Detainees

Part I of the Committee’s Inquiry into the Treatment of Detainees in U.S. Custody

June 17, 2008 -- Today’s hearing will focus on the origins of aggressive interrogation techniques used against detainees in U.S. custody. We have three panels of witnesses today and I want to thank them for their willingness to voluntarily appear before the Committee.

Intelligence saves lives. Knowing where an insurgent has buried an IED can keep a vehicle carrying Marines in Iraq from being blown up. Knowing that an al Qaeda associate visited an internet café in Kabul could be the key piece of information that unravels a terrorist plot targeting our embassy. Intelligence saves lives.    » read more »

June 12, 2008 -- WASHINGTON, DC— Anthony Coley, spokesman for Senator Edward M. Kennedy, today issued the following statement on the Supreme Court’s decision in Boumediene v. Bush.

“When Congress passed the Military Commissions Act in 2006, Senator Kennedy called the Act ‘fatally flawed’ and said ‘its evisceration of the writ of habeas corpus for all non-citizens is almost surely unconstitutional.’ Today, the Supreme Court agreed, and rejected the Bush Administration’s blatant attempt to create a legal black hole beyond the reach of the rule of law.”    » read more »

Jerusalem / Tel Aviv (ICRC) – The Israeli authorities must take immediate measures to allow Palestinian families from Gaza to resume visits to their relatives detained in Israel, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said today.

The family visits organized by the ICRC since 1967 had to be suspended on 6 June 2007 following a decision by the Israeli authorities. As a result, the parents, wives, husbands, sisters, brothers and children of more than 900 detainees have been deprived of direct contact with their detained relatives for almost one year. Detainees depend on these visits not only for psychological support but also for material assistance such as clothes and blankets.    » read more »

21 May 2008 -- The United States has defended its policy of detaining juveniles in prisons in Iraq, and Afghanistan. The issue is expected to be high on the agenda Thursday when the U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child examines U.S. compliance with U.N. rules on dealing with children in armed conflict.

In a report submitted to the U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child, the United States acknowledges it has detained almost 2,500 youths under the age of 18 since 2002. Almost all have been detained in Iraq under President Bush's anti-terrorism campaign.

Washington says it is holding more than 500 juveniles suspected of being "unlawful enemy combatants" in detention centers in Iraq. Another 10 are being held at the U.S. base at Bagram, Afghanistan.    » read more »

Jan 25, 2008 -- Army officials in Europe are cooperating fully with a U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command investigation into alleged misconduct by members of a Europe-based 1st Infantry Division unit involving detainees during a recent deployment to Iraq.

The allegations involve the deaths of several detainees who were captured as part of combat operations last year, 2007, by members of 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division while assigned to Multi-National Corps Iraq. Preliminary findings indicate the deceased detainees were not persons detained in a detention facility.    » read more »