Detention and Prosecution as Described in the DoD Manual

Abstract

This text discusses how the position of the United States (US) – reflected in its Department of Defense Law of War Manual – is not the only position one can take on the law; it stresses the importance of taking into consideration the perspectives of the wider international community.

For example, the Manual seems to assume that if you are in a war-like situation you can detain people based solely on the grounds that there is a war on. Whereas for other States, in particular those States which are bound by the European human rights treaties, in a non-international armed conflict you need to have some authority to detain based on law, not just based on war.

Keywords: war, armed conflict, human rights, humanitarian law, international law, terrorism, security