Review of Detention Policy Options

Executive Order 13493 of January 22, 2009

Review of Detention Policy Options

By the authority vested in me as President by the
Constitution and the laws of the United States of
America, in order to develop policies for the
detention, trial, transfer, release, or other
disposition of individuals captured or apprehended in
connection with armed conflicts and counterterrorism
operations that are consistent with the national
security and foreign policy interests of the United
States and the interests of justice, I hereby order as
follows:

Section 1. Special Interagency Task Force on Detainee
Disposition.

     (a) Establishment of Special Interagency Task
Force. There shall be established a Special Task Force
on Detainee Disposition (Special Task Force) to
identify lawful options for the disposition of
individuals captured or apprehended in connection with
armed conflicts and counterterrorism operations.
    (b) Membership. The Special Task Force shall
consist of the following members, or their designees:

(i) the Attorney General, who shall serve as Co-Chair;

(ii) the Secretary of Defense, who shall serve as Co-Chair;

(iii) the Secretary of State;

(iv) the Secretary of Homeland Security;

(v) the Director of National Intelligence;

(vi) the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency;

(vii) the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and

(viii) other officers or full-time or permanent part-time employees of
the United States, as determined by either of the Co-Chairs, with the
concurrence of the head of the department or agency concerned.

    (c) Staff. Either Co-Chair may designate officers
and employees within their respective departments to
serve as staff to support the Special Task Force. At
the request of the Co-Chairs, officers and employees
from other departments or agencies may serve on the
Special Task Force with the concurrence of the heads of
the departments or agencies that employ such
individuals. Such staff must be officers or full-time
or permanent part-time employees of the United States.
The Co-Chairs shall jointly select an officer or
employee of the Department of Justice or Department of
Defense to serve as the Executive Secretary of the
Special Task Force.
    (d) Operation. The Co-Chairs shall convene meetings
of the Special Task Force, determine its agenda, and
direct its work. The Co-Chairs may establish and direct
subgroups of the Special Task Force, consisting
exclusively of members of the Special Task Force, to
deal with particular subjects.
    (e) Mission. The mission of the Special Task Force
shall be to conduct a comprehensive review of the
lawful options available to the Federal Government with
respect to the apprehension, detention, trial,
transfer, release, or other disposition of individuals
captured or apprehended in connection with armed
conflicts and counterterrorism operations, and to
identify such options as are consistent with the
national security and foreign policy interests of the
United States and the interests of justice.

    (f) Administration. The Special Task Force shall be
established for administrative purposes within the
Department of Justice, and the Department of Justice
shall, to the extent permitted by law and subject to
the availability of appropriations, provide
administrative support and funding for the Special Task
Force.
    (g) Report. The Special Task Force shall provide a
report to the President, through the Assistant to the
President for National Security Affairs and the Counsel
to the President, on the matters set forth in
subsection (d) within 180 days of the date of this
order unless the Co-Chairs determine that an extension
is necessary, and shall provide periodic preliminary
reports during those 180 days.
    (h) Termination. The Co-Chairs shall terminate the
Special Task Force upon the completion of its duties.

Sec. 2. General Provisions.

    (a) This order shall be implemented consistent with
applicable law and subject to the availability of
appropriations.
    (b) This order is not intended to, and does not,
create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural,
enforceable at law or in equity by any party against
the United States, its departments, agencies, or
entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any
other person.

    (Presidential Sig.)

THE WHITE HOUSE,

    January 22, 2009.