Rumsfeld's Kangaroo Court

You have to hand it to Bush and company. They don't mind thumbing their collective noses at the U.S. Supreme Court. In order to try and convince a federal judge in the District of Columbia that the Guantanamo prisoners do not need federal courts and habeas corpus petitions (in spite of the Supreme Court's ruling to that effect in June 2004), the Defense Department has begun "reviews" of the status of the "enemy combatants" it has held in cages in Cuba for going on three years.

Not surprisingly, the kangaroo court, consisting of military brass and JAG officers facing off against the prisoners, sans attorneys (they had military "helpers" who supposedly guided them through the sham proceedings), concluded that the men were indeed rightfully held. And there they will remain. The military provided interpreters. Judge, jury, bailiff, attorney, and your own "helper" are picked by your jailer. Some justice.

The Pentagon and the Justice Department have filed briefs with the U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia, to which the Supreme Court remanded the cases of the winning litigants, arguing that the Supreme Court was dead wrong to declare that the prisoners were to have lawyers and access to the federal courts. Their filings made it clear that they would do everything in their power to see that no prisoner has access to an attorney. They propose Kafka-esqe rules that attorneys would be foolish to agree to--including having all of their communications with the prisoners not only recorded, but sent to the military and DOJ lawyers.

The government's flaunting of the Court's order could lead to a constitutional crisis--if a federal judge would find Rumsfeld and Ashcroft in contempt. That is not likely to happen.

Here is about all you are going to hear about the proceedings--a report from the Associated Press, without a byline. The Pentagon allowed a few "journalists" to sit in on some of the hearings of the nameless and hapless prisoners, on the ground that it review (and presumably "correct") the reports before they were printed.

Have I been dreaming through the last half of the 20th century? Did I just wake up to read about hearings in the Soviet Union or China? Sure seems like it.

Associated Press
Saturday, August 14, 2004; Page A09

A military review of the cases against four terrorism suspects held at the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has concluded that they are classified properly as enemy combatants and will not be freed, the official overseeing the process said yesterday.

The four cases were the first of 21 reviewed to be decided. There is no appeal. Four additional cases were being heard yesterday at Guantanamo Bay, raising the total to 25. Their outcomes were not expected to be revealed immediately.

The Pentagon has insisted since it began holding individuals captured in Afghanistan and elsewhere in the war on terrorism nearly three years ago that they are enemy combatants, not prisoners of war, and can be held indefinitely without charges or access to lawyers.

Human rights organizations have challenged the Pentagon on this, and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld announced this year that the cases of each person held at Guantanamo Bay will be reviewed once a year to determine whether they are security threats to the United States.

When the Supreme Court ruled June 28 that the detainees had the right to challenge their imprisonment in federal court, the Pentagon quickly organized the separate review process to determine whether each detainee is an enemy combatant as defined by the Pentagon.

Navy Secretary Gordon R. England, who oversees the reviews but has no say in the outcome of individual cases, said an enemy combatant is "anyone who is part of supporting the Taliban or al Qaeda forces or associated forces engaging in hostilities against the United States or our coalition partners." The detainees are not represented by lawyers.

The reviews began July 30. In a change of policy yesterday, the Pentagon stopped releasing detainees' nationalities when their cases are heard. Nationalities, but not names, of the first 21 were released at their hearings, including five Thursday.

Lt. Cmdr. Beci Brenton, a spokeswoman for the review process, said the decision to stop providing nationalities was made after some countries objected to the release of that information.

Barring an unforeseen delay, all 585 prisoners at Guantanamo Bay will have their cases heard before the end of the year, England said. He said the hearings are taking longer than originally expected, mainly because of language barriers, but additional translators are being hired.

ELAINE CASSEL ON CIVIL LIBERTIES