AFP.com | New US anti-terror law undermines international law: ICRC

AFP.com | New US anti-terror law undermines international law: ICRC: "GENEVA (AFP) - The International Committee of the Red Cross said that a controversial new anti-terror law approved by President George W. Bush this week undermined international humanitarian law.

ICRC President Jakob Kellenberger warned that the Military Commissions Act 'disrupts' part of the Geneva Conventions that are regarded as 'elementary considerations of humanity'.

'Our preliminary reading of the new legislation raised news concerns and questions,' Kellenberger said in an interview published on the humanitarian agency's website.

The new law signed by Bush on Tuesday allows secret overseas CIA prisons, harsh interrogation practices and military trials as weapons against suspected terrorists.

The measure, which US lawmakers approved last month after a bitter election-year debate over national security and civil liberties, also allows the United States to detain alleged terrorists indefinitely, US officials said." Read complete post here.