ACLU Monitoring Unconstitutional
Guantanamo Military Commissions This Week
"The Khadr case in particular has illustrated
the legal black hole that Guantanamo represents"
PR-USA.net , October
24, 2008
go to original
See Article III.7
Establishing an Unconstitutional, Parallel Legal System
| |
President Bush signs the Military
Commissions Act on October 17, 2006. The Act
retroactively stamped approval on Bush's parallel
legal system.
Source: Historycommons.org
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GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba – The American Civil Liberties
Union is at Guantanamo monitoring the military commission
hearings of Omar Khadr and Mohammed Kamin and the
arraignment of Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani scheduled to
take place this week. The ACLU has been present as
an independent observer at nearly every commission
hearing since 2004 and continues to see no indication
that the proceedings are fair, impartial or in accordance
with constitutional principles.
"From the get go, these deeply flawed commissions
have stacked the deck in favor of the Bush administration.
Any judicial system that allows evidence obtained
through torture is fundamentally incompatible with
the American system of justice" said Judy Rabinovitz,
an ACLU attorney who is observing this week’s
proceedings. "With the whole world watching these
proceedings, the U.S. must stand up, reject this system
and reaffirm its commitment to the rule of law"
Tainted by political interference, the proceedings
have been riddled with ethical and legal problems
from day one. Among other things, the proceedings
allow the admission of secret evidence, hearsay and
evidence obtained through torture. The Bush administration
has admitted that at least three detainees in its
custody have been subjected to waterboarding.
In September, a military judge banned Brig. Gen.
Thomas Hartmann, a Pentagon general, from acting as
a legal advisor in Khadr’s case because of bias
towards the prosecution. Several weeks later, the
Department of Defense announced that Hartmann would
be "reassigned" to a newly created post
– director of court logistics – and replaced
by his deputy as the military commissions’ legal
advisor. Pledging to prosecute detainees at a quick
pace, Hartmann said that his goal in his new post
is "to keep the process moving, really intensely"
an objective that raises questions about trials that
cut corners, deny basic fairness and are aimed at
convictions rather than uncovering the truth.
"The Khadr case in particular has illustrated
the legal black hole that Guantanamo represents"
said Rabinovitz. "Our government should end this
farce and make a fresh start in America’s traditional
civilian or military courts where the Constitution
still means something"
Now 21, Khadr was 15 when he was captured by U.S.
forces in Afghanistan for allegedly throwing a grenade
that killed a U.S. soldier. In a signed, nine-page
affidavit, Khadr charges that he was repeatedly threatened
with rape during interrogations while held both in
Afghanistan and at Guant?namo Bay. Kamin is alleged
to have provided martial support to al Qaeda and the
Taliban between January and May 2003. Ghailani, who
was transferred to the Guant?namo prison camp from
secret CIA custody in 2006, is scheduled be arraigned
for crimes related to the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombing
in Tanzania. Ghailani was already indicted ten years
ago in a U.S. federal court.
The ACLU is one of four organizations that have been
granted status as human rights observers at the military
commission proceedings. In addition to monitoring
the commissions, the ACLU has repeatedly called on
Congress and the Bush administration to shut down
the U.S. detention facility at Guant?namo Bay.
In May 2007, the ACLU endorsed legislation introduced
by Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) that would close the
Guantanamo facility and end the practice of indefinite
detention. It would also provide a push for the government
to finally charge the Guantanamo detainees, some of
whom have been held without charge for over six years.
Rabinovitz will post a series of blogs containing
her comments and observations from the hearings on
the ACLU’s Blog of Rights, which can be found
at: blog.aclu.org
Additional information about the ACLU’s involvement
surrounding the detention of prisoners at Guant?namo
Bay can be found online at: www.aclu.org/gitmo
