After meeting with retired generals in the White House today, President Obama signed three executive orders.
The first order requires that Gitmo be shut down within a year, grants detainees rights under the Geneva Conventions, and sets up a review to determine whether detainees may be transferred to other countries. If they cannot be transferred, another review will determine the venue in which they may be prosecuted. The desire is to prosecute them in federal court or under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, but military commissions remain on the table.
The second executive order requires a special task force co-chaired by the Attorney General and the Secretary of Defense to review detainee policy and file a report in 180 days.
The third order requires all U.S. agencies to follow the Army Field Manual for interrogations, though the field manual guidelines will be reviewed by another task force. The CIA must also close any prisons it is operating.
