American Bar Association denounces way Bush administration is handling detainees

By Gina Holland

ATLANTA - The nation’s largest lawyers group condemned the government’s handling of foreign detainees yesterday over the objections of members who called it a cheap shot at the White House.

The American Bar Association (ABA) criticized what it called "a widespread pattern of abusive detention methods." Those abuses, it said, "feed terrorism by painting the United States as an arrogant nation above the law."

The ABA was responding to abuse of Iraqis at Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad and concerns about the treatment of about 600 terrorism suspects being held at Guantánamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba.

Some lawyers complained that the nonpartisan group, with more than 400,000 members, was getting too political, especially as the presidential election nears.

David Rivkin Jr., a Washington attorney who served in the Reagan and first Bush administrations, told ABA leaders the resolution was poorly worded and "could be dismissed as grandstanding."

The Bush administration has aggressively defended its imprisonment, without traditional rights, of those it classifies as enemy combatants. Government officials have said that abuses at overseas prisons have been isolated and that those responsible are being punished.

An administration lawyer was sent to Atlanta but did not speak against the resolution, which had overwhelming support.

During the debate, Washington attorney Mark Agrast said, "If we want the world to embrace American ideals, we first must live up to those ideals ourselves."

"I don’t think it’s the least bit political," said Neal Sonnett, a Miami attorney who helped draft the plan. "We used strong language because it’s deserved. We need to get the administration’s attention and the public’s attention."

Prisoners at Abu Ghraib were interrogated for as long as 20 hours at a time, kept hooded and naked, intimidated with dogs and forcibly shaved.

Administration officials have said other treatment of prisoners there was unauthorized, such as forcing prisoners to perform sex acts, beating them and piling them in a naked human pyramid.

The ABA proposal recommends strengthening the federal anti-torture law, making it easier to prove criminal charges against soldiers and others who engage in torture, and expanding the law to apply to acts committed in the United States, not just those overseas. (AP)

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