Senate To Vote On New Rules For Terror Suspects

The New York Times reports:

The Senate Armed Services Committee has voted for a sweeping and bipartisan package redefining the rules for detaining terrorism suspects, including giving military judges the power to review the cases of prisoners in Afghanistan and mandating military detention for important Qaeda suspects — even if they are captured on United States soil.

The panel approved the package last week 25 to 1 as part of the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act, and it released a brief summary of the act as a whole. But its detention aspects have received scant attention because the vote took place in a closed session and the text of the legislation has not been made public.

The bill, which now goes to the Senate floor, could be unveiled Friday. Its contents related to the detainee deal — whose architects included the committee chairman, Carl Levin, Democrat of Michigan, and two leading Republicans on the committee, John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina — were described in greater detail by a legislative aide.

One section would direct the military to set up a system of status hearings for prisoners it intends to hold in “long-term custody” in places like the prison at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, where about 1,700 men are currently being held without trial. The hearings would be before a military judge, and the prisoners would be represented by a military lawyer.

Under the provision, if the judge were to find that such a prisoner is not an enemy combatant and is being held by mistake, the prisoner could win release. The legislation does not define crucial details, like what counts as “long term” and whether there would be any appeal process.