Guantanamo inmates no longer "enemy combatants"

Reuters ^ | March 15,2009 | Randall Mikkelsen

[SeekAndFind]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration stopped calling Guantanamo inmates "enemy combatants" on Friday and incorporated international law as its basis for holding the prisoners while it works to close the facility.

The U.S. Justice Department filed court papers outlining a further legal and linguistic shift from the anti-terrorism policies of Republican President George W. Bush, which drew worldwide condemnation as violations of human rights and international law.

"As we work toward developing a new policy to govern detainees, it is essential that we operate in a manner that strengthens our national security, is consistent with our values, and is governed by law," U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement.

Some human rights advocates said the shift by the new Democratic president did not go far enough in dealing with hundreds of suspected Islamist militants held, most for years without trial, at a U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

"The government may have eliminated the term enemy combatant but it is still claiming the authority to detain people far beyond the traditional norms of humanitarian law," said attorney Devon Chaffee of the group Human Rights First.

The term "enemy combatant" was adopted by Bush after the September 11 attacks in 2001 to refer to prisoners held under military orders he issued to launch the war on terrorism. The wording became emblematic of his policies, along with razor wire and orange jumpsuits.

The policies were subject to numerous legal battles and Supreme Court rulings that rebuked Bush's administration.

The filing on Friday, in the cases of some 200 Guantanamo inmates seeking a court review of their detention, explains the standards of President Barack Obama's administration for holding terrorism suspects without court review.

[LeoWindhorse]

“Guantanamo inmates no longer “enemy combatants”
Well , they got that right ! They are actually f-ing
raghead a-holes ,who would be better off as dog meat than
detained . Do the world a favor and waste them all.

[ExGeeEye]

“Foo, gimme mah pah!”

[VeniVidiVici]

Obama and his merry band of tax cheats are such idiots.

[Recovering_Democrat]

Eric Holder would love to just set these jerkwads loose in the streets of small towns.

He just doesn’t do it because of the political problem that action would create.

The leftists in control of American federal institutions right now are damn scary.

They embrace terrorists, demonize capitalism, and enslave the citizenry.

[HenpeckedCon]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong. Doesn't the Geneva Convention state that individuals caught on the battlefield, not in uniform are considered spies and can be shot by firing squad?

[boughtwithaprice]

Wait...they're enemies of the US and have been involved in some sort of activity against our country. And that activity most likely involved combat. Tell me again why "enemy combatants" is not a good description for them?

[Mr. Mojo]

let’s invite some over for dinner.

Obama might do just that this fall -- at the next White House Ramadan dinner. ...along with those in the so-called "political wing" of Hamas and Hezbollah. ....and of course the CAIR gang. One big, happy, non-enemy, non-combatant family.