Eutrusca
09-11-2005, 18:16
COMMENTARY: This should be interesting. Lots of issues here: does the Constitution apply to non-citizens; can individuals sue in US courts for the enforcement of the Geneva Conventions, or can only nations do that; do the Geneva Conventions even apply when terrorists are captured; what is the appropriate venue for prosecution of foreign nationals unaffiliated with a particular government who commit unlawful acts ... the list is long.
Supreme Court to hear challenge to military trials
By Deborah Funk
Army Times staff writer
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a challenge to the Bush administration’s plans to try foreign-born accused war criminals by military commission.
The Supreme Court is expected to hear arguments in March on whether the president has the authority to set up the process by which Salim Ahmed Hamdan and others suspected of aiding al-Qaida can stand trial.
The court also will decide whether an individual, in this case Hamdan, can try to enforce the protections granted prisoners under the Geneva Convention, or if only a nation can do so.
Deciding whether the method by which the commission was established is permissible is “an important threshold issue,” said Marine Corps Col. Dwight Sullivan, chief defense counsel for the Office of Military Commissions.
But, Sullivan said, if the commissions at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, do go forward, the federal courts still could have to decide whether the particular procedures for how the commissions are conducted are adequate.
If the Supreme Court finds in favor for Hamdan, it doesn’t mean he would be released. Congress could step in and establish the commissions; or the Pentagon could decide to try him by court-martial; or he could face prosecution by the Justice Department in civilian court.
Hamdan is charged with conspiring to attack civilians and civilian objects; conspiring to commit murder by an unprivileged belligerent; conspiring to destroy property by an unprivileged belligerent; and conspiring to commit terrorism. The government said he was a driver and bodyguard for Osama bin Laden and that he delivered weapons.
Hamdan’s attorneys have acknowledged he was bin Laden’s driver but said he did not conspire with bin Laden, the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks.
On the same day the Supreme Court agreed to hear Hamdan’s case, the Pentagon Monday determined five more men will stand trial by military commission for similar charges.
Ghassan Abdullah al Sharbi and Jabran Said bin al Qahtani of Saudi Arabia; Sufyian Barhoumi of Algeria; and Binyam Ahmed Muhammad of Ethiopia are charged with conspiracy to attack civilians and civilian objects, conspiracy to commit murder by an unprivileged belligerent; conspiracy to destroy property by an unprivileged belligerent and conspiracy to commit terrorism.
Omar Ahmed Khadr of Canada is charged with those offenses as well as the July 27, 2002, murder of Army Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Speer in Afghanistan and with aiding the enemy.
Supreme Court to hear challenge to military trials
By Deborah Funk
Army Times staff writer
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a challenge to the Bush administration’s plans to try foreign-born accused war criminals by military commission.
The Supreme Court is expected to hear arguments in March on whether the president has the authority to set up the process by which Salim Ahmed Hamdan and others suspected of aiding al-Qaida can stand trial.
The court also will decide whether an individual, in this case Hamdan, can try to enforce the protections granted prisoners under the Geneva Convention, or if only a nation can do so.
Deciding whether the method by which the commission was established is permissible is “an important threshold issue,” said Marine Corps Col. Dwight Sullivan, chief defense counsel for the Office of Military Commissions.
But, Sullivan said, if the commissions at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, do go forward, the federal courts still could have to decide whether the particular procedures for how the commissions are conducted are adequate.
If the Supreme Court finds in favor for Hamdan, it doesn’t mean he would be released. Congress could step in and establish the commissions; or the Pentagon could decide to try him by court-martial; or he could face prosecution by the Justice Department in civilian court.
Hamdan is charged with conspiring to attack civilians and civilian objects; conspiring to commit murder by an unprivileged belligerent; conspiring to destroy property by an unprivileged belligerent; and conspiring to commit terrorism. The government said he was a driver and bodyguard for Osama bin Laden and that he delivered weapons.
Hamdan’s attorneys have acknowledged he was bin Laden’s driver but said he did not conspire with bin Laden, the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks.
On the same day the Supreme Court agreed to hear Hamdan’s case, the Pentagon Monday determined five more men will stand trial by military commission for similar charges.
Ghassan Abdullah al Sharbi and Jabran Said bin al Qahtani of Saudi Arabia; Sufyian Barhoumi of Algeria; and Binyam Ahmed Muhammad of Ethiopia are charged with conspiracy to attack civilians and civilian objects, conspiracy to commit murder by an unprivileged belligerent; conspiracy to destroy property by an unprivileged belligerent and conspiracy to commit terrorism.
Omar Ahmed Khadr of Canada is charged with those offenses as well as the July 27, 2002, murder of Army Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Speer in Afghanistan and with aiding the enemy.