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![handle is hein.prescomm/prelimrpt0001 and id is 1 raw text is:
Detention Policy Task Force
Washhrgron D.C 20530
July 20, 2009
MEMORANDUM FOR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE
FROM: Brad i to
Colonel Mark Nrts I ts -
RE: Preliminary Report
The Detention Policy Task Force has thus far focused much ofits work on developing
options for the lawful disposition of detainees held at Guantainamo Bay. Important questions
remain concerning our policies in the future regarding apprehension, detention, and treatment of
suspected terrorists, as parn of our broader strategy to defeat al Qaeda and its affiliates. We need
to consider in greater depth how our military, intelligence, and law enforcement personnel will
best support these activities; how we can work together more effectively to plan and execute
these activities; what the rules and boundaries should be for any future detention under the law of
war; how we can best reconcile our intelligence-gathering efforts with any such detention; how
we can make both federal courts and military commissions more effective fora for prosecuting
terrorists; how international law will apply in this future context; whether to revise our detention
policies in Afghanistan in any respect; and how to incorporate reintegration programs into our
detention and transfer policies, among other key issues. As it prepares to address this range of
issues, the Task Force submits this preliminary report on two mattern-military commissions and
a process for determination of prosecution forum--on which significant policy decisions have
been made.
Military' Commissions
In the current conflict with a] Qaeda, the Taliban, and affiliated forces, the unlawful
activities of our adversaries can in many cases be fairly characterized both as violations of the
law of war and as terrorism offenses under our federal criminal code. This reflects the nature of
the conflict in which we are engaged, in which the enemy is a non-state actor and criminal
enterprise bent on attacking innocent civilians on a massive scale. The President has concluded
that, just as the defeat of al Qaeda will require employment of all instruments of national
power-military, intelligence, law enforcement, and diplomatic-so too must we have the ability
to hold our enemies accountable for their crimes in more than one forum, namely both federal
courts and military commissions. The two systems are not mutually exclusive but should instead
complement one another.](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.prescomm/prelimrpt0001&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)