Military tribunals at Guantanamo Bay
From dKosopedia
As of June 2005, approximately 520 men are being held in the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay as enemy combatants (see The Enemy Combatant Cases). In November 2001, President Bush issued an executive order authorizing military tribunals for prisoners related to his "war on terror." Any defendant who (a) is not a US citizen; (b) has been accused of engaging in acts of terrorism; or (c) has knowingly harbored someone accused of an act of terrorism; is subject to trial by military tribunal. In 2003, the Bush administration established military tribunals to try Guantanamo Bay prisoners.
These tribunals differ from U.S. criminal courts in several respects:
- 1. Evidentiary rules: hearsay statements and statements which were taken under duress (torture) are allowed if the tribunal panel considers this evidence related to the case and reasonable. In addition, unsworn statements deemed relevant and reasonable are also admissible. Prosecutors are not required to prove "chain of custody."
- 2. Verdicts: unanimous verdicts are only required in capital cases. All other cases require a two-thirds majority for a conviction.
- 3. Sentencing: if a defendant is exonerated, the defendant can be sent back to Guantanamo Bay until the "war on terror" is over, resulting in detainment of exonerated defendants for an unspecified period of time.
- 4. Jury: juries consist of three to seven military officers rather than the 12-member panel of "peers" to which criminal defendants in the US normally receive.
- 5. Right to counsel: Tribunal defendants are entitled to military counsel and can only access civilian counsel if they can pay for it.
- 6. Appeals: Tribunal defendants cannot appeal decisions of the tribunal to federal court. They are entitled to petition a panel of review. They can petition for a final review by the President of the US, as commander-in-chief.
On July 16, 2005, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia upheld the constitutionality of these tribunals.
It should be noted that the 1993 WTC bombing defendants, the 1998 African embassy bombing defendants, and Zacarias Moussaoui all received trials in US Federal Courts. Thus, the necessity of a separate, extra-Constitutional system for trying those accused of terrorism remains unclear at best.
Links to related DailyKos diaries
Federal Appeals Court Okays Military Tribunals for Gitmo Prisoners
"GITMO Trials Rigged" Claim Former Mil. Prosecutors
Gitmo Prosecutors Quit in Protest
