A Bush administration legal opinion says not all non-Iraqi prisoners captured in Iraq are protected by the Geneva Convention, the New York Times reports. White House officials said the opinion would allow the military and the CIA to treat a small number of non-Iraqi prisoners captured in Iraq the same way as members of al-Qaida and the Taliban captured in Afghanistan, Pakistan or elsewhere. | Some go to Gitmo, some go to Bagram and some vanish into a blackhole. |
The officials outlined the opinion in response to a Washington Post report the Central Intelligence Agency had secretly transferred a dozen non-Iraqi prisoners out of Iraq in the past 18 months. | "Prisoners? What prisoners?" |
In the past, the International Committee of the Red Cross and a number of human rights advocates, have criticized the administration for applying the protections of the Geneva Conventions too narrowly. Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits "the deportations of protected persons from occupied territory" no matter what the motive. | But since non-iraqi prisoners were not former members of any Iraqi Army, they can't be considered prisoners of war. So, Article 49 doesn't apply, but thanks for playing. |
U.S. officials said the new ruling could open the way for additional transfers on a broader scale, because the status of prisoners being held in Iraq is reviewed on a case-by-case basis. |