Pentagon to reject Geneva standard for detainee care

The Seattle Times: Nation & World: Pentagon to reject Geneva standard for detainee care: "Monday, June 5, 2006 - Page updated at 12:00 AM | By Julian E. Barnes | Los Angeles Times

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon has decided to omit from new detainee policies a key tenet of the Geneva Convention that bans 'humiliating and degrading treatment,' according to military officials. That step would mark a potentially permanent shift away from strict adherence to international human-rights standards.

The decision culminates a debate within the Department of Defense but will not become final until the Pentagon makes new guidelines public, a step that has been delayed.

However, the State Department fiercely opposes the military's decision to exclude Geneva Convention protections and has been pushing for the Pentagon and White House to reconsider, Defense officials said.

For more than a year, the Pentagon has been redrawing policies on detainees and interrogation, and intends to issue a new Army Field Manual, which, along with accompanying directives, represents core instructions to U.S. soldiers worldwide.

The process has been beset by debate and controversy, but the decision to omit Geneva Convention protections from a principal directive comes at a time of growing worldwide criticism of U.S. detention practices and the conduct of American forces in Iraq. ...