The manual , sent to Congress on Thursday and scheduled to be released later by the Pentagon, is intended to track a law passed last fall in which lawmakers restored President George W. Bush 's plans to have special military commissions try terror suspects. Those commissions had been struck down earlier in the year by the Supreme Court .
The Pentagon manual could spark a fresh confrontation between the Bush administration and Congress, now led by Democrats, over the treatment of terror suspects.
Last September, Congress, then led by Republicans, sent Bush a bill granting wide latitude in interrogation and detention of alleged enemy combatants. The legislation also prohibited abuses such as mutilation and rape but granted the president leeway to decide which other interrogation techniques are permissible.
Passage of the bill, which was backed by the White House, followed more than three months of debate that included angry rebukes by Democrats of the administration's interrogation policies and a short-lived rebellion by some Republican senators.
The Detainee Treatment Act, separate legislation championed in 2005 by Republican Sen. John McCain , prohibited the use of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of prisoners held by either the military or the CIA. It was approved overwhelmingly by Congress despite a veto threat by Bush, who eventually signed it into law.
The Pentagon manual is aimed at ensuring that enemy combatants, the Bush administration's term for many of the terror suspects held at Guantanamo, "are prosecuted before regularly constituted courts affording all the judicial guarantees which are recognized by civilized people," according to the document.
As required by law, the manual prohibits statements obtained by torture and "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment" as prohibited by the Constitution.
However, the law does allow statements obtained through coercive interrogation techniques if obtained before Dec. 30, 2005, and deemed reliable by a judge.
Almost 400 detainees suspected of having links to the al-Qaida network or the Taliban militia that once ruled Afghanistan still are held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo, which former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said was built to hold "the worst of the worst" terrorists; about 380 have been transferred or released. The Defense Department currently is planning trials for at least 10 suspects.
Democrats have said they would like to reconsider detainee legislation to deal with the possibility that the bill gives the president too much latitude to interpret standards set by the Geneva Conventions on prisoner treatment. They say the current law might deny detainees legal rights.
Democratic Rep. Ike Skelton, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said he planned to scrutinize the manual to ensure that it does not "run afoul" of the Constitution.
"I have not yet seen evidence that the process by which these rules were built or their substance addresses all the questions left open by the legislation. This committee will fulfill its oversight responsibility to make sure this is the case," Skelton said in a written statement.
Republican Sen. Arlen Specter and some Democrats have said the legislation will be shot down by the courts as unconstitutional because it bars detainees from protesting their detentions. Under the law, only individuals selected for military trial are given access to a lawyer and judge; other military detainees can be held until hostilities cease.
WASHINGTON (Jan. 18)
By ANNE FLAHERTY
AP
http://news.aol.com/topnews/articles/_a/manual-gives-wide-leeway-for-detainee/20070118133309990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001
The Defense Department has drafted a manual for trying detainees at the Guantanamo, Cuba, jail that would allow terror suspects to be imprisoned, convicted and executed on the basis of hearsay evidence or coerced testimony.
According to a copy of the manual obtained by The Associated Press, a terror suspect's defense lawyer cannot reveal classified evidence in their defense until the government has had a chance to review it.
The manual , sent to Congress on Thursday and scheduled to be released later by the Pentagon, is intended to track a law passed last fall in which lawmakers restored President George W. Bush 's plans to have special military commissions try terror suspects. Those commissions had been struck down earlier in the year by the Supreme Court .
The Pentagon manual could spark a fresh confrontation between the Bush administration and Congress, now led by Democrats, over the treatment of terror suspects.
Last September, Congress, then led by Republicans, sent Bush a bill granting wide latitude in interrogation and detention of alleged enemy combatants. The legislation also prohibited abuses such as mutilation and rape but granted the president leeway to decide which other interrogation techniques are permissible.
Passage of the bill, which was backed by the White House, followed more than three months of debate that included angry rebukes by Democrats of the administration's interrogation policies and a short-lived rebellion by some Republican senators.
The Detainee Treatment Act, separate legislation championed in 2005 by Republican Sen. John McCain , prohibited the use of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of prisoners held by either the military or the CIA. It was approved overwhelmingly by Congress despite a veto threat by Bush, who eventually signed it into law.
The Pentagon manual is aimed at ensuring that enemy combatants, the Bush administration's term for many of the terror suspects held at Guantanamo, "are prosecuted before regularly constituted courts affording all the judicial guarantees which are recognized by civilized people," according to the document.
As required by law, the manual prohibits statements obtained by torture and "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment" as prohibited by the Constitution.
However, the law does allow statements obtained through coercive interrogation techniques if obtained before Dec. 30, 2005, and deemed reliable by a judge.
Almost 400 detainees suspected of having links to the al-Qaida network or the Taliban militia that once ruled Afghanistan still are held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo, which former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said was built to hold "the worst of the worst" terrorists; about 380 have been transferred or released. The Defense Department currently is planning trials for at least 10 suspects.
Democrats have said they would like to reconsider detainee legislation to deal with the possibility that the bill gives the president too much latitude to interpret standards set by the Geneva Conventions on prisoner treatment. They say the current law might deny detainees legal rights.
Democratic Rep. Ike Skelton, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said he planned to scrutinize the manual to ensure that it does not "run afoul" of the Constitution.
"I have not yet seen evidence that the process by which these rules were built or their substance addresses all the questions left open by the legislation. This committee will fulfill its oversight responsibility to make sure this is the case," Skelton said in a written statement.
Republican Sen. Arlen Specter and some Democrats have said the legislation will be shot down by the courts as unconstitutional because it bars detainees from protesting their detentions. Under the law, only individuals selected for military trial are given access to a lawyer and judge; other military detainees can be held until hostilities cease.
WASHINGTON (Jan. 18)
By ANNE FLAHERTY
AP
http://news.aol.com/topnews/articles/_a/manual-gives-wide-leeway-for-detainee/20070118133309990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001
posted by R7 at 4:49 AM
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