2008 Woodie Awards
Senate vote limits detainees' rights
Military Commissions Act allows government to deny habeas corpus petitions to non-residents and combatants
By: Rachel Lebo
Issue date: 10/5/06 Section: Opinion/Editorial
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The war on terror is sacrificing more than human lives. Privacy, principles and civil rights are being scrutinized and changed in such a way that they may as well not exist. There is no clear end to the war on terror. The Bush administration is slowly extending the powers of the executive branch above the system of checks and balances and is making the authority of this president and future presidents limitless.
The U.S. Senate has recently approved the Military Commissions Act of 2006. A section in this act allows the government to deny habeas corpus petitions to detainees, non-U.S. citizens and people determined to be unlawful enemy combatants to the United States post Sept. 11, 2001.
The Bush administration argues the U.S. faces an unprecedented threat in fighting the war against terror. For that reason we need to give the administration unlimited power, including the right to suspend habeas corpus.
The Military Commissions Act states that habeas corpus is denied to foreigners and "unlawful combatants," which is an indistinct classification the Bush administration reserves the right to define on a case-by-case basis.
Any person could be detained and held for any amount of time if he or she fits the definition of being an enemy combatant to the United States and would not be able to fight the legality of the imprisonment.
The suspension of the writ is not a new argument, though. In 2004, the Supreme Court rejected the Bush administration's position that detainees at the U.S. facility at Guantánamo Bay were not entitled to file habeas corpus petitions.
Guantánamo Bay detainment camp is a joint military prison and interrogation center under the leadership of Joint Task Force Guantánamo. The prison holds people suspected of being Al-Qaeda and Taliban operatives, along with some people no longer considered suspects who are being held pending relocation.
Although the allowance of the writ was upheld in 2004, the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 suspended habeas corpus petitions for Guantánamo Bay prisoners in 2005. The Military Commissions Act of 2006 extends power of such suspensions outside of Guantánamo Bay prisoners to any person captured under the definition of unlawful combatant.
The U.S. Senate has recently approved the Military Commissions Act of 2006. A section in this act allows the government to deny habeas corpus petitions to detainees, non-U.S. citizens and people determined to be unlawful enemy combatants to the United States post Sept. 11, 2001.
The Bush administration argues the U.S. faces an unprecedented threat in fighting the war against terror. For that reason we need to give the administration unlimited power, including the right to suspend habeas corpus.
The Military Commissions Act states that habeas corpus is denied to foreigners and "unlawful combatants," which is an indistinct classification the Bush administration reserves the right to define on a case-by-case basis.
Any person could be detained and held for any amount of time if he or she fits the definition of being an enemy combatant to the United States and would not be able to fight the legality of the imprisonment.
The suspension of the writ is not a new argument, though. In 2004, the Supreme Court rejected the Bush administration's position that detainees at the U.S. facility at Guantánamo Bay were not entitled to file habeas corpus petitions.
Guantánamo Bay detainment camp is a joint military prison and interrogation center under the leadership of Joint Task Force Guantánamo. The prison holds people suspected of being Al-Qaeda and Taliban operatives, along with some people no longer considered suspects who are being held pending relocation.
Although the allowance of the writ was upheld in 2004, the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 suspended habeas corpus petitions for Guantánamo Bay prisoners in 2005. The Military Commissions Act of 2006 extends power of such suspensions outside of Guantánamo Bay prisoners to any person captured under the definition of unlawful combatant.
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