{
  "id": "RL33643",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "RL33643",
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  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 349425,
      "date": "2007-01-23",
      "retrieved": "2016-04-07T18:29:27.007029",
      "title": "Undisclosed U.S. Detention Sites Overseas: Background and Legal Issues",
      "summary": "President Bush\u2019s announcement on September 6, 2006, that 14 \u201chigh-value detainees\u201d suspected of terrorist activity have been transferred from locations abroad to the U.S. detention facility at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Station confirmed for the first time the existence of secret U.S. prison facilities abroad, the subject of previously unsubstantiated media allegations and investigations by foreign governments and human rights bodies. Before September, the Bush Administration had neither admitted nor denied the allegations, but had defended the related long-standing practice of transporting terrorist suspects to other countries through a process known as \u201cextraordinary rendition.\u201d President Bush stated that no more suspects were being held in CIA prisons but that the Administration reserved the option of establishing overseas prisons to hold and interrogate terrorist suspects that may be captured in the future.\nThe arrest, transfer, detention, and treatment of persons are governed by a web of human rights treaties and, in some cases, treaties regulating the conduct of armed conflict (humanitarian law), as well as customary international law related to either category of law. In the context of the \u201cGlobal War on Terrorism\u201d (GWOT), there are significant differences of opinion as to which legal regimes govern the arrest and detention of suspected terrorists. The Bush Administration has characterized the arrests and detentions as the wartime capture and internment of combatants, and has argued that human rights law is thus inapplicable. Prior to the Supreme Court\u2019s decision in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, the Administration argued that treaties regarding humanitarian law did not apply to the detainees. However, the Supreme Court rejected the position that Al Qaeda fighters captured in Afghanistan are not entitled to any protection under the Geneva Conventions, finding instead that all persons captured in the context of an armed conflict are entitled at least to the minimum protections required under Common Article 3. Congress, in enacting the Detainee Treatment Act of 2006 (P.L. 109-163), prohibited cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment of detainees in U.S. custody regardless of their geographical location; the 110th Congress may remain engaged on related aspects of detainee treatment.\nStates parties to human rights treaties generally agree to prevent violations of the civil rights of persons under their jurisdiction, which ordinarily entail the right to a trial or other process of law before a person can be deported or subjected to prolonged detention. The existence of secret prisons on a state\u2019s territory or the use of its airfields to transport prisoners, with or without the involvement or knowledge of the government involved, may entail a breach of international obligations.\nThis report provides background information regarding the subject and discusses the possible legal frameworks that may apply. It is based on available open-source documentation, as cited, and not on any independent CRS investigation. It focuses on protections accorded to persons under international law, and is not intended to address intelligence operations or policy. It includes in its Appendix a status discussion concerning relevant investigations being conducted by the European Parliament and the Council on Europe.",
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    },
    {
      "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
      "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs9525/",
      "id": "RL33643 2006-09-12",
      "date": "2006-09-12",
      "retrieved": "2006-12-05T13:38:16",
      "title": "Undisclosed U.S. Detention Sites Overseas: Background and Legal Issues",
      "summary": null,
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORT",
      "active": false,
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          "filename": "files/20060912_RL33643_cfef469688c9274112794eec96228fa7f88c8e69.html"
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      ],
      "topics": [
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Criminal justice",
          "name": "Criminal justice"
        },
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Imprisonment",
          "name": "Imprisonment"
        },
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Human rights",
          "name": "Human rights"
        },
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Detention of persons",
          "name": "Detention of persons"
        },
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "International affairs",
          "name": "International affairs"
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        {
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          "id": "Civil liberties",
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        }
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  "topics": [
    "Foreign Affairs",
    "Intelligence and National Security",
    "National Defense"
  ]
}