Military Commissions Act of 2009
Encyclopedia
The United States House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 passed a bill, known as the Military Commissions Act of 2009, which amended the Military Commissions Act of 2006
Military Commissions Act of 2006
The United States Military Commissions Act of 2006, also known as HR-6166, was an Act of Congress signed by President George W. Bush on October 17, 2006. Drafted in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision on Hamdan v...

.

Formally, it is Title XVIII of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010
The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 is a law in the United States signed by President Barack Obama on October 28, 2009. As a bill it was H.R. 2647 in the 111th Congress...

 .

On December 3, 2009, Carol Rosenberg
Carol Rosenberg
Carol Rosenberg is a senior journalist, currently with the McClatchy News Service.Rosenberg works at the Miami Herald, which has provided extensive coverage of the operation of the Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba.-Biography:...

, of the Miami Herald, reported on a hearing before Lieutenant Colonel
Lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and some air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...

 Nancy Paul, the Presiding Officer for US v. Al Qosi, describing Paul as the first Presiding Officer to address the implications of the new act.
Paul ruled that the Prosecution could not use the new act to place additional charges against Sudanese captive Ibrahim al Qosi.

A new 281 page set of procedures for conducting military commissions in accordance with the Military Commissions Act of 2009 was released on May 4, 2010, one day ahead of the first new hearing in the case of Canadian Omar Khadr
Omar Khadr
Omar Ahmed Khadr is a Canadian child soldier and one of the juveniles held at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp. He was convicted of five charges under the United States Military Commissions Act of 2009 including murder in violation of the law of war and providing material support for terrorism,...

.
On May 24, 2010, Steven Edwards, writing for the Vancouver Sun, reported that the Canwest News Service
Canwest News Service
Postmedia News is a national news agency with correspondents in Canada, Europe, and the United States and is part of the Canadian newspaper chain owned by Postmedia Network Inc.-History:...

had recently learned that there was internal controversy within the Obama administration over new rules for conducting Guantanamo military commissions.
According to Edwards some Obama appointees had tried to get new rules which would have caused the Prosecution to abandon charging Guantanamo captives like Omar Khadr
Omar Khadr
Omar Ahmed Khadr is a Canadian child soldier and one of the juveniles held at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp. He was convicted of five charges under the United States Military Commissions Act of 2009 including murder in violation of the law of war and providing material support for terrorism,...

 with murder.
Edwards wrote that the change would have triggered dropping charges against a third of the Guantanamo captives the Prosecution planned to charge with murder.

See also

  • Detainee Treatment Act
    Detainee Treatment Act
    The Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 is an Act of the United States Congress that prohibits inhumane treatment of prisoners, including prisoners at Guantanamo Bay; requires military interrogations to be performed according to the U.S...

  • Military Commissions Act of 2006
    Military Commissions Act of 2006
    The United States Military Commissions Act of 2006, also known as HR-6166, was an Act of Congress signed by President George W. Bush on October 17, 2006. Drafted in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision on Hamdan v...

  • Enemy Belligerent Interrogation, Detention, and Prosecution Act of 2010
    Enemy Belligerent Interrogation, Detention, and Prosecution Act of 2010
    The Enemy Belligerent Interrogation, Detention, and Prosecution Act of 2010 is a bill introduced by United States Senator John McCain, sponsored by Joe Lieberman and eight other Republican Senators. Its counterpart in the House is H.R...

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