Sham' Reviews Begin for Detainees at Guantanamo Bay
Thursday, August 5, 2004 at 12:33PM
TheSpook
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]
Article originally appeared on (http://brownwatch.com/).
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