Either Way, He Loses
Now here's a twisted bit of justice: a defendant goes to trial, is acquitted, and then is returned to detention. That is exactly what might (and probably will) happen to Mohammad Jawad, who has been held at Guantanamo Bay and who will be among the first to be tried before the Military Commission. From an AP article published in today's Los Angeles Times:
Former Army Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Martin says an Afghan who allegedly wounded him, another soldier and an interpreter in a grenade attack in Kabul should never be let out of U.S. military custody.
More than five years after the attack on a crowded street in the Afghan capital, suspected assailant Mohammed Jawad faces an arraignment before a war-crimes tribunal on Wednesday, marking one of the first tests for America's first war-crimes tribunals since the World War II era.
Even if Jawad goes to trial and is found innocent, Martin may still get his wish. The U.S. military retains the right to hold indefinitely those considered to pose a threat to the United States -- even those who have been cleared of charges at Guantanamo's "military commissions." [Emphasis added]
What an interesting new element in the military's arsenal: the right to hold anybody it considers a threat indefinitely. Such a right certainly fits in with the brave new world the Bush administration has brought us, a world in which habeas corpus and due process have been tossed out as unhelpful to the Global War On Terrorism and the US Constitution is seen as merely a quaint old piece of paper.
It was a nice democracy while we had it, though, wasn't it?
Former Army Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Martin says an Afghan who allegedly wounded him, another soldier and an interpreter in a grenade attack in Kabul should never be let out of U.S. military custody.
More than five years after the attack on a crowded street in the Afghan capital, suspected assailant Mohammed Jawad faces an arraignment before a war-crimes tribunal on Wednesday, marking one of the first tests for America's first war-crimes tribunals since the World War II era.
Even if Jawad goes to trial and is found innocent, Martin may still get his wish. The U.S. military retains the right to hold indefinitely those considered to pose a threat to the United States -- even those who have been cleared of charges at Guantanamo's "military commissions." [Emphasis added]
What an interesting new element in the military's arsenal: the right to hold anybody it considers a threat indefinitely. Such a right certainly fits in with the brave new world the Bush administration has brought us, a world in which habeas corpus and due process have been tossed out as unhelpful to the Global War On Terrorism and the US Constitution is seen as merely a quaint old piece of paper.
It was a nice democracy while we had it, though, wasn't it?
Labels: Due Process, Guantanamo Bay, habeas corpus, Military Commissions Act
posted by Diane at 4:04 AM
1 Comments:
Well don't forget the military commissions act under which Jawad is to be tried is the same law that did away with habeas corpus... and the administration has argued to the supreme court that it is an adequate substitute for that ancient law... I guess they forgot to mention that little detail... that no matter the outcome of the tribunal ... nothing will change...still indefinite detention.
ahh yes, it was nice...
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