ensure that we meet our international obligation to maintain the ICRC's relationship with those in our custody while also providing Congress access to this same information so they can exercise effective oversight.
Depending on the circumstances, there are some occasions when we allow a foreign government access to a detainee if that country is considering accepting the transfer of the detainee for resettlement in their country. This is an exception to policy and is approved on a case-by-case basis.
Similarly, some of the detainees at Guantanamo have committed crimes in their homelands or other countries, or they can be crucial witnesses in the trials of other terrorists. In such instances, foreign governments have made, and continue to make, requests to interview a specific detainee to assist in law enforcement actions. If a foreign government requests a law enforcement visit with a detainee, the Department evaluates each request on a case-by-case basis to determine whether to grant such access.
Finally, the US Government has in the past requested a foreign government's assistance in helping to determine the identity of an individual we have captured, or for intelligence information they have about his terrorist links and activity. Such foreign requests for access on these grounds are extremely infrequent.
In addition, some foreign governments may request access to a detainee to assist them in their own efforts to gain intelligence to assist them in identifying and aborting potential terrorist plots in their countries. When we receive them, however, they are assessed on their individual merits in consultation with other appropriate US Government Departments and agencies, to determine whether such access should be granted.
I would like to stress to the Committee, that in each of the set of circumstances I described above, when a decision to grant access to foreign law enforcement and/or intelligence officials, it has been—and currently remains—longstanding Department policy that visiting foreign officials must agree that they will abide by all DOD policies, rules, and procedures. This is codified in DOD Directive 3115.09 and remains our policy in all of our military detention facilities worldwide. Additionally, in all of the above-noted cases, the foreign government officials who are allowed access are members of their nations' executive branch.
Finally, I would be remiss if I did not stress that DOD also allows legal counsel access to their clients at Guantanamo. . The Department goes to extraordinary lengths to facilitate attorney visits to their clients in detention facilities and to hold productive—and privileged—meetings with their clients in an environment that ensures the safety of the detainee, the counsel, and government and military personnel. In 2008, JTF-Guantanamo facilitated more than 1,800 legal visits and phone calls.
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