Bush Eyes Law to Curtail Detainees Rights

"Congress needs to do something to bring clarity and certainty to Common Article3 ," Steven G. Bradbury, an acting Assistant Attorney General, told the House Armed Services Committee.

The Pentagon on Tuesday, July11 , ordered the military to respect Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions which prohibits humiliating treatment of prisoners and requires trials "affording all the judicial guarantees which are recognized as indispensable by civilized peoples."

Administration lawyers argue that vagueness in the article's language would open the way to problems.

"We just think as you approach these issues, you should give definition and certainty to these issues," Bradbury said.

The administration lawyers said the "most desirable" solution would be to have Congress pass a law approving tribunals for detainees in the US custody.

They said applying the article to detainees could lead to American troops being charged with felony crimes for harsh interrogation tactics.

In a major blow to US President George Bush's aggressive anti-terror policies, the US Supreme Court ruled on Thursday, June29 , that the Geneva Conventions applied to the conflict with the Al-Qaeda.

The court ruled that Bush overstepped his power in ordering military trials for Guantanamo detainees.

The court, however, left it to Congress to decide what kind of trials to set up for detainees and what protections they should be granted in interrogations and before trial.

Bush had previously insisted that Al-Qaeda and other terror suspects were only "enemy combatants" and not subject to the Geneva conventions.

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