2006.10.10: October 10, 2006: Headlines: Figures: COS - Dominican Republic: Politics: Congress: Election2008 - Dodd: Terrorism: Torture: War Crimes: Boston Globe: Chris Dodd says the recently passed terrorism bill wrongly gives President Bush the authority to detain people without charging them with a crime
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2006.10.10: October 10, 2006: Headlines: Figures: COS - Dominican Republic: Politics: Congress: Election2008 - Dodd: Terrorism: Torture: War Crimes: Boston Globe: Chris Dodd says the recently passed terrorism bill wrongly gives President Bush the authority to detain people without charging them with a crime
Chris Dodd says the recently passed terrorism bill wrongly gives President Bush the authority to detain people without charging them with a crime
"Almost on the day of the anniversary (of the verdicts), Congress basically rescinded our commitment to the Geneva Conventions, walked away from habeus corpus, and basically gave the president the sole authority to determine what constitutes torture, which is a major step from everything that we constructed in the post World War-II period," Dodd said. "We walk away from the rest of the world on these very issues." Senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Dominican Republic in the 1960's.
Chris Dodd says the recently passed terrorism bill wrongly gives President Bush the authority to detain people without charging them with a crime
Dodd: New terrorism bill 'pretty devastating'
October 10, 2006
NASHUA, N.H. --Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd, who has been participating in discussions marking the 60th anniversary of the Nuremberg war crimes trials, said the recently passed terrorism bill wrongly gives President Bush the authority to detain people without charging them with a crime.
We don't distinguish; we don't apply it ethically," Dodd, a Democrat, said Tuesday during a two-day trip to New Hampshire to help campaign for congressional candidates. Earlier, he had taken part in a discussion of Nuremberg at Keene State College's Cohen Center for Holocaust Studies.
The bill, passed by Congress last month, endorsed Bush's plans to prosecute and interrogate terror suspects. It creates military commissions to prosecute terrorism suspects. It also prohibits some of the worst abuses of detainees like mutilation and rape, but otherwise would allow the president to interpret the Geneva Conventions, the treaty that sets standards for the treatment of war prisoners. Bush is expected to sign the measure into law.
Democrats' opposition focused on language barring detainees from going to federal court to protect their detention and treatment -- a right referred to as habeas corpus.
Dodd's father, the late Sen. Thomas Dodd, was the No. 2 prosecutor for the United States behind Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson in the Nazi war criminal trials. The tribunal tried 22 leading Nazis for war crimes and -- for the first time -- crimes against humanity. Some were hanged, others received prison terms up to a life sentence and three were acquitted.
"Almost on the day of the anniversary (of the verdicts), Congress basically rescinded our commitment to the Geneva Conventions, walked away from habeus corpus, and basically gave the president the sole authority to determine what constitutes torture, which is a major step from everything that we constructed in the post World War-II period," Dodd said. "We walk away from the rest of the world on these very issues."
Dodd said the bill is a far cry from what Republican senators negotiated. "The ultimate product is pretty devastating and pretty far-reaching," he said.
Dodd, who is considering a run for president in 2008, last visited New Hampshire in September. He campaigned for Paul Hodes, Democratic candidate for the 2nd District, and attended the Hillsborough County Democrats dinner on Tuesday night. On Wednesday, he was scheduled to campaign for 1st District candidate Carol Shea-Porter.
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When this story was posted in October 2006, this was on the front page of PCOL:
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Story Source: Boston Globe
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; Figures; COS - Dominican Republic; Politics; Congress; Election2008 - Dodd; Terrorism; Torture; War Crimes
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