The September 11 Commission on Common Article 3

by Katherine

(4th in a series. Previous posts: 1, 2, 3)

In response to the arguments that it is simply unsafe to abide by Common Article 3 in the war on terror: this is from page 380 of the September 11 Commission report:

Recommendation: The United States should engage its friends to develop a common coalition approach toward the detention and humane treatment of captured terrorists. New principles might draw upon Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions on the law of armed conflict. That article was specifically designed for those cases in which the usual laws of war did not apply. Its minimum standards are generally accepted throughout the world as customary international law.

(ht: Marty Lederman.)

Comments

[linker]

Thanks, Katherine.

OT--Greg Djerijian has finally come back to life and posted some good stuff at Belgravia Dispatch. Good, but not happy.

[matttbastard]

Financial Times:

The White House confirmed on Tuesday that the Pentagon had decided, in a major policy shift, that all detainees held in US military custody around the world are entitled to protection under the Geneva Conventions.

The FT has learned that Gordon England, deputy defence secretary, sent a memo to senior defence officials and military officers last Friday, telling them that Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions – which prohibits inhumane treatment of prisoners and requires certain basic legal rights at trial – would apply to all detainees held in US military custody.

This reverses the policy outlined by President George W. Bush in 2002 when he decided members of al-Qaeda and the Taliban did not qualify for Geneva protections because the war on terrorism had ushered in a “new paradigm…[that] requires new thinking in the law of war”.

[hilzoy]

matttbastard: funny, I was just going to write about that...

[matttbastard]

More from FT - So-called 'black site' detention facilities run by the CIA aren't covered by the Pentagon memo:

While the Pentagon order applies to all detainees held by the US military, it does not apply to prisoners held outside the military detention system, such as Khaled Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the September 11 attacks who is being held in a secret Central Intelligence Agency prison. But the Pentagon move could increase pressure on the administration to re-examine CIA detention policies and practices.

[matttbastard]

Hilzoy: 'great minds...' and all that (ok, so placing my meager, layman's intellect in your [Ivy]league is a bit of a stretch:-P)