Senate votes to ban torture of terrorism detainees

0 Comments | USA TODAY, November, 2005 | by John Diamond

WASHINGTON -- The Senate passed a defense bill Tuesday that would ban torture of terrorism detainees and grant them limited access to federal courts.

The Senate passed an amendment, 84-14, that would allow the roughly 500 detainees at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to file one appeal of convictions by military tribunals if they face the death penalty or at least 10 years in prison. The appeals would be heard in federal court. Detainees also would be allowed to appeal their designation as enemy combatants.

The proposal would allow the court review in place of the right to file challenges to the constitutionality of their detention in federal courts, a right affirmed by the Supreme Court in 2004. The Bush administration has said the detainees have no right...