- The first trial has begun of one of the suspects held
at the Guantanamo Bay US navy base on Cuba. A military tribunal will be
hearing the cases against a total of four people accused of terrorist activities
against the United States, with Salim Ahmed Hamdan, one-time chauffeur
of Osama bin Laden, the first to face prosecution in a process which has
come in for fierce criticism from human rights organisations and international
legal experts.
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- This is the first time since the Second World War that
the United States has put together a special military tribunal to try suspected
individuals. President George Bush gave his seal of approval for the concept
shortly after the 11 September attacks of 2001. The presidential decree
he signed made it possible to hold non-US nationals who were suspected
of being terrorists in captivity indefinitely and without any form of legal
process. Of the almost 600 inmates of the detention centre in Guantanamo
Bay, four have now been formally charged. For the others there is as yet,
after nearly three years in detention, still no clarity as to what charges
they will face or when they can expect their trials to begin.
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- Global criticism
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- This system of prosecution has been the object of fierce
protest across the world. Human rights organisation Amnesty International
says there is no question of the suspects receiving a fair trial. The members
of the tribunal are not independent of the US government and, moreover,
the defence teams face all kinds of limitations in doing their work. For
example, they have been denied access to "sensitive" evidence,
there is no possibility of filing an appeal against the final verdict,
and the prosecution will be able to submit testimony which has been obtained
under considerable duress. Amnesty International says it's a matter of
deep regret that the United States is pushing ahead with this form of trial,
and intends to continue protesting against it. However, the organisation
has welcomed the fact that it will be allowed to be present during the
proceedings.
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- Restrictions
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- A number of strict measures apply to media coverage of
the tribunals. No more than eight journalists will be admitted to the proceedings;
all other media representatives will have to follow events via a video
link. There will also be no opportunity to speak to the chairman of the
tribunal, retired US army Colonel Peter Brownback, or any of the military
prosecutors. The team handling the defence of the first detainee to go
before the tribunal has also expressed a great deal of criticism about
the proceedings. "I've never gone into a hearing with so little information,"
was the reported comment by Lieutenant Commander Charlie Swift, who's defending
Salim Ahmed Hamdan, a man who acted as a driver for Osama bin Laden for
a short period, but who denies having anything at all to do with any terrorist
attacks.
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- Later this week, the case against Australian David Hicks,
the only citizen of a western nation still held at Guantanamo, is also
due to begin. He was detained in Afghanistan in 2001, and is now to be
prosecuted for terrorist activities against the United States.
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- Enemy combatants
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- A ruling issued by the US Supreme Court in June this
year has now made it possible for the other 585 Guantanamo detainees to
file proceedings with the civilian courts in the United States itself to
obtain a ruling, for example, on the lawfulness of their being held without
charge at the base. In such cases, the authorities will have to establish
that the detainees are "enemy combatants", for that is the only
basis on which they can be detained indefinitely. Unlike "prisoners
of war", enemy combatants do not enjoy the protection of the Geneva
Conventions.
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- Following the recent Supreme Court ruling, the first
public hearings were held at Guantanamo Bay early this month. These hearings
provide an opportunity for the prisoners to object to their status as enemy
combatants". Spokespersons for the US military have said that the
hearings more than satisfy the requirements set by the Supreme Court, but
human rights campaigners have contested this claim on the grounds that
the detainees are not being granted access to lawyers or secret documents.
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- The US authorities have already stated that the first
four detainees to be tried before the special tribunal will not face the
death penalty if convicted, although life sentences may be imposed. Capital
punishment has not been ruled out for those who will follow them.
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- http://www.rnw.nl/hotspots/html/usa040824.html
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