* News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty
International *
22 March 2002
AMR 51/049/2002
53/02
The operating guidelines for trials by executive military
commission, issued by the US Secretary of Defense yesterday, have
thrown into stark relief the fundamental defects of the Military
Order signed by President Bush on 13 November 2001, Amnesty
International said today.
"We have said from the start that the Military Order was
too flawed to fix and should be revoked," Amnesty International
said. "That the Pentagon has paid lip service to due process in
its commission guidelines cannot disguise the fact that any trial
before these executive bodies would violate the USA's
international obligations."
Amnesty International is repeating its call for the
Military Order to be rescinded, and for no person to be tried
before the military commissions. The fundamental flaws include:
! The Military Order is discriminatory. US nationals will
not be tried by military commission, even if accused of the same
offense as a foreign national, but rather tried by ordinary
civilian courts with a broad range of fair trial protections.
Under the Order, selected foreign nationals will receive
second-class justice, in violation of international law which
prohibits discriminatory treatment, including on the basis of
nationality.
! The commissions would allow a lower standard of evidence
than is admissible in the ordinary courts, including hearsay
evidence. The Pentagon guidelines do not expressly exclude
statements extracted under torture or other coercive methods.
These deficiencies are particularly troubling given the lack of
due safeguards during interrogation and the fact that the
commissions will have the power to hand down death sentences.
! In violation of international law, there will be no
right of appeal to an independent and impartial court established
by law. Instead, there would be a review by a three-member panel
appointed by the Secretary of Defense.
! The military commissions would entirely lack
independence from the executive. The President has given himself
or the Secretary of Defense the power to name who will be tried
by the commissions, to appoint or to remove the members of those
commissions, to pick the panel that will review convictions and
sentences, and to make the final decision in any case.
"We note the Pentagon's rules include the presumption of
innocence," Amnesty International said. "However, this guarantee
has been undermined by a pattern of public commentary on the
presumed guilt of the Guant�namo detainees by the very officials
that control the commissions."
President Bush has repeatedly labeled the detainees as
"killers" and "terrorists". On Wednesday, discussing the military
commissions, he said: "Remember, these are - the ones in
Guant�namo Bay are killers. They don't share the same values we
share". Similarly, Secretary Rumsfeld has referred to the
Guant�namo detainees as "among the most dangerous, best-trained,
vicious killers on the face of the earth", and as "hard-core,
well-trained terrorists".
On the power to impose death sentences, Amnesty
International pointed out that even the normal criminal justice
system has shown itself to be error-prone.
"How much greater the potential for irrevocable
miscarriages of justice here, under lower standards of evidence
and no meaningful right of appeal?," the organization asked.
The procedures infringe the right to a fair trial in a
number of other ways, including failing to guarantee that
civilian defense counsel will be able to see all the evidence
against their clients, permitting the use of secret evidence and
anonymous witnesses, failing to guarantee that all relevant
documents will be translated for the accused, and forcing the
accused to accept US military lawyers as co-counsel against their
wishes.
Moreover, Pentagon officials yesterday stated that even
if acquitted by the military commissions, the defendants may
remain in detention indefinitely. Amnesty International is
concerned that the Military Order of 13 November allows for
indefinite detention without trial. The USA is currently holding
without charge or trial more than 500 people in Afghanistan and
Guant�namo Bay. They have been denied access to the courts or to
legal counsel. This is despite the fact that interrogations at
Camp X-Ray have been continuing for two months.
"Since the appalling events of 11 September, the US
administration has repeatedly stated its commitment to
international human rights law and standards," Amnesty
International said. "Its determination to retain the option of
trial by military commission suggests that such claims are empty
rhetoric."
***See Amnesty International press release on military
commissions http://web.amnesty.org/ai.nsf/Index/AMR511652001 and
the organization's latest report on post-11 September detentions
in the USA http://web.amnesty.org/ai.nsf/Index/AMR510442002
--
Doug
email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.zo.com/~brighto
"Now people stand themselves next to the righteous
And they believe the things they say are true
They speak in terms of what divides us
To justify the violence they do"
Jackson Browne, It Is One
