Army to Use Geneva Rules for Detainees
I think the thugs in the White House are about 4 years to late, in dealing with their adherence to the protections of the Geneva Convention, in their unalateral war and occupation of Iraq and Afganistan, and the war crimes which they committed with impunity
Hmmm...how very 'quaint'.
Army to Use Geneva Rules for Detainees
New manual eliminates secret tactics and separate standards for questioning captives.
By Julian E. Barnes, Times Staff Writer
September 6, 2006
WASHINGTON — Bowing to critics of its tough interrogation policies, the Pentagon is issuing a new Army field manual that provides Geneva Convention protections for all detainees and eliminates a secret list of interrogation tactics.
The manual, set for release today, also reverses an earlier decision to maintain two interrogation standards — one for traditional prisoners of war and another for "unlawful combatants" captured during a conflict but not affiliated with a nation's military force. It will ban the use of such controversial methods as forcing prisoners to endure long periods of solitary confinement, using military dogs to threaten prisoners, putting hoods over inmates' heads and strapping detainees to boards and dunking them in water to simulate drowning, defense officials said.
The manual and its related policy directives — the legal framework for interrogations — originally were to be released in the spring. But when State Department officials and Republican senators on the Armed Services Committee raised objections, they were pulled back.
The Pentagon's decision to drop the objectionable provisions appears to mark a victory for advocates of closer U.S. adherence to the protections of the Geneva Convention, an international agreement on the treatment of prisoners and others during wartime. Human rights groups said they planned to study the manual carefully to see what parts of the international treaty it included and what it left out.
"If the new field manual embraces the Geneva Convention, it is an important return to the rule of law," said Jumana Musa, an advocacy director for Amnesty International. "It is an important public statement."
Under the new guidelines, prisoners of war — defined as members of uniformed militaries captured on a battlefield — may receive certain extra considerations as mandated by the Geneva Convention, such as being allowed to retain their personal effects and to refuse to answer detailed questions. But ceding to congressional demands, the manual establishes a single baseline standard of care and treatment for all detainees, regardless of their status.
The manual's guidelines will apply to all prisoners held in Defense Department facilities and to all interrogators working there. Under the McCain amendment, the protections also will apply to CIA prisoners held in Defense Department prisons or bases.
They will not apply to CIA interrogators working in prisons run by other countries, although under the McCain amendment, those prisoners must be treated humanely and cannot be tortured.
Link here
Hmmm...how very 'quaint'.Army to Use Geneva Rules for Detainees
New manual eliminates secret tactics and separate standards for questioning captives.
By Julian E. Barnes, Times Staff Writer
September 6, 2006
WASHINGTON — Bowing to critics of its tough interrogation policies, the Pentagon is issuing a new Army field manual that provides Geneva Convention protections for all detainees and eliminates a secret list of interrogation tactics.
The manual, set for release today, also reverses an earlier decision to maintain two interrogation standards — one for traditional prisoners of war and another for "unlawful combatants" captured during a conflict but not affiliated with a nation's military force. It will ban the use of such controversial methods as forcing prisoners to endure long periods of solitary confinement, using military dogs to threaten prisoners, putting hoods over inmates' heads and strapping detainees to boards and dunking them in water to simulate drowning, defense officials said.
The manual and its related policy directives — the legal framework for interrogations — originally were to be released in the spring. But when State Department officials and Republican senators on the Armed Services Committee raised objections, they were pulled back.
The Pentagon's decision to drop the objectionable provisions appears to mark a victory for advocates of closer U.S. adherence to the protections of the Geneva Convention, an international agreement on the treatment of prisoners and others during wartime. Human rights groups said they planned to study the manual carefully to see what parts of the international treaty it included and what it left out.
"If the new field manual embraces the Geneva Convention, it is an important return to the rule of law," said Jumana Musa, an advocacy director for Amnesty International. "It is an important public statement."
Under the new guidelines, prisoners of war — defined as members of uniformed militaries captured on a battlefield — may receive certain extra considerations as mandated by the Geneva Convention, such as being allowed to retain their personal effects and to refuse to answer detailed questions. But ceding to congressional demands, the manual establishes a single baseline standard of care and treatment for all detainees, regardless of their status.
The manual's guidelines will apply to all prisoners held in Defense Department facilities and to all interrogators working there. Under the McCain amendment, the protections also will apply to CIA prisoners held in Defense Department prisons or bases.
They will not apply to CIA interrogators working in prisons run by other countries, although under the McCain amendment, those prisoners must be treated humanely and cannot be tortured.
Link here
posted by Kangaroo Brisbane Australia at 5:56 PM
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