guantanamo suspects trial

“Trials of Guantanamo suspects begin without a lawyer or reporter in sight” – By Andrew Buncombe in Washington
Published: 8 March 2007

This article is significant, as much for what it is, as for where it is not. In my trawling of the internet in search of articles on the U.S.’s torture policies, this article shines in its absence on U.S. newspaper sites.
Despite complaints, the Bush administration has decided to once again fly in the face of public opinion and go ahead with the military tribunals against fourteen terrorism suspects. These “trials” will take place far away from the prying eyes of the media and for some reason, even the suspects’ lawyers. The Bush administration claim it is in the interest of national security, which has been the official “line” offered in every justification from the war in Iraq up to torture today.
The prisoners are being denied their right to a fair trial and feeble compromises such as; transcripts being available at a later date sound hollow when the next line says: “it will be edited”. These trials are a “smoke and mirrors” display that the Bush administration is putting on purely for the benefit of the world looking in. They are shadow puppets with no real meaning. Of the 385 prisoners currently held at Guantanamo, the majority seem to be guilty of little more than being Muslim. The U.S. even spent $30m on a new prison block, ignoring the raucous kicked up by human rights groups. Even if the three main suspects are guilty, the misconduct of the U.S. legal system cast a shadow of doubt on their conviction.

DISCUSSION
It is a dark day for the human race when a prominent democracy decides to abandon the ideal of freedom in an attempt to cement their dominance. Sadly, that day has come. The Bush administration’s blatant disregard for the policies of the U.N. is sure to leave a bitter taste in the mouth of even the most loyal supporters. Before 9/11, nobody would have seriously considered the prospect of the U.S. endorsing torture and euphemistically calling it “advanced interrogation techniques”. Uncharged suspects are held without bail and the few who are charged are not guaranteed a fair trial.
The tragedy of the twin towers enabled Bush to rally a country and wield the kind of power many before him could only dream of.
The Bush administration ignores the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDSR) despite the fact that they too served on the council that helped draft it. Among other things the UDSR states: “No one shall be subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”; “No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.”; “Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence.”

In no world can one reasonably assume that the Bush administration is ignorant to the fact that it is committing human rights violations on a daily basis. And the “but he did it too” defence is not legitimate, even on a school playground. Pointing fingers does not subtract from the current tragedy that is Iraq. Bush is serving as the self-proclaimed poster boy for western democracy and one has to ask oneself: “Is this really the man we want speaking for us?”

REFERENCES

• Buncombe, A. 2007 ‘Trials of Guantanamo suspects begin without a lawyer or reporter in sight’ in The independent, http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article2338360.ece , accessed:8March 2007
• Moss, M. & Mekhennet, S. 2007 ‘Held 2 Years, Iraqi tells Of Abuses in U.S. Jail’ in The New York Times, Articles selected for the Sunday Times, march4,2007
• ‘Universal Declaration of Human rights’ in http://www.un.org/overview/rights.html accessed: 7March 2007-03-09