Selected Events in 2006

John B. Bellinger, highest-ranking Legal Advisor at the Department of State, comments on Guantánamo

October 12, 2006.

At an event of the American Academy in Berlin, John B. Bellinger III talked about the current legal situation of detainees in Guantánamo. Trials will be held in the near future. The foundation for these military court trials is a new law recently passed by the U.S. Congress and based on the laws of war. President George W. Bush is to sign it next week, Bellinger said. This law aims at normalizing the status of the Guantánamo detainees but at the same time it gives the U.S. government new powers in dealing with terror suspects. John B. Bellinger is currently traveling in Europe to explain the position of the U.S. government.