One Utah

At “Camp Justice” in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the U.S. military is currently conducting the first American war crimes trial since World War II — of Salim Hamdan, a citizen of Yemen and a former driver for Osama bin Laden.

To call this proceeding a kangaroo court would run the risk of insulting marsupials everywhere.

From Glenn Greenwald:

The ACLU’s Ben Wizner is one of the few outside observers present for the proceedings, and I spoke with him this morning about what he has witnessed thus far.

Wizner’s observations were genuinely fascinating, and they conclusively reveal what a sham proceeding and abject mockery of justice Hamdan’s military commission is. The outcome is plainly pre-ordained, though that doesn’t even matter, since even if Hamdan were fully acquitted, the Bush administration claims that it has the authority to continue to hold him indefinitely as an “enemy combatant.” Hamdan, an absurdly low-level, menial worker for bin Laden, has been detained for almost seven full years now. It was Hamdan’s case that led the Supreme Court, in 2006, to rule that President Bush lacked the authority to constitute military tribunals, but Congress then immediately enacted the Military Commissions Act to re-constitute those tribunals, rendering Hamdan’s victory virtually worthless.

Hamdan’s trial is receiving almost no media attention. Yet the U.S. found it necessary to close the proceedings during the presentation of defense witnesses, who gave their testimony in secret.

Previous One Utah posts:

Suspension of Habeas Corpus Was Unconstitutional (June 12, 2008)
Bush Administration 9/11 Show Trials Tainted By Torture (May 13, 2008)
‘Wait a minute, we can’t have acquittals’ (February 21, 2008)

This entry was posted Friday, August 1st, 2008 at 3:00 pm and is filed under 9/11, Civil liberties Infringement, Military, National Politics, Terrorism, The Constitution, This Blog. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.