'All persons subject to this directive shall observe the requirements of the law of war, and shall apply, without regard to a detainees' legal status, at a minimum the standards articulated in ... the Geneva Conventions of 1949,' the order said.
The Pentagon's indefinite holding of 450 prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has sparked worldwide concern and criticism from activists that the detentions violate civil rights. Pressure on the Pentagon increased after photos emerged in 2004 of US soldiers abusing prisoners at the Abu Ghraib facility outside Baghdad.
Common Article 4 of the Geneva Conventions requires that prisoners should not suffer from 'cruel treatment and torture' or 'outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment.'
The new rules cover unlawful combatants in addition to detainees granted 'prisoner of war' status under the Geneva Conventions. The Pentagon has refused to grant 'prisoner of war' status, instead calling them 'unlawful enemy combatants.'
US President George W Bush was to announce Wednesday that all prisoners in CIA custody, including 'high-value' detainees, would be transferred to the Defence Department, meaning the new rules apply to them as well, ABC News reported.
The CIA is believed to be holding about a dozen suspects in secret prisons, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks who was captured in Pakistan in March 2003.
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