WASHINGTON, Sept. 7 (UPI) -- Two powerful senators are demanding explanations from Attorney General John Ashcroft and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld as to why two United States citizens have been detained as "enemy combatants" -- a Bush administration designation that condemns them to a legal limbo in which they have no access to their attorneys or the evidence or the charges against them.
"These cases raise fundamental questions about the constitutional protections afforded United States citizens during times of national crisis. As such, it is critical that the Congress be informed as to the process and legal basis for the designation," wrote Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., and Judiciary subcommittee Chairman Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis.
Jose Padilla, U.S. citizen, was arrested in May in Chicago by FBI agents under suspicion that he was scouting locations for a "dirty bomb" in the United States. He was transferred from the civilian justice system to the military; he is being held indefinitely in a military prison without charge or access to his lawyers.
Hamdi, born in Louisiana to Saudi parents, was captured in Afghanistan, allegedly fighting for the Taliban. He was taken to the detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, but was transferred to a Navy jail in Norfolk after his U.S. citizenship was discovered.
Neither man has been allowed to meet with his attorney or hear the evidence against him. Neither has been charged with a specific crime.
In contrast, two non-U.S. citizens, Zacarias Moussaoui and Richard Reid -- the alleged "20th hijacker" and "shoe bomber" -- are both facing charges in federal court.
The sharply worded letter, sent Sept. 5, reproaches Ashcroft for his failure to respond to in full -- or at all -- to five earlier congressional inquiries.
"Your unresponsiveness to legitimate congressional inquiry impedes our efforts to fulfill our constitutional responsibilities," the senators wrote.
Rumsfeld was sent a separate letter asking for the same information.
The senators ask a number of questions that indicate they may be looking for grounds to challenge the enemy combatant designation. The questions include:
-- "What is the operative definition of 'enemy combatant' and what are the criteria used to determine whether a United States citizen will be designated an enemy combatant?
-- "What is the process for designating a person an "enemy combatant"? What agency or individual has the responsibility to make such a designation? Is the ultimate authority to designate a United States citizen as an enemy combatant reserved for the president?
-- "Do the criteria for determining enemy combatant status vary depending upon whether an individual is a citizen of the United States? Do the criteria vary if the person is taken into custody outside the United States? Do they vary if the person is taken into custody on the battlefield?
-- What rights does a United States citizen designated as an enemy combatant have to challenge that designation other than the right to habeas corpus review? What is the scope of the detainee's right to counsel if the detainee seeks to challenge the enemy combatant designation?
-- What are the time limits on the government's authority to detain United States citizens designated as enemy combatants?
-- Are any other U.S. citizens besides Hamdi and Padilla being held as enemy combatants?
