On Capitol Hill, the Senate Judiciary committee opened hearings Tuesday on the legal rights of Guantanamo prisoners.
- Republican Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter: “We are now proceeding to follow the requirements of constitutional and international law as handed down by the Supreme Court of the United States and to do it in a way which will permit us to fairly try those accused of war crimes.”
The hearings come as a response to last month’s Supreme Court ruling against the Bush administration’s forming of military tribunals to try prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. The court said the tribunals violated both the Uniform Code of Military Justice and the Geneva Convention. The court ruled that the Geneva Conventions must apply to detainees captured in the war on terror. The hearings came one day after the Pentagon announced it would grant prisoners minimal rights under the Geneva Conventions. White House legal advisor Stephen Bradbury defended the White House position.
- White House Legal Adviser Stephen Bradbury: “The administration will of course as the President has said abide by the decision of the court. It is important to point out however, the court did not question the authority of the United States to detain enemy combatants in the war on terror and its decision does not require us to close Gitmo or release any terrorists. The court implicitly recognized that the vicious attacks of Al Qaeda triggered our right to use military force in self-defense and that we are involved in an armed conflict with Al Qaeda.”
Meanwhile, Senator Patrick Leahy criticized the Bush administration’s conduct in the so-called war on terror.
- Vermont Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy: “For years the administration violated fundamental American values, damaged our international reputation and delayed and weakened prosecution of the war on terror. Not because of any coherent and strategic view they had, but because of stubborn unilateralism and dangerous theory of unfettered executive power augmented by self-serving legal reasoning. Guantanamo bay has been such a debacle that even the President now says it should be shut down.”
The Judiciary Committee is one of at least three Congressional panels taking up the issue. The Senate Armed Services Committee will hold a hearing on Thursday.