US applies Geneva Convention to military detainees

WASHINGTON, July 11 (Reuters) The Pentagon acknowledged for the first time that all detainees held by the US military are covered by the protections of an article of the Geneva Conventions that bars inhumane treatment, according to a memo made public today.

The memo signed by Gordon England, the No 2 official in the Defense department, followed a June 29 Supreme Court ruling that struck down as illegal the military tribunal system set up by the Bush administration to try foreign terrorism suspects held at the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The United States previously has determined that certain prisoners taken in Washington's war on terrorism are not deserving of all of the protections of the Geneva Conventions international agreements governing the treatment of prisoners of war.

The memo was made public on the day Congress began hearings on how to proceed in trying Guantanamo prisoners after the high court ruling.

The United States has come under international criticism for how it has treated detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and elsewhere.

The memo, dated July 7, stated that detainees held in US military custody worldwide are covered by Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions of 1949, which ensures their humane treatment.

The article prohibits violence against detainees, including mutilation, cruel treatment and torture, and ''outrages upon personal dignity'' including humiliating and degrading treatment.'' It also ensures care for the sick and wounded.

It also bars sentencing or executing prisoners without a decision by ''a regularly constituted court affording all the judicial guarantees which are recognized as indispensable by civilized peoples.'' The administration argued the move was not a dramatic change because the Defense Department already had a policy of treating detainees humanely.

''It is not really a reversal of policy,'' said White House spokesman Tony Snow. ''Humane treatment has always been the standard, and that is something that they followed at Guantanamo.'' England, the deputy secretary of defense, said in his memo that it was ''my understanding'' that aside from the military trial procedures that the Supreme Court struck down, ''existing DoD (Department of Defense) orders, policies, directives, execute orders, and doctrine comply with the standards of Common Article 3...'' These include existing military manuals governing interrogations and medical care for detainees, the memo said.

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