Bush says "We must not let foreign enemies use the forms of liberty
to destroy liberty itself." (CNN article
http://www.cnn.com/2001/US/11/29/inv.bush.terrorism/index.html) but
IMO these tribunals are a dire threat to liberty in and of
themselves. Why do they have to be secret, what does the
administration have to hide? Why no appeal?
I think that when we feel the need to resort to fascism to combat
terrorism, the terrorists have triumphed.
* News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty
International *
15 November 2001
AMR 51/165/2001
202/01
Amnesty International is deeply troubled by the Military Order
signed by President George W. Bush on 13 November allowing for
the trial by special military commissions of non-US citizens
suspected of involvement in "international terrorism."
Since the attacks in the USA on 11 September, Amnesty
International has been calling for anyone suspected of
involvement in these crimes to be brought to justice in
accordance with international standards for a fair trial. This
sweeping presidential order bypasses those fundamental
principles, in contravention of US obligations under
international law, specifically the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights, ratified by the USA in 1992. As
such it is unacceptable and should be revoked.
Amnesty International is particularly concerned that the
Military Order:
- is discriminatory by affording foreign nationals a lower
standard of justice than US nationals;
- gives unfettered and unchallengeable discretionary power to the
executive to decide whom will be prosecuted and under what rules,
as well as to review convictions and sentences. This is
inconsistent with the principle of the separation of the
executive and the judiciary;
- expressly bypasses the normal principles of law and rules of
evidence applied in the trials of people charged with criminal
offences in the US courts;
- provides no right of appeal against conviction or sentence to a
higher court, or access to redress for any human rights
violations that may occur during arrest, detention or prosecution;
Amnesty International believes that the Military Order
creates a parallel system which violates fundamental principles
of justice in any circumstances, including in times of war. For
example, the 1949 Geneva Conventions, ratified by the USA in
1955, require that prisoners of war must be tried in courts which
guarantee fundamental rights of fairness, including the right of
appeal.
Amnesty International is particularly alarmed that the
death penalty may be imposed by such a tribunal. International
standards require that the legal process in any capital
proceedings provide "all possible safeguards" to ensure a fair
trial, including the right to appeal.
The Military Order creates the risk that people may be
executed after a trial conducted by a court whose decision cannot
be appealed but only reviewed by the executive who selected the
individual for prosecution in the first place.
Amnesty International believes that the Military Order
threatens to severely undermine, rather than reinforce,
confidence in the administration of justice and maintenance of
the rule of law. The organization considers that in proceedings
undertaken pursuant to this order, justice will neither be done,
nor seen to be done.
Times of crisis pose particular challenges to
governments. It is precisely in such times that the principles
of fair justice must be scrupulously upheld. The suffering of
the victims of the attacks of 11 September, their families, and
the public at large, deserves no less.
--
Doug
email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.zo.com/~brighto
Irreverence is the champion of liberty.
Mark Twain - Notebook, 1888
