Friday, May 16, 2008

The Guantanamo Hearings

In November 2001, following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the Bush administration announced that it planned to try foreign terrorism suspects by special military commissions.

In January 2002 the US began sending persons apprehended in the “war on terror” to the US military base at Guantanamo Bay, and the Pentagon drafted rules to hold military commissions there. These measures were taken in part to prevent US courts from hearing claims by detainees about the legal basis for their detention or charges of mistreatment. Human Rights Watch believes that the US federal courts are fully capable of prosecuting terrorism suspects.

In June 2006, the US Supreme Court ruled that the military commissions were unlawful because they violated both the Uniform Code of Military Justice and the Geneva Conventions and because the president had not sought congressional authority establishing them. In September 2006, Congress passed the Military Commissions Act, authorizing a new system of military commissions.

Now, more than six years after the commissions were first announced, no case has gone to trial, and only one person -- Australian David Hicks -- has been convicted. He agreed to plead guilty to one count of providing material support to terrorism in exchange for a nine-month sentence, which he served in Australia.

Meanwhile, the military commissions have been subjected to numerous legal challenges and come under a barrage of criticism that they do not provide fundamental fair trial rights. Last year the commissions’ chief military prosecutor resigned stating that it would be impossible for detainees to receive full, fair and open trials in the presently constituted system. Among the primary concerns are the commissions’ vulnerability to executive pressure, what looks like an effort to rush the cases to trial and the allowance of evidence obtained through abuse. Even Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has warned that commission trials at Guantanamo will have a “taint” to them.

Despite widespread concerns about the commissions raised in the United States and abroad, commission hearings are proceeding. To date, the US government has announced charges against 15 men, including six cases in which the US is seeking the death penalty.

1) Ali Abdul Aziz Ali; Nationality: Pakistani
2) Walid bin ‘Attash; Nationality: Yemeni
3) Ali Hamza al-Bahlul; Nationality: Yemeni
4) Ramzi Binalshibh; Nationality: Yemeni
5) Ahmed al-Darbi; Nationality: Saudi
6) Ahmed Ghailani; Nationality: Tanzanian
7) Salim Hamdan; Nationality: Yemeni
8) Mustafa al-Hawsawi; Nationality: Saudi
9) David Hicks; Nationality: Australian
10) Mohammed Jawad; Nationality: Afghan
11) Mohammed Kamin; Nationality: Afghan
12) Omar Khadr; Nationality: Canadian
13) Khalid Sheikh Mohammed; Nationality: Kuwaiti
14) Mohammed al-Qahtani; Nationality: Saudi
15) Ibrahim Ahmed Mahmoud al-Qosi; Nationality: Sudanese

Source: Human Rights Watch

p/s: Don't you feel something fishy is going on in the military commission? There's only one non-Muslim among the 15 charged and well, he's the only one convicted while the rest remain pending infinitely..

Cher Linn

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