President Barack Obama hit the oval office ground running. He has made it abundantly clear that his administration will follow a different set of standards than the previous one did, and he closely allies his standards with the law and constitution:
On Day 2 of his presidency, he is issuing several major executive orders. In this article, learn about:
Executive Order: Review of Detention Policy Options
Executive Order: Ensuring Lawful Interrogations
With just three signatures today, President Barack Obama has reversed years of Bush administration policy statements, legal opinions and executive orders regarding detention and treatment of prisoners, and boldly reaffirmed America's committment to the Geneva Conventions and our own Constitution. Today, President Obama not only made good on his promise to order the closing of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility as one of his first acts in office; he also created a task force to investigate U.S. detention policies, restored habeas corpus rights to detainees in U.S. custody, and ordered all secret CIA detention facilities closed.
In his executive order, Review and Disposition of Individuals Detained at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base and Closure of Detention Facilities, President Barack Obama has ordered the closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility as soon as practicable, but no later than one year from today. He has further ordered "that the executive branch undertake a prompt and thorough review of the factual and legal bases for the continued detention of all individuals currently held at Guantánamo, and of whether their continued detention is in the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States and in the interests of justice."
Obama's order goes on to restore constitutional habeas corpus rights to all Guantanamo detainees, and orders the United States Attorney General to begin an immediate and thorough review of each individual's file, and determine which detainees should be transferred or released, and which should be prosecuted for crimes under U.S. law.
The executive order also instructs the Secretary of State to begin diplomatic negotiations with other nations to facilitate the return of some currently imprisoned Guantanamo detainees to their home countries, and the transfer of some others to other nations willing to take them.
The order states that all detainees at Guantanamo are to be treated according to applicable U.S. law and treaty obligations concerning the detention of prisoners, including the Geneva Conventions.
In his executive order, Review of Detention Policy Options, President Obama establishes a Special Task Force on Detainee Disposition, which will include the Attorney General, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Director of National Intelligence, the Director of the CIA, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The order states: "The mission of the Special Task Force shall be to conduct a comprehensive review of the lawful options available to the Federal Government with respect to the apprehension, detention, trial, transfer, release, or other disposition of individuals captured or apprehended in connection with armed conflicts and counterterrorism operations, and to identify such options as are consistent with the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States and the interests of justice."
Under the order, the Special Task Force will be required to submit a report to the President on the efficacy and legality of U.S. detention policies within 180 days.
Executive Order: Ensuring Lawful Interrogations revokes former President George W. Bush's Executive Order 13440, in which Bush asserted the President's right to interpret the Geneva Conventions, in which Bush had stated, "On February 7, 2002, I determined for the United States that members of al Qaeda, the Taliban, and associated forces are unlawful enemy combatants who are not entitled to the protections that the Third Geneva Convention provides to prisoners of war. I hereby reaffirm that determination." Obama's Executive Order: Ensuring Lawful Interrogations also revokes all executive orders issued by Bush from September 11, 2001, to January 20, 2009 that might conflict with Obama's order.
Ensuring Lawful Interrogations states that all prisoners detained by the United States in any armed conflict must be treated humanely under the rules of the Geneva Conventions, and "shall not be subjected to violence to life and person (including murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment, and torture), nor to outrages upon personal dignity (including humiliating and degrading treatment), whenever such individuals are in the custody or under the effective control of an officer, employee, or other agent of the United States Government or detained within a facility owned, operated, or controlled by a department or agency of the United States." Obama also orders that the Red Cross be granted "timely access" to all detainees captured during an armed conflict as long as they are in U.S. custody.
President Obama's order limits military interrogators to the use of lawful interrogation techniques as spelled out in the Army Field Manual, and instructs other government agencies to employ "substantially equivalent" techniques, subject to the rules of the Geneva Conventions, whenever Army Field Manual instructions do not apply.
The document further orders all CIA secret detention facilities closed "as expeditiously as possible," and prohibits the CIA from opening detention facilities in the future.
President Obama also states his intent to prevent extraordinary rendition of prisoners to countries where they may be tortured; the order commissions a Special Interagency Task Force on Interrogation and Transfer Policies that will, among other things, investigate the transfer of prisoners to other countries "to ensure that such practices comply with the domestic laws, international obligations, and policies of the United States and do not result in the transfer of individuals to other nations to face torture or otherwise for the purpose, or with the effect, of undermining or circumventing the commitments or obligations of the United States to ensure the humane treatment of individuals in its custody or control."
These executive orders mark a monumental shift away from Bush administration policy. No longer are our clear treaty obligations regarding the treatment of prisoners of war subject to creative "interpretation" by the executive branch. No longer will our military officers and CIA agents be encouraged by the executive to find literal constitutional gray areas outside our borders, where prisoners can be detained indefinitely and/or tortured without legal recourse.
Here, already, is a change I can believe in.
Jaelithe has written previously about unlawful detention and torture under the Bush administration on MOMocrats, in her posts In Liberty's Name and A Boy Who Grew Up in Guantanamo. Jaelithe is a patriot who deeply respects the U.S. Constitution, and hopes President Obama continues to show that he respects it, too.
Isn't it amazing, and a little sad really, that we can feel so HIGH off a President with integrity and belief in human rights?
Posted by: JCK | January 22, 2009 at 10:58 PM
HA! JCK's comment hits the nail on the head.
I swear the vast majority of Americans are walking around like kicked puppies who just got a new home after a stint in the pound. It seems like a good home, it feels like a good home, we want to hope and believe in it...and we do, but that kicked part of us is so scared to. We receive each act of "meets expectations" with an exuberance and joy that is unparalleled, I'm sure.
Thanks, Jae, for this AWESOME breakdown of what I truly believe will be a historical and incredible first executive acts.
I say sincerely this is the best I've read on these three orders.
Posted by: Julie Pippert | January 23, 2009 at 08:01 AM