Congressional Action: Ban on Torture

Congressional supporters of a ban on torture of prisoners of war by U.S. interrogators threatened "to include the prohibition in nearly every bill the Senate considers until it becomes law," the Toledo Blade reported November 5, 2005.

On December 16, 2005, President George W. Bush and Senator John McCain (R-Arizona) agreed on compromise language for the ban on torture. 

Despite Bush administration attempts to exempt the CIA from the ban, Senator McCain had said on the Senate floor November 4, 2005, that, "If necessary - and I sincerely hope it is not - I and the co-sponsors of this amendment will seek to add it to every piece of important legislation voted on in the Senate until the will of a substantial bipartisan majority in both houses of Congress prevails ... Let no one doubt our determination."

"The ban would establish the Army Field Manual as the guiding authority in interrogations and prohibit 'cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment' of prisoners," the Blade wrote.

Detainee Treatment Act

 * "Detainee Treatment Act" in the Wikipedia.
 * "Detainee Treatment Act of 2005," White House (Jurist), December 31, 2005.

Websites

 * Worldwide Prisoner Abuse Watch website.
 * Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Human Rights Bodies - Mechanisms for the protection and promotion of human rights
 * International Committee of the Red Cross, The Geneva Conventions: the core of international humanitarian law

2005

 * Joseph L. Galloway and James Kuhnhenn, "Senate adds ban on torture to bill," Seattle Post-Intelligencer, October 6, 2005.
 * "McCain vows torture ban in Senate bills," Toledo Blade, November 5, 2005.
 * Eric Schmitt, "Senate Votes Again for Ban on Abusing Prisoners," New York Times, November 5, 2005.
 * Senate Roll Call Vote on Amendment (Levin Amdt. No. 2430): To establish a national commission on policies and practices on the treatment of detainees since September 11, 2001, November 8, 2005. Did not pass.
 * Roxana Tiron, "House GOP leaders may drop detainee language from bill," The Hill, November 10, 2005.
 * Terry M. Neal, "A Dangerous Veto Threat," Washington Post, November 15, 2005.
 * Shailagh Murray and Jonathan Weisman, "Senate Presses for Concrete Steps Toward Drawdown of Troops in Iraq," Washington Post, November 16, 2005.
 * Eric Schmitt, "House Backs McCain on Detainees, Defying Bush," New York Times, December 15, 2005.
 * Peter Baker, "In an Awkward Dance, the President Is Forced to Follow," Washington Post, December 16, 2005.

2006

 * Charlie Savage, "Bush could bypass new torture ban. Waiver right is reserved," Boston Globe, January 4, 2006.
 * Charlie Savage, "3 GOP senators blast Bush bid to bypass torture ban," Boston Globe, January 5, 2006.
 * Dan Eggen and Josh White, "U.S. Seeks to Avoid Detainee Ruling," Washington Post, January 13, 2006.
 * "Legislation in the News: The Detainee Treatment Act of 2005," Law Librarian Blog, January 23, 2006.
 * Judith Resnick, "Opening the Door. Court stripping: unconscionable and unconstitutional?" Slate, February 1, 2006. re court-stripping
 * Josh White and Carol D. Leonnig, "U.S. Cites Exception in Torture Ban. McCain Law May Not Apply to Cuba Prison," Washington Post, March 3, 2006.
 * Jonathan Hafetz, Forum: "What the Detainee Treatment Act Really Means for Guantanamo Detainees," Jurist, April 20, 2006.
 * "Administration subverts Detainee Treatment Act; allows controversial torture techniques," Amnesty International Blog, May 24, 2006.
 * Anne Plummer Flaherty, "Bush Submits New Terror Detainee Bill," Associated Press (truthout), July 28, 2006.
 * Laurie Kellman, "Powell endorses efforts to block Bush's terrorist plan," Associated Press (San Diego Union-Tribune), September 14, 2006.
 * SusanG, "The Tortured Negotiations Over Torture," Daily Kos, September 14, 2006.
 * Jim Rutenberg and Sheryl Gay Stolberg, "Bush Says G.O.P. Rebels Are Putting Nation at Risk," New York Times, September 15, 2006.
 * John Amato, "Jonathan Turley on Legal Implications Of Detainee Treatment Act," Crooks and Liars, September 16, 2006.
 * Carl Hulse, Kate Zernike and Sheryl Gay Stolberg, "How 3 G.O.P. Veterans Stalled Bush Detainee Bill," New York Times, September 16, 2006.
 * "Bush insists tougher terror suspect policies must pass," Associated Press (CNN), September 16, 2006.
 * Rick Klein, "Bush raps McCain's detainee proposals. Says measures would cripple war on terror," Boston Globe, September 16, 2006.
 * Kenneth R. Bazinet, "Bush rips 'logic' of GOP foes," New York Daily News, September 16, 2006.
 * Caren Bohan, "Bush defends CIA interrogations amid revolt," Reuters, September 16, 2006.
 * "President resorts to scare tactics after Senate revolt," Sydney Morning Herald (Australia), September 17, 2006.
 * Editorial: "Bush Untethered," New York Times, September 17, 2006.
 * Suzanne Goldenberg, "Bush digs in as his party revolts," The Age (Australia), September 17, 2006.
 * Brian Knowlton, "Agreement Is Reached on Detainee Bill," New York Times, September 21, 2006.
 * Dana Milbank, "Bush's Bill Suffers a Torturous Day in Committee," Washington Post, September 21, 2006.
 * Trish, "Pres. Clinton: Bush Wrong to Legitimize Whacking People Around," Pensito Review, September 21, 2006.
 * Tom Engelhardt, "Tomgram: Lost in a Bermuda Triangle of Injustice. The Facts on the Ground. Mini-Gulags, Hired Guns, Lobbyists, and a Reality Built on Fear," TomDispatch.com, September 21, 2006.
 * John W. Dean, "Thoughts on the 'Bringing Terrorists to Justice Act of 2006'," FindLaw's Writ, September 22, 2006.
 * Editorial: "A Bad Bargain," New York Times, September 22, 2006.
 * Editorial: "The Abuse Can Continue. Senators won't authorize torture, but they won't prevent it, either," Washington Post, September 22, 2006.
 * Randi Rhodes, Newsletter, The Randi Rhodes Show/Air America, September 22, 2006.
 * John Aravosis, "John McCain, John Warner and Lindsey Graham say it's okay for foreign governments to nearly drown US troops," AMERICAblog, September 22, 2006.
 * "Bush to sign law authorizing harsh interrogation," Reuters, October 17, 2006.
 * Dan Eggen, "CIA Acknowledges 2 Interrogation Memos. Papers Called Too Sensitive for Release," Washington Post, November 14, 2006.

Related SourceWatch Resources

 * Abu Ghraib:
 * Accountabiliy
 * Congressional Investigation
 * 'Ghost Detainees'
 * Interrogation Methods and Legal Issues
 * What Did 'They' Know and 'When' Did They Know It?


 * Bush administration vs. the U.S. Constitution
 * Bush Administration War Crimes in Iraq
 * Camp Bucca
 * civil liberties
 * Dispatches: Kidnap and Torture American Style
 * enemy combatant
 * Enemy Prisoner of War
 * Enemy Prisoner of War Camps in Iraq
 * Exit Strategy from Iraq
 * extraordinary rendition
 * global detention system
 * Guantanamo Camp Xray
 * Iraqi detainee abuse scandal
 * Legal Arguments for Avoiding the Jurisdiction of the Geneva Conventions
 * Post-war Iraq
 * President's Military Order of November 13, 2001, Detention, Treatment, and Trial of Certain Non-Citizens in the War Against Terrorism
 * prison-industrial complex
 * tactical questioning
 * The Constitution in Crisis; The Downing Street Minutes and Deception, Manipulation, Torture, Retribution, and Coverups in the Iraq War, and Illegal Domestic Surveillance
 * war on terrorism