Wizdom
01-12-04, 22:29
U.S. Says Guantanamo Prisoners Cannot Contest Cases
Wed Dec 1, 2004 05:01 PM ET
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By Deborah Charles
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A group of 10 Guantanamo Bay prisoners who are waging a legal battle over their detention have no constitutional right to do so, U.S. government lawyers said on Wednesday and urged a judge to dismiss their cases.
But lawyers for the men being held as enemy combatants at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, argued that their clients have the right to a fair trial and should be given the proper opportunity to defend themselves.
They urged U.S. District Court Judge Joyce Hens Green to deny the government's motion to dismiss the cases and to declare invalid the current military tribunal process at Guantanamo because it fails to provide due process of law.
Government lawyers told Green the prisoners -- who have all been deemed "enemy combatants," which means they are not entitled to the protections normally given to prisoners of war -- did not have the right to be heard in court.
"We think that the enemy petitioners ... have no constitutional rights," said Brian Boyle, principal deputy associate attorney general at the Justice Department. "They are enemy combatants."
Human rights groups and lawyers for the prisoners say the tribunals are unfair because they do not permit the prisoners to see the evidence against them or allow them access to legal counsel.
The International Committee of the Red Cross has accused the U.S. military of using tactics "tantamount to torture" on prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, a claim the Pentagon rejects.
'ENEMY COMBATANTS'
Green focused on the concept of "enemy combatants," and she posed a series of hypothetical scenarios to Boyle over who could be considered an enemy combatant.
In one answer, Boyle said an old woman in Switzerland who unknowingly gave money to an Afghan charity that passed the money to al Qaeda could be viewed as an enemy combatant and therefore could be jailed and subject to a military tribunal.
"The government showed its true colors today," said Barbara Olshansky of the Center for Constitutional Rights, one of the attorneys who argued for the prisoners.
Wed Dec 1, 2004 05:01 PM ET
Printer Friendly | Email Article | Reprints | RSS (Page 1 of 2)
Top News
U.S. to Boost Troop Presence in Iraq to 150,000
Bush Calls for New Consensus on Middle East
U.S. Knew of Suspected Iraq Abuse in 2003
MORE
By Deborah Charles
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A group of 10 Guantanamo Bay prisoners who are waging a legal battle over their detention have no constitutional right to do so, U.S. government lawyers said on Wednesday and urged a judge to dismiss their cases.
But lawyers for the men being held as enemy combatants at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, argued that their clients have the right to a fair trial and should be given the proper opportunity to defend themselves.
They urged U.S. District Court Judge Joyce Hens Green to deny the government's motion to dismiss the cases and to declare invalid the current military tribunal process at Guantanamo because it fails to provide due process of law.
Government lawyers told Green the prisoners -- who have all been deemed "enemy combatants," which means they are not entitled to the protections normally given to prisoners of war -- did not have the right to be heard in court.
"We think that the enemy petitioners ... have no constitutional rights," said Brian Boyle, principal deputy associate attorney general at the Justice Department. "They are enemy combatants."
Human rights groups and lawyers for the prisoners say the tribunals are unfair because they do not permit the prisoners to see the evidence against them or allow them access to legal counsel.
The International Committee of the Red Cross has accused the U.S. military of using tactics "tantamount to torture" on prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, a claim the Pentagon rejects.
'ENEMY COMBATANTS'
Green focused on the concept of "enemy combatants," and she posed a series of hypothetical scenarios to Boyle over who could be considered an enemy combatant.
In one answer, Boyle said an old woman in Switzerland who unknowingly gave money to an Afghan charity that passed the money to al Qaeda could be viewed as an enemy combatant and therefore could be jailed and subject to a military tribunal.
"The government showed its true colors today," said Barbara Olshansky of the Center for Constitutional Rights, one of the attorneys who argued for the prisoners.