Justice denied Indefinite detention at Guantanamo is unacceptable
A courtroom with closed-circuit TV, microphones and American flags has existed for months at the prison camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
And yet, the 660 prisoners there have had no trials.
They don't have lawyers, either. They aren't even charged with anything specific.
Human rights organizations have justifiably complained that the U.S. government is holding the prisoners -- some for more than 18 months -- without filing charges and without offering access to counsel.
The government says the detainees, most of them taken prisoner in Afghanistan, are suspected of having links with the fallen Taliban regime or the al-Qaida terrorist network. As "enemy combatants," the government says, the prisoners aren't subject to the rights of prisoners of war.
Yet, whatever the prisoners' legal status, their indefinite detention without charges or trial is unacceptable. And U.S. policy- makers should determine whether those circumstances might have led some Americans serving at Guantanamo to sympathize with the prisoners.
That possibility seems enhanced by the International Red Cross' demand last Friday for fair treatment of the prisoners.
The Red Cross said the mental health of prisoners is deteriorating because they "have no idea about their fate and they have no means of recourse at their disposal through any legal mechanism." Suicide attempts by 27 prisoners indicate the prisoners' desperation, the Red Cross reported.
Despite the public alarm sounded by the Red Cross, the U.S. government has made no apparent shift in its stance. That's not surprising, because the Red Cross reportedly expressed its concerns privately to the Bush administration over the past two months when its workers were at the camp.
Even if the White House and Justice Department aren't fazed, the American people should demand more accountability from the U.S. government.
Imagine the outcry in the United States if a Middle Eastern country were holding American prisoners indefinitely for vague reasons and without access to justice. The Guantanamo camp could be establishing a dangerous international precedent.
Perhaps it was an American's simple desire for justice that got Army Capt. James Yee into trouble with U.S. military authorities in Guantanamo.
Yee, an Arab-speaking, Islamic chaplain at the camp, was taken into custody Sept. 10. U.S. authorities strongly implied that he had cooperated with prisoners at Guantanmo and might be involved in espionage.
Yet, last Friday, the military charged Yee with two relatively minor counts of disobeying orders. Other charges could follow, a military spokesman said.
That means Yee, like the prisoners, could be in legal limbo.
The U.S. government should continue to aggressively pursue terrorists and their supporters. But in that pursuit, the administration should adhere to the basic American principles that suspects should know the charges against them and be granted a speedy trial. The empty military courtroom at Guantanamo should be put to use.
http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20031016/OPINION/310160454/1030
A courtroom with closed-circuit TV, microphones and American flags has existed for months at the prison camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
And yet, the 660 prisoners there have had no trials.
They don't have lawyers, either. They aren't even charged with anything specific.
Human rights organizations have justifiably complained that the U.S. government is holding the prisoners -- some for more than 18 months -- without filing charges and without offering access to counsel.
The government says the detainees, most of them taken prisoner in Afghanistan, are suspected of having links with the fallen Taliban regime or the al-Qaida terrorist network. As "enemy combatants," the government says, the prisoners aren't subject to the rights of prisoners of war.
Yet, whatever the prisoners' legal status, their indefinite detention without charges or trial is unacceptable. And U.S. policy- makers should determine whether those circumstances might have led some Americans serving at Guantanamo to sympathize with the prisoners.
That possibility seems enhanced by the International Red Cross' demand last Friday for fair treatment of the prisoners.
The Red Cross said the mental health of prisoners is deteriorating because they "have no idea about their fate and they have no means of recourse at their disposal through any legal mechanism." Suicide attempts by 27 prisoners indicate the prisoners' desperation, the Red Cross reported.
Despite the public alarm sounded by the Red Cross, the U.S. government has made no apparent shift in its stance. That's not surprising, because the Red Cross reportedly expressed its concerns privately to the Bush administration over the past two months when its workers were at the camp.
Even if the White House and Justice Department aren't fazed, the American people should demand more accountability from the U.S. government.
Imagine the outcry in the United States if a Middle Eastern country were holding American prisoners indefinitely for vague reasons and without access to justice. The Guantanamo camp could be establishing a dangerous international precedent.
Perhaps it was an American's simple desire for justice that got Army Capt. James Yee into trouble with U.S. military authorities in Guantanamo.
Yee, an Arab-speaking, Islamic chaplain at the camp, was taken into custody Sept. 10. U.S. authorities strongly implied that he had cooperated with prisoners at Guantanmo and might be involved in espionage.
Yet, last Friday, the military charged Yee with two relatively minor counts of disobeying orders. Other charges could follow, a military spokesman said.
That means Yee, like the prisoners, could be in legal limbo.
The U.S. government should continue to aggressively pursue terrorists and their supporters. But in that pursuit, the administration should adhere to the basic American principles that suspects should know the charges against them and be granted a speedy trial. The empty military courtroom at Guantanamo should be put to use.
http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20031016/OPINION/310160454/1030
