Sham' Reviews Begin for Detainees at Guantanamo Bay

• Detainees do not have lawyers.

Even as allegations of torture and abuse at Guantánamo continue, hearings have begun for the prisoners still detained at the base. On Friday, the first Combatant Status Review Tribunals were held in front of US military officers. The Review Tribunals are not criminal trials. Instead, the express purpose of the Review Tribunals is to allow each detainee to try to persuade the military that he is not an "enemy combatant." The tribunals are the Bush administration's answer to the recent Rasul v. Bush decision, in which the Supreme Court ruled that all detainees must be given the chance to challenge their detentions in US courts. However, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), the leading advocate for the Guantánamo detainees, has slammed the process, saying the Review Tribunals do not offer a real chance for habeas corpus , the right of the detained to challenge the legality of their detention. CCR represents over 50 of the Guantánamo detainees and has taken the lead in getting other law firms involved to represent still more prisoners at the base. [more]