ACLU Slams Deal On Detainees

The Bush administration and Senate Republicans announced agreement Thursday on terms for the interrogation and trial of terror suspects.

"I'm pleased we have agreement," said Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, emerging from a session in his office where national security adviser Stephen Hadley and key lawmakers reviewed the compromise.

Hadley called it a "framework for compromise," and Sen. John Warner said he will not consider the agreement sealed until President Bush signs it.

President Bush hailed the agreement, saying it will "help us crack the terror network to save American lives."

Mr. Bush thanked the Senate for the deal and said it will allow the CIA to continue interrogations of suspected terrorists. Mr. Bush said he hopes the legislation passes before Congress adjourns next week, reports CBS News correspondent Mark Knoller.

An accord would fulfill a Republican political and legislative imperative — pre-election party unity on an issue related to terrorism, and possible enactment of one of Mr. Bush's top remaining priorities of the year.

"The agreement that we've entered into gives the president the tools he needs to continue to fight the war on terror and bring these evil people to justice," said Sen. John McCain, one of three rebellious lawmakers who told Mr. Bush he could not have the legislation the way he initially asked for it.

"There's no doubt that the integrity and letter and spirit of the Geneva Conventions have been preserved," he said.

The Geneva Conventions prescribe international standards for the treatment of prisoners taken in a war.

Details of the agreement - which hours later, sparked criticism from U.N. human rights experts - were sketchy.

The central sticking point had involved a demand from McCain, Warner and Sen. Lindsey Graham for a provision making it clear that torture of suspects would be barred. The three gathered in the afternoon to work out language for the deal, reports CBS News correspondent Sharyl Attkisson.

One official said that under the agreement, the administration agreed to drop language that would have stated an existing ban on cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment was enough to meet Geneva Convention obligations. Geneva Convention standards are much broader and include a prohibition on "outrages" against "personal dignity."

In turn, this official said, negotiators agreed to clarify what acts constitute a war crime. The official spoke on condition of anonymity, saying he had not been authorized to discuss the details.

The deal doesn't sit well with everyone. The American Civil Liberties Union is calling on Congress to reject the compromise, which it says does not meet international treaty obligations and fails to protect the due process rights of suspects.

"This is a compromise of America's commitment to the rule of law. The proposal would make the core protections of Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions irrelevant and unenforceable," says Caroline Fredrickson, Director of the ACLU's Washington legislative office. "The president would have the authority to declare what is - and what is not - a grave breach of the War Crimes Act, making the president his own judge and jury.

"The agreement would also violate time-honored American due process standards by permitting the use of evidence coerced through cruel and abusive treatment," she adds. "These are tactics expected of repressive regimes, not the American government."

Fredrickson notes that while briefing reporters Thursday, "National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley would not even answer a question about whether waterboarding (a technique in which suspects are repeatedly brought to the point of almost drowning) would be permitted under the agreement."

The compromise does not cover a related issue — whether suspects and their lawyers will be permitted to see any classified evidence in the cases against them.

"Although there is agreement between Senate Republicans and the administration on the terror bill, whether or not military commissions will meet Supreme Court standards is not at all clear," says CBS News foreign affairs analyst Pamela Falk.

The White House shifted its tone from combative to compromising within 48 hours, though, and officials began talking of a need for an agreement with which all sides would be comfortable.

With November elections for control of Congress just weeks away, congressional Democrats sat out the negotiations, letting the handful of Republican senators battle the Bush administration.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Wednesday that Democrats were "on the sidelines watching the catfights" among Republicans on terrorism legislation. He said they had little choice until the GOP settled on its position.

Mr. Bush's former secretary of state, Colin Powell, dismayed the administration when he sided with Warner, McCain and Graham. He said President Bush's plan, which would have formally changed the U.S. view of the Geneva Conventions on rules of warfare, would cause the world "to doubt the moral basis" of the fight against terror and "put our own troops at risk."

The handling of suspects is one of two administration priorities relating to the war on terror.

The other involves the president's request for legislation to explicitly allow wiretapping without a court warrant on international calls and e-mails between suspected terrorists in the United States and abroad. One official said Republicans had narrowed their differences with the White House over that issue, as well, and hoped for an agreement by day's end.

Republican leaders have said they intend to adjourn Congress by the end of the month to give lawmakers time to campaign for re-election.

The Supreme Court ruled in June that Mr. Bush's plan for trying terrorism suspects before military tribunals violated the Geneva Conventions and U.S. law.

The court, in a 5-3 ruling, found that Congress had not given President Bush the authority to create the special type of military trial and that the president did not provide a valid reason for the new system. The justices also said the proposed trials did not provide for minimum legal protections under international law.

About 450 terrorism suspects, most of them captured in Afghanistan and none of them in the U.S., are being held by military authorities at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Ten have been charged with crimes.