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House and Senate seek deal on torture amendment

Posted on: Thursday, 8 December 2005, 01:27 CST

By Vicki Allen

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - House of Representatives negotiators have largely accepted Sen. John McCain's amendment banning the torture and inhumane treatment of detainees, but talks on other provisions could undermine the measure, congressional aides said on Wednesday.

House and Senate negotiators hoped to reach agreement this week on a final defense authorization bill where the detainee issue was being thrashed out.

"It appears the House is willing to accept the McCain amendment with no changes," a congressional aide said of the measure pushed by the Arizona Republican that cleared the Senate on a 90-9 vote despite a White House veto threat.

But aides said other language included in House-Senate talks with the White House dealing with detainees was still being discussed and an agreement had not been reached.

McCain has said he would not accept any weakening or exemptions from his amendment that came in the wake of abuse scandals at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and questions over the interrogation methods of terrorism suspects at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and elsewhere.

House Armed Services Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter, a California Republican who staunchly supports the Bush administration, has said the United States does not engage in torture and the McCain language was not necessary.

But Hunter told reporters on Tuesday he expected the McCain amendment "will be strongly manifested" in the final bill.

The McCain measure also has majority support in the House, with backing from Democrats and a number of Republicans.

Vice President Dick Cheney had led an unsuccessful White House bid to exempt the CIA from the torture ban, arguing it would hamper the U.S. war on terrorism.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in Kiev, Ukraine, on Wednesday the United States had explicitly banned its interrogators around the world from treating detainees inhumanely.

Rice has faced questions on her European trip over the U.S. treatment of detainees and reports that the CIA has run secret prisons in Eastern Europe for its war on terror.

Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Rice's statement showed backing for McCain's amendment. "This is the heart of the debate over Senator McCain's amendment, and I am glad the administration finally realizes that Senator McCain is right," Levin said.

Source: REUTERS

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