Bar Questions Independence of Military Commissions

[kpete]

Bar Questions Independence of Military Commissions
DEPARTMENT No Comment
BY Scott Horton
PUBLISHED March 13, 2008

Barry Kamins, the president of the prestigious New York City Bar Association, has issued a stinging letter to senior Congressional leaders calling for hearings on the independence and integrity of the military commissions in Guantánamo. The letter cites statements made by Col. Morris Davis, the former chief military prosecutor in Guantánamo, in interviews with the Washington Post and the Nation. In both interviews, Davis recounts conversations he had with William J. Haynes II, the General Counsel of the Department of Defense.

Post article stated:

Senior defense officials discussed in a September 2006 meeting the “strategic political value” of putting some prominent detainees on trial, said Air Force Col. Morris Davis. He said that he felt pressure to pursue cases that were deemed “sexy” over those that prosecutors believed were the most solid or were ready to go. Davis said his resignation was also prompted by newly appointed senior officials seeking to use classified evidence in what would be closed sessions of court, and by almost all elements of the military commissions process being put under the Defense Department general counsel’s command, something he believes could present serious conflicts of interest.

“There was a big concern that the election of 2008 is coming up,” Davis said. “People wanted to get the cases going. There was a rush to get high-interest cases into court at the expense of openness.”

..............

In sum, there are grave concerns about the military commissions process, and the recent questions raised regarding the basic integrity of the process highlight the need for congressional action. The Association, therefore, urges that your committees immediately convene hearings toinquire into the charges that political influence has impaired the independence, impartiality and integrity of military commissions proceedings and to identify the substantive and procedural flaws in the MCA that deny the accused “all the judicial guarantees” which, in the words of the Geneva Conventions as adopted by the MCA, “are recognized as indispensable by civilized peoples,” and to consider how best to prosecute terrorism suspects in accordance with this Nation’s historic commitment to the rule of law.5

http://harpers.org/media/image/blogs/misc/guantanamoletterremc311.pdf

............

The Bar letter points to the fact that when two military prosecutors were asked to testify before Congress, Haynes intervened in both cases, ordering them not to appear. “The orders were an obstruction of the Congressional oversight function,” the bar letter states. It recommends that the prosecutors and Haynes be brought back before Congress, under subpoena if witness invitations are resisted, to answer specific questions about the independence of the commissions and the integrity of the process which has been structured.

The letter also raises questions about the paucity of resources allocated to the defense and points to a number of other procedural questions. It cites “grave concerns about the military commissions process, and the recent questions raised regarding the basic integrity of the process highlight the need for congressional action.”

more at:
http://harpers.org/archive/2008/03/hbc-90002621

[mirrera]

1. k&r

[frebrd]

2. If it comes to light that there is....

a serious problem of steroid use at Guantanamo, I'm sure Congress will get involved forcefully.