Q and A: Military Commissions Act of 2006

• Introduction

• Military Commissions

  1.  What are military commissions, and what did Congress authorize in the MCA?
  2.  How do the military commissions authorized by Congress differ from those that were struck down by the Supreme Court in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld?
  3.  Who can be tried by a military commission?
  4.  What crimes can by tried by military commissions?
  5.  What penalties may military commissions impose?
  6.  What commission rules in the MCA are of primary concern?

• Definition of Unlawful Enemy Combatant

  7.  What is the definition of “combatant” under international law?
  8.  What is the definition of “unlawful enemy combatant” under the MCA and how does it comport with international law?
  9.  Does the legislation authorize the indefinite detention of anyone who falls within its definition of “unlawful enemy combatant”?

• Court-Stripping Provisions

  10. How does the MCA impact detainees’ ability to raise claims in U.S. courts regarding their treatment or detention?
  11. How do the court-stripping provisions in the MCA change current law?
  12. Do these court-stripping provisions violate international law?
  13. How does the MCA limit the use of the Geneva Conventions in U.S. courts?

• Interrogation Policy, Geneva Conventions, and the War Crimes Act

  14. How does the MCA change the War Crimes Act?
  15. Are the CIA’s most abusive “enhanced” interrogation techniques still criminal under this legislation?
  16. Does the MCA immunize U.S. personnel (including CIA personnel) from prosecution for past abuses?
  17. Does the legislation authorize torture or other abusive interrogation practices?
  18. The legislation gives the president the authority to interpret the “meaning and application” of the Geneva Conventions.  What does this provision mean?

October 2006