Specter committee to hold hearings on detainee treatment News
Specter committee to hold hearings on detainee treatment

[JURIST] In response to ongoing reports of prisoner abuse at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] and Abu Ghraib prisons [JURIST news archive], the US Senate Judiciary Committee [official website] chaired by Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) [official website] will hold hearings on the matter next month. Committee sources say that witnesses from the Justice and Defense Departments are expected to be called to testify on conditions at the facilities, and on recent reports from the Pentagon [JURIST report] and Amnesty International [JURIST report] of improper treatment of enemy combatants. Spector is also said to be drafting a bill to establish procedures for the treatment of detainees and give the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court [Federal Judicial Center backgrounder], created by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act [text], jurisdiction over all matters related to the prisoners. AP has more.

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