This academic module features teaching notes by author Ashley S. Deeks for the Council Special Report Avoiding Transfers to Torture, along with additional resources to supplement the text. In this report, Ms. Deeks addresses the dilemma that occurs when the United States obtains assurances that released detainees will not be tortured by their home countries upon return, guarantees that are an important tool for dealing with dangerous suspects.

President Obama's decision to transfer Guantanamo inmates to an Illinois prison could speed closure of the facility, but the move has raised both security and civil liberties concerns.

The U.S. attorney general's decision to conduct a preliminary review of past CIA interrogations awakens spirited debate over the scope of the intelligence community's counterterrorism practices.

President Obama has reinforced his call to shut down the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, saying its flaws have weakened national security. But his plans for transferring detainees remain unclear and political battles loom.

The Bush administration claims victory after admissions of guilt by two high-profile Guantanamo inmates. But uncertainty lingers about the judicial process and damage to America’s image.

The issue of secret wiretapping is back in the news, with the White House making important concessions on its terrorist surveillance program.

The debate in Washington over the Geneva Conventions, now possibly resolved, has raised important moral as well as legal and political questions about the treatment of detainees in the war on terror.

President Bush, admitting for the first time the existence of CIA-run prisons, announced the relocation of fourteen top terrorism suspects to Guantanamo Bay, where they and 450 other detainees will face a war crimes tribunal.

The Supreme Court rebuffs the Bush administration in a 5-3 ruling over the rights of a terror suspect at Guantanamo Bay. The decision deals a blow to the White House's efforts to create military tribunals.

The Supreme Court began considering the legality of the military commissions established to try Guantanamo Bay detainees on March 28, when it took up the case of Hamdan v. Rumsfeld. It is the latest court battle to be fought in the legally troublesome "war on terror."

Two months after President Bush signed into law a ban on torture, a new UN report accuses the United States of torturing detainees at Guantanamo Bay and more images of abuse at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison are emerging. The issue of prisoner abuse continues to divide America, while alienating a number of U.S. allies.

Two months after President Bush signed into law a ban on torture, a new UN report accuses the United States of torturing detainees at the Guantanamo Bay military base. The issue of prisoner abuse continues to divide American society, while alienating a number of U.S. allies.

Noah Feldman says the Obama administration faces both old and new legal challenges over U.S. defense strategies.

Edward Alden says that the Supreme Court ruling on the terrorism case, Ashcroft v. Iqbal, makes it difficult for many other lawsuits to proceed.

In this chapter of the edited volume Cooperating for Peace and Security, Stewart Patrick discusses the United States and multilateral cooperation after 9/11.

Listen to John B. Bellinger III, Steven Simon, and Lydia Khalil consider the ramifications of the Justice department's controversial decision to prosecute suspected September 11th mastermind, Khalid Sheik Mohammed, and his four alleged co-conspirators.

Listen to Robert S. Mueller, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, as he details his agency's efforts to effectively address threats from global terrorism as a global security, national security, and law enforcement organization.

The Bush administration's approach to the detention and prosecution of prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has been deemed unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court. But the battle continues.

The prosecution of alleged terrorists in U.S. civilian criminal courts and in new military tribunals has been fraught with controversy. U.S. federal courts have gradually asserted their role in the military tribunal process, and a case before the U.S. Supreme Court could make a major statement about the power of the U.S. presidency in prosecuting the war on terror.