SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - The U.S. military called no witnesses, withheld evidence from detainees and usually reached a decision within a day as it determined that hundreds of men detained at Guantanamo Bay were “enemy combatants,” according to a new report.
and why pick on these people? If they are terrorists, there should be evidence. If they are not, they should be released. And if you have no evidence that they are terrorists, why do you believe them to be?
more from MSNBC:
Twenty-one first-year law students at Seton Hall University in Newark, N.J., analyzed the documents to create a database analyzed by eight second- and third-year students.
Among their findings:
* The government did not produce any witnesses in any hearing.
* The military denied all detainee requests to inspect the classified evidence against them.
* The military refused all requests for defense witnesses who were not detained at Guantanamo.
* In 74 percent of the cases, the government denied requests to call witnesses who were detained at the prison.
* In 91 percent of the hearings, the detainees did not present any evidence.
* In three cases, the panel found that the detainee was “no longer an enemy combatant,” but the military convened new tribunals that later found them to be enemy combatants.
“No American would ever consider this to be hearing,” Denbeaux said. “This is a show trial.”
Welcome to Stalinism, American style!
2 comments:
Then some would say that since these are not USA citizens they do not fall under the constitution.
It's easy to know what parts of the Constitution apply only to citizens. "The people" are the collective body of the citizens. "Persons" refers to any human beings. AAMOF, every time the Constitution referred to slaves (before it outlawed slavery with the 13th Amendment) it referred to them as "persons".
The following provisions apply to everyone:
Amendment V: "No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury [etc.]"
Amendment XIV:
"nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."
I'll grant that Amendment IV applies only to citizens: "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures"
and Amendment II likewise: "the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
and even Amendment I: "the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances"
but the idea that all Constitutional rights apply only to citizens is only held by those who only read the first three words.
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