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| Sunday, 10 April 2005 |
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U.S. drafts new military rules WASHINGTON, April 9 (Reuters) - The U.S. military has drafted new doctrine for prison operations that aims to fix problems that contributed to abuse in Iraq, but rights groups complain it formalizes a category of detainees who are denied Geneva Conventions protections. The document sets out for the first time doctrine for wartime detention operations for all branches of the U.S. military, Air Force Lt. Col. John Skinner, a Pentagon spokesman, said on Friday. Until now, doctrine largely has been set by the Army. It also formalizes for the first time the military's ability to hold some detainees as "enemy combatants" - a classification not contained in the Geneva Conventions spelling out the rights of prisoners of war. The United States has said that category of detainees is not entitled to rights normally accorded to POWs. The document comes a year after the military was rocked by the Abu Ghraib scandal in which U.S. forces physically abused and sexually humiliated prisoners at the prison on the outskirts of Baghdad, and other instances of detainee abuse in Iraq and Afghanistan. The guidelines aim to provide a clear command structure for detention operations - U.S. military police and military intelligence personnel squabbled at Abu Ghraib, contributing to a chaotic environment - and clarify rules for U.S. personnel. The document, prepared by the office of Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Richard Myers, is being reviewed within the Pentagon and by the various branches of the U.S. military, and is expected to be finalized sometime this fall, Skinner said. |
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