Thurs-Fed Ct to Consider Legality of Pres' Military Trials Tribunals

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http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=45395

On Thursday, April 7, at 9:30 a.m. a federal appellate court in Washington, D.C. will hear arguments in a case which will determine how far the government can go in curtailing civil liberties. The case, Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, involves a challenge to President Bush's decision to bypass Congress and existing military law by setting up a system of military trials at Guantanamo Bay.

In November, 2004, a federal judge in Washington, D.C. ruled that the military trials were illegal and violated both military law and the Geneva Conventions. The U.S Senate ratified the Geneva Conventions in 1956, and Congress passed a law in October 2004, reaffirming them as the law of the land and stating that when any doubt exists as to whether someone is protected under the Geneva Conventions, a hearing must ensue.

Following the arguments, attorneys for Hamdan will meet with the media:

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1. Thanks for the heads-up on this.

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Hamdan's challenge to the military trials has received widespread support. Friend-of-the-court briefs were filed on his behalf by a group of retired Generals and Admirals of the U.S. military; the individual selected by the U.S. Defense Department to advise the Iraqi Government on the trial of Saddam Hussein and other war criminals; 305 Members of the British and European Parliaments (including the leaders of all major political parties in Britain, such as the Conservative Party); the Senior Librarian at the Library of Congress; former officials of the International Committee for the Red Cross; and a large group of other organizations. The briefs can be found at: http://www.law.georgetown.edu/faculty/nkk/publications.html#Chapters

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