Wednesday, January 22, 2009
EXECUTIVE ORDER -- REVIEW OF DETENTION POLICY
OPTIONS
By the authority vested in me as President by the
Constitution and the laws of the United States of
America, in order to develop policies for the detention,
trial, transfer, release, or other disposition of
individuals captured or apprehended in connection with
armed conflicts and counterterrorism operations that are
consistent with the national security and foreign policy
interests of the United States and the interests of
justice, I hereby order as follows:
Section 1. Special Interagency Task Force on Detainee
Disposition.
(a) Establishment of Special Interagency Task Force.
There shall be established a Special Task Force on
Detainee Disposition (Special Task Force) to identify
lawful options for the disposition of individuals
captured or apprehended in connection with armed
conflicts and counterterrorism operations.
(b) Membership. The Special Task Force shall consist
of the following members, or their designees:
(i) the Attorney General, who shall serve as
Co-Chair;
(ii) the Secretary of Defense, who shall serve as
Co-Chair;
(iii) the Secretary of State;
(iv) the Secretary of Homeland Security;
(v) the Director of National Intelligence;
(vi) the Director of the Central Intelligence
Agency;
(vii) the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff;
and
(viii) other officers or full-time or permanent
part-time employees of the United States, as determined
by either of the Co-Chairs, with the concurrence of the
head of the department or agency concerned.
(c) Staff. Either Co-Chair may designate officers and
employees within their respective departments to serve as
staff to support the Special Task Force. At the request
of the Co-Chairs, officers and employees from other
departments or agencies may serve on the Special Task
Force with the concurrence of the heads of the
departments or agencies that employ such individuals.
Such staff
must be officers or full-time or permanent part-time
employees of the United States. The Co-Chairs shall
jointly select an officer or employee of the Department
of Justice or Department of Defense to serve as the
Executive Secretary of the Special Task Force.
(d) Operation. The Co-Chairs shall convene meetings of
the Special Task Force, determine its agenda, and direct
its work. The Co-Chairs may establish and direct
subgroups of the Special Task Force, consisting
exclusively of members of the Special Task Force, to deal
with particular subjects.
(e) Mission. The mission of the Special Task Force
shall be to conduct a comprehensive review of the lawful
options available to the Federal Government with respect
to the apprehension, detention, trial, transfer, release,
or other disposition of individuals captured or
apprehended in connection with armed conflicts and
counterterrorism operations, and to identify such options
as are consistent with the national security and foreign
policy interests of the United States and the interests
of justice.
(f) Administration. The Special Task Force shall be
established for administrative purposes within the
Department of Justice, and the Department of Justice
shall, to the extent permitted by law and subject to the
availability of appropriations, provide administrative
support and funding for the Special Task Force.
(g) Report. The Special Task Force shall provide a
report to the President, through the Assistant to the
President for National Security Affairs and the Counsel
to the President, on the matters set forth in subsection
(d) within 180 days of the date of this order unless the
Co-Chairs determine that an extension is necessary, and
shall provide periodic preliminary reports during those
180 days.
(h) Termination. The Co-Chairs shall terminate the
Special Task Force upon the completion of its duties.
Sec. 2. General Provisions.
(a) This order shall be implemented consistent with
applicable law and subject to the availability of
appropriations.
(b) This order is not intended to, and does not,
create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural,
enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the
United States, its departments, agencies, or entities,
its officers, employees, or agents, or any other
person.
BARACK OBAMA
THE WHITE HOUSE,
January 22, 2009.
Source: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/ReviewofDetentionPolicyOptions/
