The Misinterpreter-in-Chief by Joanne Mariner

JOANNE MARINER
The Misinterpreter-in-Chief
FindLaw columnist and human rights attorney Joanne Mariner discusses an executive order recently issued by President Bush. The order purports to determine that the CIA's system of secret prisons "fully complies" with the U.S.'s Geneva Conventions obligations -- as long as the CIA itself complies with a series of requirements regarding interrogation practices and conditions of confinement. Mariner contends that the order wrongly ignores a key Supreme Court ruling, and is in clear error with respect to international law. She contends that the secret prisons program will continue to plainly violate the U.S.'s Geneva Conventions obligation, despite the executive order's claims. She also criticizes the executive order for purporting to impose a definition of "enemy combatant" even broader than those the Administration used in the past.

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