Administration says anti-trorture law void at Gitmo.

[mburbank]

Oh! Shocking! But hey, since the Pres says we DO NOT HAVE SEXUAL RELATIONS... oh wait, that was the last Presidents version of lieing, since W says WE DO NOT TORTURE, why would Government lawyers need to make the case that anti torture laws don't apply?



US Cites Exception in Torture Ban
By Josh White and Carol D. Leonnig
The Washington Post

Friday 03 March 2006

McCain law may not apply to Cuba prison.

Bush administration lawyers, fighting a claim of torture by a Guantánamo Bay detainee, yesterday argued that the new law that bans cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of detainees in US custody does not apply to people held at the military prison.

In federal court yesterday and in legal filings, Justice Department lawyers contended that a detainee at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, cannot use legislation drafted by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) to challenge treatment that the detainee's lawyers described as "systematic torture."

Government lawyers have argued that another portion of that same law, the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005, removes general access to US courts for all Guantánamo Bay captives. Therefore, they said, Mohammed Bawazir, a Yemeni national held since May 2002, cannot claim protection under the anti-torture provisions.