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DOS Cable re: Guidance Request Response to PA Bruce George

Sept. 3, 2003 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 4333
State Department cable giving direction to its Mission on presenting a statement at the PC Meeting in Vienna. The statement is one of general support and addresses the specific issues of Military Commisssions for Al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters. The points to make are i) The Military Commissions will be impartial; ii) they are consistent with the procedural safeguards found in the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and Art. 75 of Protocol 1 of 1977 to the Geneva Conventions; iii) a decision can only be imposed by a unanimous decision of the panel members; iv) the accused are not required to testify, and no adverse inference may be drawn from a refusal to testify; and v) the proceedings will be open to the public to the maximum extent possible.
AUTHORING AGENCIES:
RECEIVING AGENCIES: