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

[dean tuckerman]

How "may" is "may"?
On May 3, 2009, at 10:10 AM, Suzanne de Kuyper wrote:

> 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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