[R-G] U.S. May Revive Guantánamo Military Courts

[Suzanne de Kuyper]

In other words, paint the place a freah new color,and you have another
different prison, nicer, legaler.

Suzanne
suzannedk at gnail.com


On 5/3/09, Anthony Fenton <fentona at shaw.ca> wrote:
>
> http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/02/us/politics/02gitmo.html?_r=1
>
> May 2, 2009
> U.S. May Revive Guantánamo Military Courts
> By WILLIAM GLABERSON
>
> The Obama administration is moving toward reviving the military
> commission system for prosecuting Guantánamo detainees, which was a
> target of critics during the Bush administration, including Mr. Obama
> himself.
>
> Officials said the first public moves could come as soon as next week,
> perhaps in filings to military judges at the United States naval base
> at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, outlining an administration plan to amend the
> Bush administration’s system to provide more legal protections for
> terrorism suspects.
>
> Continuing the military commissions in any form would probably prompt
> sharp criticism from human rights groups as well as some of Mr.
> Obama’s political allies because the troubled system became an emblem
> of the effort to use Guantánamo to avoid the American legal system.
>
> Officials who work on the Guantánamo issue say administration lawyers
> have become concerned that they would face significant obstacles to
> trying some terrorism suspects in federal courts. Judges might make it
> difficult to prosecute detainees who were subjected to brutal
> treatment or for prosecutors to use hearsay evidence gathered by
> intelligence agencies.
>
> Obama administration officials — and Mr. Obama himself — have said in
> the past that they were not ruling out prosecutions in the military
> commission system. But senior officials have emphasized that they
> prefer to prosecute terrorism suspects in existing American courts.
> When President Obama suspended Guantánamo cases after his inauguration
> on Jan. 20, many participants said the military commission system
> appeared dead.
>
> But in recent days a variety of officials involved in the
> deliberations say that after administration lawyers examined many of
> the cases, the mood shifted toward using military commissions to
> prosecute some detainees, perhaps including those charged with
> coordinating the Sept. 11 attacks.
>
> “The more they look at it,” said one official, “the more commissions
> don’t look as bad as they did on Jan. 20.”
>
> Several officials insisted on anonymity because the administration has
> directed that no one publicly discuss the deliberations.
>
> Administration officials said Friday that some detainees would be
> prosecuted in federal courts and noted that Mr. Obama had always left
> open the possibility of using military commissions.
>
> Still, during the presidential campaign Mr. Obama criticized the
> commissions, saying that “by any measure our system of trying
> detainees has been an enormous failure,” and declaring that as
> president he would “reject the Military Commissions Act.”
>
> The military commissions, which were established specifically for
> trying Guantánamo detainees, have been subject to repeated delays and
> court challenges that argued that detainees were being denied basic
> rights of American law. Only two trials have been completed in the
> nearly eight years since the Bush administration announced that it
> would use military tribunals.
>
> Any plan to adjust the military commissions would walk a tightrope of
> granting the suspects more rights yet stopping short of affording them
> the rights available to defendants in American courts. Several lawyers
> say the commissions are only beneficial for the government if they
> make it easier to win a prosecution than it would be in federal court.
>
> The Bush administration’s commission system was criticized in part
> because it permitted evidence that would often be barred in federal
> court, like evidence obtained through coercive interrogations and
> hearsay.
>
> The administration is likely to make it more difficult for prosecutors
> to admit hearsay, while not excluding it entirely, the lawyers said.
> The hearsay issue is central to many Guantánamo cases because they are
> based on intelligence reports and detainees may never be permitted to
> cross-examine the sources of those reports.
>
> Human rights groups said Friday that using any form of military
> commission would be seen as permitting shortcuts that would not be
> available in existing American courts.
>
> Anthony D. Romero, the executive director of the American Civil
> Liberties Union, said that Mr. Obama had pledged to return the country
> to the rule of law and that “continuing with the military commission
> system would be a retreat from that promise.”
>
> Gabor Rona, the international legal director of Human Rights First,
> said military commissions would only be necessary if the
> administration wanted to assure convictions that might not otherwise
> be certain.
>
> “The administration is making a huge mistake,” Mr. Rona said, “if they
> believe getting convictions through suspect methods is more valuable
> than letting justice take its course.”
>
> It is not clear how many of the remaining 241 detainees are likely to
> be prosecuted. The four-month suspension of military commission
> proceedings Mr. Obama ordered is to end May 20. As a result,
> administration officials are considering whether to ask military
> judges at Guantánamo for an additional delay. In making such a
> request, administration lawyers might outline their proposed changes.
>
> In recent days, senior administration officials have hinted publicly
> that commissions were far from dead, yet offered no specifics and
> their comments drew little attention. In Congressional testimony on
> Thursday, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said, “The commissions are
> still very much on the table.”
>
> In a news conference this week, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.
> emphasized that if the administration did use military commissions,
> the rules must give detainees “a maximum amount of due process.”
>
> But, speaking of detainees whom American officials have accused of
> involvement in major terrorist plots, Mr. Holder added, “It may be
> difficult for some of those high-value detainees to be tried in a
> normal federal court.”
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