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Strict Adherence to the Geneva Conventions
Justice at Guantanamo
Editorial
Philadelphia Inquirer
July 12, 2006
Remember back when the Bush administration concluded that the war on terror "renders obsolete" the Geneva Conventions and their "strict limitations on questioning of enemy prisoners and renders quaint some" provisions?
Well, what once was quaint ain't.
In a stunning reversal of its policies for treating detainees at the Guantanamo, Cuba, prison and other jails abroad holding terror suspects, the administration yesterday finally came around to the right policy, albeit late.
The Pentagon said U.S. military personnel will from now on safeguard detainees under the Geneva protections for prisoners of war. That means formerly "quaint" stuff, like minimum standards of treatment, will be applied without exception.
No longer allowed, presumably: smacking prisoners around, subjecting them to cruel treatment, torture or the "outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment," all banned by the Geneva accords.
Until now, President Bush had pledged to adhere to those standards - but only voluntarily. His contention since 9/11 was that he had the power to designate terrorism captives as "enemy combatants" with few legal rights. This applied to hundreds of foreign nationals captured in Afghanistan, and even to select American citizens.
Trouble was, the pledge of humane treatment didn't square with images the world saw of Guantanamo prisoners shackled and caged.
As for the Geneva Conventions' requirement that prisoners be afforded "the judicial guarantees which are recognized as indispensable by civilized peoples," the U.S. Supreme Court has, in effect, said that provision was not being met by the Bush administration.
It appears that the Pentagon announcement yesterday is a response to that high court ruling. The 5-3 decision on June 29 nullified Guantanamo military tribunals, where the odds were stacked against the accused. The court said such tribunals violated both U.S. military law and the Geneva accords.
Kudos to Bush for commanding the Pentagon's forceful restatement of American fealty to humane detentions. For nearly five years, the administration had refused to heed compelling warnings from legal and military experts that U.S. failure to meet the highest standards for treating prisoners endangered American fighting men and women. Should they ever be captured, they might be treated with similar cruelty.
Abiding by the Geneva Conventions is a good first response to the court's rejection of the administration's approach to detainee trials. Now the critical question before the White House is how it plans to try terrorism detainees in ways that meet America's core values.
Congress this week began wrestling with recasting the military tribunals with better legal protections, while acknowledging the need for secrecy in some trials. It's best not to reinvent the wheel, though: The closer the tribunals correspond to proceedings in federal court or military courts-martial, the better.
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