(Editorial based on article "Military jury convicts bin Laden's ex-driver" by Mike Melia of the Associated Press which appeared in the Thursday August 7 edition of the Daily News Transcript.
Salim Hamden, a former driver of Osama bin Laden and so-called 'Enemy Combatant' detained at Guantanamo Bay was tried in a military tribunal with six U.S. officer-soldier jurors sitting in judgment. He has the distinction of being the first enemy combatant to endure a "war crimes trial" from Gitmo prison.
I refer to this tribunal as a Kangaroo Court because a.: such "tribunals" were "designed to" result in "convictions"; b. Coercion and torture methods were used on this man such as interruption of rest and "solitary confinement." c. Worst of all, Hamden was denied such rights as "Miranda" warning and " a jury of his peers", plus the judge he stood before allowed ordinarily (at least in a civilian trial) improper evidence such as "secret testimony" and "hearsay". If Hamden is guilty perhaps he got what he deserved, but I suspect he is just a pawn and a convenient scapegoat. For now, such injustice supposedly only happens to suspected terrorists, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if in the not-too-distant future peaceful protesters and politically unpopular dissent(er)(s) will someday be treated similarly in a harsh and unsympathetic dystopic Bush-influenced justice system.
No comments:
Post a Comment