Human Rights Groups, Top Pentagon Officials Oppose Bush's Proposal for Military Tribunals to Try Terrorist Suspects

Interview with Jennifer Daskal, U.S. advocacy director with Human Rights Watch, conducted by Scott Harris

Less than a week before the nation marked the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, President Bush announced that 14 top terror suspects held in secret CIA prisons had been transferred to the US detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Among the detainees is Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, alleged to be the architect of the September 11th attacks. The President's statement confirmed press reports detailing the existence of CIA secret prisons in Europe and Asia, which held terrorist suspects without charge or access to attorneys. Bush defended the CIA program and the techniques used by interrogators to extract information.

The White House is now asking Congress to pass legislation authorizing new guidelines under which military commissions can try these suspects. In June the US Supreme Court, citing violations of the US Constitution and the Geneva Conventions, had overturned the administration's previous rules governing military tribunals.

However, top Pentagon lawyers, human rights groups and some key Republicans and Democrats are challenging provisions of the president's proposal as they don't conform to the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with Jennifer Daskal, U.S. advocacy director with Human Rights Watch, who explains why her organization believes that President Bush's legislative proposal for conducting military commissions is fatally flawed.

Contact Human Rights Watch at (212) 290-4700 or visit their website at www.hrw.org

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