November 13, 2006

Abstract: - Many adults in the United States disagree with the Military Commissions Act of 2006, according to a poll by Scripps Howard News Service and Ohio University. 52 per cent of respondents think the U.S. Congress was wrong in giving the president the authority to interpret the Geneva Convention when ordering the interrogation of suspected terrorists.

- Many adults in the United States disagree with the Military Commissions Act of 2006, according to a poll by Scripps Howard News Service and Ohio University. 52 per cent of respondents think the U.S. Congress was wrong in giving the president the authority to interpret the Geneva Convention when ordering the interrogation of suspected terrorists.

The 1949 Geneva Convention defines prisoners of war as members of rival armed forces captured during a conflict. Since the start of the war on terrorism on October 2001, there have been contradictory arguments after captured members of al-Qaeda and the Taliban were defined as "unlawful combatants" who were not subject to the Geneva Convention.

In May 2005, a 308-page report by Amnesty International criticized the U.S. government for its handling of prisoners in several detention centres, including one at Guantanamo Bay where more than 400 "enemy combatants"—most of them from Afghanistan—are being held. Former presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton have urged the federal administration to close the prison.

In September, Congress authorized the Military Commissions Act of 2006. The legislation prevents the United States from resorting to torture in order to get information from terrorist suspects, allows these suspects to be held indefinitely without being charged with a crime, and forbids them from challenging their confinement in U.S. courts. 52 per cent of respondents believe torture is never justified, and 49 per cent of respondents think Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) employees should be prosecuted if they have resorted to torture.

Last month, U.S. vice-president Dick Cheney caused a controversy when he said that "a dunk in the water" for a terrorism suspect was a "no-brainer" if it could save American lives. Cheney later clarified his remarks, saying, "I was being interviewed by a talk show host. I don't talk about techniques and I wouldn't. I have said that the interrogation program for a select number of detainees is very important. (...) I didn't say anything about water boarding. Those were his comments. He didn't even use that phrase."

Polling Data

As you may know, Congress recently passed legislation giving U.S. president George W. Bush authority to interpret the Geneva Conventions when ordering the interrogation of suspected terrorists. The Geneva Conventions are international treaties that ban the use of torture on prisoners of war. Do you think Congress did the right thing or the wrong thing in giving the president this authority?

Right thing	38%
Wrong thing	52%
Don't know	9%
Other	1%

Do you think the United States is sometimes justified in using torture to get information from a suspected terrorist, or is torture never justified?

Sometimes justified	38%
Never justified	52%
Don't know	8%
Other	2%

Should employees of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) be prosecuted if they've used methods on suspected terrorists like electric shock and water torture, or should they be prosecuted?

Prosecute CIA	49%
Don't prosecute	36%
Don't know	10%
Other	5%

Source: Scripps Howard News Service / Ohio University
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,031 American adults, conducted from Oct. 7 to Oct. 24, 2006. Margin of error is 4 per cent.