Home » Notes » The Detainee Treatment Act of 2005: Embodying U.S. Values to Eliminate Detainee Abuse by Civilian Contractors and Bounty Hunters in Afghanistan and Iraq
The Detainee Treatment Act of 2005: Embodying U.S. Values to Eliminate Detainee Abuse by Civilian Contractors and Bounty Hunters in Afghanistan and Iraq
Ryan P. Logan ·
Sep-21-2012 ·
39 VAND. J. TRANSNAT'L L. 1605 (2009)
The growth in the number of bounty hunters and civilian contractors accompanying the U.S. military into battle has swelled during the current conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. Civilians have been utilized in all facets of those military campaigns, including the interrogation of suspected terrorists or insurgents. Faced with intense pressure to rapidly obtain information about terrorist operations and yet having little oversight of their interrogation activities, some of these contractors and bounty hunters have been accused of abusing detainees. This Note explores the legal avenues for addressing accusations of detainee abuse by U.S. civilians in Afghanistan and Iraq and concludes that those offenses should be prosecuted in U.S. courts to ensure swift and efficient justice and protect the rights of the accused. The Author critiques several other proposed legal avenues, including international bodies, host-country justice, and civil suits in U.S. federal courts. Finally, the Note discusses the Detainee Treatment Act and argues that it provides the most comprehensive legal solution to the detainee abuse problem by promoting clear, uniform standards of interrogation, closing loopholes in existing criminal statutes, and allowing for a reasonable person defense by the accused.
This entry was posted
on Friday, September 21, 2012 at 3:38 pm and is filed under Notes, Vol. 39 No. 5, Volume 39, Volumes.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Announcements
The Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law hosted a symposium called “The Role of Non-State Actors in International Law” at Vanderbilt University Law School in February 2013. The October issue of the Journal will showcase articles by distinguished symposium guests including:
Mr. Ian Smillie, “Blood Diamonds and Non-State Actors”
Professor Jean d’Aspremont, “Cognitive Conflicts and the Making of International Law from Empirical Concord to Conceptual Discord in Legal Scholarship”
Professor Peter J. Spiro, “Constraining Global Corporate Power: A Very Short Introduction”
Professor Suzanne Katzenstein
Professor Peter Margulies
Professor Harlan G. Cohen
We are pleased to announce our annual award recipients for 2012-2013.
Masamichi Yamamoto Second-Year Editor Award: Kennedy Meier
Outstanding Third Year Editor Award: Alex Rinn
Grace Wilson Sims Medal in Transnational Law: Molly Chen
Grace Wilson Sims Prize for Student Writing in Transnational Law: Margaret Artz
Note Selections for 2013-14
The Publication Committee is pleased to announce the 2L student Notes selected for publication in the 2013-14 issues. Please follow this link: Note Selections for 2013
A special congratulations to Stella Forcehimes, who successfully “Noted-on” to the Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law. Please congratulate her if you see her around school.
The Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law is now ranked the 9th best international law journal according to the Washington & Lee School of Law Library Law Journal Rankings. For more information, please visit: Washington & Lee Journal Rankings
The Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law is excited to announce the 2013-2014 Board of Editors. We had an exceptional pool of candidates to choose from and were very impressed by the enthusiasm and thoughtfulness this class displayed throughout the selection process. Please join us in congratulating them!
Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals cites Head of State Immunity As Sole Executive Lawmaking by Lewis Yelin, written for the 2011 Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law Symposium: Foreign State Immunity at Home and Abroad. Yousuf v Samantar Opinion (4th Circuit)
Vanderbilt University law professor Ingrid Wuerth has been selected as a reporter for the Restatement (Fourth) of the Foreign Relations Law of the United States, published by the American Law Institute. She will work on the immunities chapters, along with David Stewart, a visiting professor of law at Georgetown Law and former State Department official.
View the most recent Jonathan I. Charney Distinguished Lecture in Public International Law, presented by Fatou B. Bensouda.
Explore Other Vanderbilt Law Resources
