New U.S. law OKs torture, professor argues

New legislation on military commissions "allows officials in the United States government to torture with impunity," visiting politics professor Jamie Mayerfeld told students in a discussion last night.

Mayerfeld met with a small group of concerned University students to discuss the Military Commissions Act, which was passed by Congress on Sept. 28. The Act legalizes the use of military tribunals to try suspected terrorists, including those being held at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. The Supreme Court ruled these tribunals unconstitutional in a landmark decision last June.

"The legislation has already passed so it's difficult to know what we can do about it," Lily Timmermann '08, who co-organized the talk with Julia Brower '08, said. "We wanted to hear ideas from other students who oppose torture and see if we can organize some action".

The new law, Mayerfield said, means that foreign detainees designated by President Bush as "unlawful enemy combatants" will no longer have the right to challenge their detention in a court of law, a doctrine known as habeas corpus.

"If you're being tortured, you're no longer allowed to go to a court and ask for this to stop," Mayerfeld said.

The law establishes that torture and other "grave breaches" of Common Article Three of the Geneva Conventions — the international laws of war — are illegal, even when directed against foreign terrorists. Bush, however, may define allowed interrogation techniques.

Taken together, these provisions are "ambiguous," Mayerfeld said.

"Now only some violations ... count as war crimes," he explained. "What's ambiguous is whether CIA interrogation techniques ... such as stress positions, being held in extreme cold, sexual humiliation, water-boarding and use of dogs ... are still crimes."

The new law also means that "it is no longer a federal crime to subject someone to an unfair trial," Mayerfeld said. The law allows for "coerced testimony, that is, testimony under torture, in trials."

The Bush Administration has defended the law, saying it is necessary to ensure that terrorist suspects face justice.

Alejandro Bras '07, who wrote his junior paper on the McCain Amendment — a separate piece of legislation intended to ban the use of inhumane treatment in interrogation — said that the restrictive provisions within the Military Commissions Act are "very ambiguous" for interrogation agents.

"It's unclear whether the administration believes it applies to the CIA, and that is really the danger," Bras said. "People who are being tortured don't have access to civilian courts, so how can they do anything about it?"

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A graduate student at the Wilson School who asked to remain anonymous because he is currently employed by the U.S. government, told The Daily Princetonian that he was "caught in the middle."

"I'm a defense counsel and a human intelligence guy," the student said. "I can see both sides of the argument."

"The consequences are the CIA has been sent a message saying that it's OK to torture, it's no longer a crime," Mayerfeld explained. "They can relax now."