Throw Checks & Balances Out the Window ¶ Guantanamo Bay, Cuba

Senate Votes :: No Terror Suspects in Courts

WASHINGTON Oct. 10, 2005 — The Senate voted Thursday evening to bar foreign terror suspects at the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, from filing lawsuits in American courts to challenge their detentions, despite a Supreme Court ruling last year that granted such access.

In a 49-42 vote, senators added the provision by Sen. Lindsey Graham, (R-SC) former JAG lawyer, to a sweeping defense policy bill.

 

Under the provision, Guantanamo Bay detainees would be allowed to appeal their status as an “enemy combatant” one time, to the Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C. But they would not be able to file petitions known as writs of habeas corpus, which are used to fight unlawful detentions, in that or any other U.S. court.

“For 200 years, ladies and gentlemen, in the law of armed conflict, no nation has given an enemy combatant, a terrorist, an al-Qaida member the ability to go into every federal court in this United States and sue the people that are fighting the war for us,” Graham told his colleagues.

Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), said the provision was a major mistake and deserved scrutiny. “It’s contrary to the way the court decisions have come down already. It is an extraordinary step for this Congress to be taking,” he said.

Democrats indicated they may try to kill or change the provision before the Senate votes on the overall bill next week. Five Democrats sided with 44 Republicans in voting for the provision.

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In a separate war matter, the Senate voted 82-9 to require National Intelligence Director John Negroponte to provide the Senate and House intelligence committees with details of any clandestine facilities where the United States holds or has held terrorism suspects.

The major provisions of the Graham amendment include:

• The Combatant Status Review Tribunal (CSRT), established by the president, would become statutory law. The tribunal determines the status of whether a detainee is an unlawful enemy combatant.
• The Annual Review Board (ARB), also established by the president, would become statutory law. The ARB reviews the combatant’s status on an annual basis to determine if the individual is an enemy combatant, still holds intelligence value and/or, still presents a threat to the United States. Graham modifies current procedure by allowing an enemy combatant to have a military lawyer present when appearing before the ARB. They currently have a military representative present.
• The president is also given flexibility to update CSRT and ARB procedures by giving Congress 30 days notice.

“My goal is to legitimize the actions our nation is taking at Gitmo and keep enemy combatants off the battlefield as long as possible.”

Materials On Torture and Other Ill-Treatment

– page 73 –

c.  Federal jurisdiction in civil suits for torture

U.S. Torture Victim Protection Act of 1991, Pub. L. 102-256, 106 Stat. 73, 28 U.S.C. §1350.  The TVPA and ATCA (28 U.S. §1350) open U.S. courts to suits for civil damages against individuals who, under actual or apparent authority or color of law subject an individual to torture or to extrajudicial killing.

© 2005 David Weissbrodt, University of Minnesota Law School

ACTION:

Send your message to the five dissident Democrats in Congress ::

Conrad (D-ND), Yea
Corzine (D-NJ), Not Voting
Inouye (D-HI), Not Voting
Landrieu (D-LA), Yea
Lieberman (D-CT), Yea
Nelson (D-NE), Yea
Wyden (D-OR), Yea

Email address: Shawn_Ferguson@conrad.senate.gov; senator@inouye.senate.gov; senator@landrieu.senate.gov;
Phone: Lieberman 202-224-4041 Voice or 202-224-9750 Fax; Nelson 202-224-5274 Voice or 202-228-2183 Fax; Wyden 202-224-5244 Voice;

Republicans (4) plus Jeffords (Independent) opposing amendment:

Chafee (R-RI), Nay
Jeffords (I-VT), Nay
Smith (R-OR), Nay
Specter (R-PA), Nay
Sununu (R-NH), Nay

Louisiana and the Netherlands Stand Together
to Build Stronger Storm and Flood Protection
Senator Landrieu and Dutch Ambassador announce trips to the Netherlands and New Orleans.  

Human-rights Groups Turn up Pressure for Prisoner Abuse Amendments

Human-rights groups and retired top U.S. military officials are ramping up their efforts to pass legislation on the treatment of military detainees as Senate leaders are still working to avoid a showdown on the issue.

But even though the Bush administration has threatened to veto the 2006 defense authorization and appropriations bills if they contain amendments on the treatment of detainees, some human-rights activists expressed confidence that those amendments will pass with strong Republican support once they receive floor time.

At the core of the debate are two amendments that Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), a senior member of the Armed Services Committee, added to the defense authorization bill. They call for making the Army Field Manual on Interrogation the standard for interrogating all detainees and for curbing the use of torture and inhumane treatment of detainees.

The effort to curtail abuse of U.S. military detainees got a boost last week when an Army officer, Capt. Ian Fishback, told Human Rights Watch that soldiers systematically abused detainees at a base called Mercury near the Iraqi city of Fallujah.

Military Leaders Back McCain – Letter

This letter, from 28 distinguished retired military leaders, was posted on Sen. John McCain’s website, dated Oct. 3, 2005.