Elisa Massimino [Washington Director, Human Rights First]: "Last week, Congress adopted legislation governing the trial and treatment of detainees that is inconsistent both with the laws of war and the U.S. Constitution.

On the one hand, Congress rejected an administration proposal to explicitly downgrade the humane treatment requirements of Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions, making it clear (once again) that interrogation techniques such as waterboarding, prolonged stress positions, induced hypothermia, mock executions, prolonged sleep deprivation, and sexual humiliation are not only prohibited but constitute war crimes. On the other hand, the legislation contains provisions that make the enforcement of Common Article 3's humane treatment standards much more difficult and that violate fundamental rights to fair trial and due process. The most serious flaws in the Act include:

• grant of unprecedented and unchecked authority to the Executive Branch to label as "unlawful enemy combatants" and detain an overly broad range of people, including U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents inside the United States
• denial of independent judicial review of these detentions
• provisions that seek to eliminate accountability for past violations of the law
• admission of evidence obtained through coercion
• grant to the Secretary of Defense the authority to deviate from time-tested military justice standards for fair trials
• grants the executive broad discretion to determine the scope of U.S. obligations under the Geneva Conventions, except as to the category of violations known as "grave breaches.""