Bush revises US terror interrogation bill
George Bush was forced to seek Congressional approval for military trials of terror suspects
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Friday, 22, Sep 2006 01:04
US president George Bush has yielded to pressure from Republican senators and made revisions to a controversial new bill regarding the interrogation of terror suspects.
Leading Republicans John McCain, Lindsey Graham and John Warner had led opposition to proposals originally put forward by the White House, arguing that legislation originally favoured by Mr Bush would allow abusive CIA interrogations of terror suspects and unfair trials, putting US troops at a risk of receiving similar treatment.
Mr Bush's former secretary of state, Colin Powell, another high-profile critic of the US administration's proposals, argued that the international community was beginning to "doubt the moral basis" of the country's "war on terror" and said the plans would effectively redefine the country's commitment to parts of the Geneva Convention protecting detainees from torture and abusive treatment.
Under a compromise agreement reached between Republican rebels and Mr Bush following several days of negotiations, evidence obtained from terror suspects through the use of torture will now be barred, while the deal also outlines more stringent standards over what constitutes a war crime under US law.
The White House has now agreed to drop proposals which would have allowed defendants in terror trials to be convicted on evidence they did not have access to, although the revised legislation will permit officials to present classified evidence for viewing by defendants in a modified form.
"I'm pleased to say that this agreement preserves the single most potent tool we have in protecting America and foiling terrorist attacks", said Mr Bush welcoming the deal, which he said would allow for the establishment of military commissions to bring terror suspects to justice.
The president was forced to draw up the legislation after the US Supreme Court ruled in June that his administration did not have the authority to try terror suspects by military tribunal without the prior approval of Congress.
It is expected that new agreement over the proposals will allow military trials for foreign terror suspects detained at the controversial US naval facility at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba to take place. About 450 terror suspects are currently held at the controversial camp.
Mr Bush said that he hoped Congress would send him the legislation before it adjourns next week, with the agreement having deflected a potentially damaging split within the Republican party ahead of November's mid-term elections in the US.
The deal has received a mixed reception amongst human rights groups.
Elisa Massimino of the Human Rights First organisation claimed that the new legislation meant that Mr Bush would be unable to "unilaterally downgrade" international standards over the treatment of terror suspects, but the American Civil Liberties Union claimed that the agreement failed to protect the principle of due process and did not meet international treaty obligations.