The Pentagon is considering a dramatic escalation in its "war on terror'', a leading human rights group told Gulf News. Proposals under review would allow people to be detained as enemy combatants, outside the protection of the Geneva Conventions, for links to any organisation classified as terrorist by President George W. Bush. The list of organisations has not yet been finalised but Gulf News has learnt it "closely resembles'' those named in a presidential order in September 2001. This included a number of Middle East organisations. The list was expanded since then and names the Tamil Tigers, Shining Path of Peru Spain's ETA and the Real IRA. "This [enemy combatant classification] was originally aimed at Al Qaida and Taliban," John Sifton, a senior official of Human Rights Watch who has a copy of the document detailing the proposals, told Gulf News from New York last night. "But this is a radical departure. This expands the war on terror." It also allows for individuals not associated with terror groups to be held.
The proposals, if adopted by the Pentagon, would allow US forces to detain a suspect anywhere in the world in the utmost secrecy and deny having them. It raises the spectre of US forces acting like international bounty hunters. "It's not just if someone lands in America. Judging by past behaviour geography has never been a limiting factor for the US." |