The ICJ applauds the decision to “conduct a preliminary review into whether US laws were violated in connection with the interrogation of specific detainees at overseas locations.”
USA-Broader mandate for prosecutor essential-Press release-2009 (full text, PDF)
The ICJ is alarmed by the plans of the Obama administration to regularize the indefinite detention without trial that has been emblematic of the worst US abuses in its counter terrorism programs since 11 September 2001.
USA-President signals continuation of detention without trial-Press releases-2009 (full text, PDF)
“Reviving Military Commissions is a setback for the rule of law. It will entrench a fundamentally flawed system with some amendments and set a terrible precedent to the rest of the world.”
“We need a clear break with the past and the laws and policies grounded in the ill-conceived concept of a ‘war on terror’,” said Wilder Tayler, Acting ICJ Secretary General.
The comment comes as the US administration announced that it would revive the suspended military commission system to try certain detainees presently held in Guantánamo Bay.
According to this information the administration will introduce amendments to the Military Commission Act (MCA) 2006 increasing legal protections, including the prohibition of evidence obtained by torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and the introduction of greater choice of legal counsel.
United States-Reinstituting military commission wrong way out-Press releases-2009 (full text, PDF)
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