New York Times: White House strips those accused of terrorism of any due process
The criticism of the US government, joined by the Red Cross, is increasing for allowing detainees in a US military base in Guantanamo, Cuba for suspicion of involvement in terrorism to be stripped of any legal mechanism to defend themselves.
The New York Times reported yesterday that a "complaint from the International Red Cross was the third this week about the prison system the Bush administration has devised for holding and trying suspects in the war on terror," adding the "The prison has drawn protests from a dozen international and U.S. groups as some prisoners approach two years there without charges or access to lawyers."
The New York Times said "Seven legal briefs, filed by former diplomats, former military judges and others, asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to hear the cases of some of the 660 prisoners in Cuba as well as American Yaser Hamdi, who is being held in a Navy brig in South Carolina."
White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan said yesterday "let's remember these individuals are enemy combatants. These individuals are terrorists or supporters of terrorism, and we are war on terrorism. And the reasons for detaining enemy combatants in the first place, during a war, is to gather intelligence and make sure that these enemy combatants don't return to help our enemies plot attacks or carry out attacks on the United States."
The New York Times noted the hopelessness and suicide attempts by those imprisoned, and quoted the Red Cross official Florian Westphal saying "They have no idea about their fate, and they have no means of recourse at their disposal through any legal mechanism."
Worth noting that the US Judicial system is based on a fundamental concept in that any person who is charged is to be considered "innocent till found guilty," and that the individual is entitled to due process.
The New York Times quoted John Gibbons, former chief judge of the federal appeals court in Philadelphia saying "The idea that American executive branch personnel, particularly military personnel, can detain people beyond the reach of habeas corpus is just repugnant to the rule of law."
