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06-04-07, 07:26 PM
http://www.onelocalnews.com/newhopecourier/stories/index.php?action=fullnews&id=118991
By ANDREW O. SELSKY, Associated Press Writer 2 minutes ago
GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba - Military judges dismissed charges Monday against a Guantanamo detainee accused of chauffeuring Osama bin Laden and another who allegedly killed a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan , throwing up roadblocks to the Bush administration‘s attempt to try terror suspects in military courts.
Hamdan is "not subject to this commission" under legislation passed by Congress and signed by President Bush last year, said Navy Capt. Keith Allred, Hamdan‘s military judge, Monday evening. Hamdan is accused of chauffeuring bin Laden and being the al-Qaida chief‘s bodyguard.
The new Military Commissions Act, written to establish military trials after the U.S. Supreme Court U.S. Supreme Court last year rejected the previous system, is full of problems, defense attorneys argued.
GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba (AP) — A military judge dismissed terrorism-related charges Monday against a prisoner charged with killing a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan, throwing up a roadblock to the Bush administration‘s attempt to try Guantanamo detainees in military courts.
It was the latest in a string of legal setbacks for the planned Guantanamo trials, and legal experts said all prosecutions could be stalled because the flaw cited by the judge was a factor in all the cases filed so far.
The Military Commissions Act, signed by President Bush last year, specifically says that only those classified as "unlawful" enemy combatants can face war trials at Guantanamo, Brownback said during Khadr‘s arraignment in a hilltop courtroom.
Marine Col. Dwight Sullivan, head of the Guantanamo defense attorneys, said the dismissal of charges against Khadr would have a "huge" impact because none of the detainees held at this military base in southeast Cuba had been found to be an "unlawful" enemy combatant.
Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond, said that because Brownback dismissed the case without prejudice, the U.S. might be able to bring new charges against Khadr.
"I was surprised when Brownback found a flaw in the indictment," Solis said. "It was one I had overlooked, one I think many had overlooked. He found a deficiency in terms of finding status, and status is critical to jurisdiction."
But she also said Brownback‘s ruling underscored the fairness of the system. "The military commissions procedures and rules are robust and grant significant rights to the accused," she told AP Television News.
Sullivan raised another potential stumble involving an appeal, saying the court designated to hear appeals under the new war-crimes trial system hasn‘t been set up.
The Pentagon said the issue was little more than semantics.
A spokesman said the system was not dealing with lawful combatants, who fight in uniform for a national army. It was set up to determine if a detainee acted as an "unlawful enemy combatant" who was not in an internationally recognized military, did not wear a uniform or rank insignia, did not carry arms openly and was not a party to the Geneva Conventions, he said.
"It is our belief that the concept was implicit that all the Guantanamo detainees who were designated as enemy combatants‘ ... were in fact unlawful," Navy Cmdr. Jeffrey Gordon told The Associated Press.
Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., said Brownback‘s dismissal of the Khadr case highlighted criticism of the Military Commissions Act, which he said is "riddled with problems and created a process that operates outside the rule of law — it has crippled our ability to deal with the real criminals still being held at Guantanamo."
In Toronto, Khadr‘s sister, Zaynab Khadr, said she hoped the ruling would eventually lead to his release.
"It seems like good news. I guess someone is starting to actually look at the charges and at him as a person rather than just the fact he‘s allegedly the enemy of the United States," the 27-year-old said in a telephone interview from the Khadr family home.
Aside from Khadr and Hamdan, the only other Guantanamo detainee charged under the system was Australian David Hicks. He pleaded guilty in March to providing material support to al-Qaida and is serving a nine-month sentence in Australia.
Brownback‘s ruling came just minutes into Khadr‘s arraignment on charges he committed murder in violation of the law of war, attempted murder in violation of the law of war, engaged in a conspiracy by providing material support for terrorism and spying.
Khadr allegedly killed U.S. Army Sgt. Christopher Speer with a grenade in a firefight in Afghanistan during which the Canadian was wounded. Khadr appeared in the courtroom with a beard and wearing an olive-green prison uniform.
"The charges are dismissed without prejudice," Brownback pronounced as he adjourned the proceeding.
A prosecutor, Army Capt. Keith Petty, said he had been prepared to show Khadr was an unlawful combatant because he fought for al-Qaida, and videotapes showed Khadr making and planting explosives targeting American soldiers.
Khadr seemed oblivious to the impact of the ruling.
The U.S. military had hoped to accelerate its prosecutions of Guantanamo detainees, with the Pentagon saying it expected to eventually charge about 80 of the 380 prisoners, but questions lingered about the legitimacy of the process.
The U.S. Supreme Court, ruling in favor of a lawsuit brought by Hamdan, last June threw out a previous military tribunal system that was set up in the wake of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, calling it unconstitutional. Congress responded by creating new guidelines for war-crimes trials and Bush signed them into law.
Hamdan, who allegedly was Osama bin Laden‘s driver, was charged with conspiracy — centered on his alleged membership in al-Qaida and purported role in plotting to attack civilians and civilian targets — and with providing material support for terrorism.
As part of the second charge, Hamdan was accused of transporting at least one SA-7 surface-to-air missile to shoot down U.S. and coalition military aircraft in Afghanistan in November 2001.
Associated Press writer Rob Gillies in Toronto contributed to this report.
------
Interesting.
By ANDREW O. SELSKY, Associated Press Writer 2 minutes ago
GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba - Military judges dismissed charges Monday against a Guantanamo detainee accused of chauffeuring Osama bin Laden and another who allegedly killed a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan , throwing up roadblocks to the Bush administration‘s attempt to try terror suspects in military courts.
Hamdan is "not subject to this commission" under legislation passed by Congress and signed by President Bush last year, said Navy Capt. Keith Allred, Hamdan‘s military judge, Monday evening. Hamdan is accused of chauffeuring bin Laden and being the al-Qaida chief‘s bodyguard.
The new Military Commissions Act, written to establish military trials after the U.S. Supreme Court U.S. Supreme Court last year rejected the previous system, is full of problems, defense attorneys argued.
GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba (AP) — A military judge dismissed terrorism-related charges Monday against a prisoner charged with killing a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan, throwing up a roadblock to the Bush administration‘s attempt to try Guantanamo detainees in military courts.
It was the latest in a string of legal setbacks for the planned Guantanamo trials, and legal experts said all prosecutions could be stalled because the flaw cited by the judge was a factor in all the cases filed so far.
The Military Commissions Act, signed by President Bush last year, specifically says that only those classified as "unlawful" enemy combatants can face war trials at Guantanamo, Brownback said during Khadr‘s arraignment in a hilltop courtroom.
Marine Col. Dwight Sullivan, head of the Guantanamo defense attorneys, said the dismissal of charges against Khadr would have a "huge" impact because none of the detainees held at this military base in southeast Cuba had been found to be an "unlawful" enemy combatant.
Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond, said that because Brownback dismissed the case without prejudice, the U.S. might be able to bring new charges against Khadr.
"I was surprised when Brownback found a flaw in the indictment," Solis said. "It was one I had overlooked, one I think many had overlooked. He found a deficiency in terms of finding status, and status is critical to jurisdiction."
But she also said Brownback‘s ruling underscored the fairness of the system. "The military commissions procedures and rules are robust and grant significant rights to the accused," she told AP Television News.
Sullivan raised another potential stumble involving an appeal, saying the court designated to hear appeals under the new war-crimes trial system hasn‘t been set up.
The Pentagon said the issue was little more than semantics.
A spokesman said the system was not dealing with lawful combatants, who fight in uniform for a national army. It was set up to determine if a detainee acted as an "unlawful enemy combatant" who was not in an internationally recognized military, did not wear a uniform or rank insignia, did not carry arms openly and was not a party to the Geneva Conventions, he said.
"It is our belief that the concept was implicit that all the Guantanamo detainees who were designated as enemy combatants‘ ... were in fact unlawful," Navy Cmdr. Jeffrey Gordon told The Associated Press.
Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., said Brownback‘s dismissal of the Khadr case highlighted criticism of the Military Commissions Act, which he said is "riddled with problems and created a process that operates outside the rule of law — it has crippled our ability to deal with the real criminals still being held at Guantanamo."
In Toronto, Khadr‘s sister, Zaynab Khadr, said she hoped the ruling would eventually lead to his release.
"It seems like good news. I guess someone is starting to actually look at the charges and at him as a person rather than just the fact he‘s allegedly the enemy of the United States," the 27-year-old said in a telephone interview from the Khadr family home.
Aside from Khadr and Hamdan, the only other Guantanamo detainee charged under the system was Australian David Hicks. He pleaded guilty in March to providing material support to al-Qaida and is serving a nine-month sentence in Australia.
Brownback‘s ruling came just minutes into Khadr‘s arraignment on charges he committed murder in violation of the law of war, attempted murder in violation of the law of war, engaged in a conspiracy by providing material support for terrorism and spying.
Khadr allegedly killed U.S. Army Sgt. Christopher Speer with a grenade in a firefight in Afghanistan during which the Canadian was wounded. Khadr appeared in the courtroom with a beard and wearing an olive-green prison uniform.
"The charges are dismissed without prejudice," Brownback pronounced as he adjourned the proceeding.
A prosecutor, Army Capt. Keith Petty, said he had been prepared to show Khadr was an unlawful combatant because he fought for al-Qaida, and videotapes showed Khadr making and planting explosives targeting American soldiers.
Khadr seemed oblivious to the impact of the ruling.
The U.S. military had hoped to accelerate its prosecutions of Guantanamo detainees, with the Pentagon saying it expected to eventually charge about 80 of the 380 prisoners, but questions lingered about the legitimacy of the process.
The U.S. Supreme Court, ruling in favor of a lawsuit brought by Hamdan, last June threw out a previous military tribunal system that was set up in the wake of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, calling it unconstitutional. Congress responded by creating new guidelines for war-crimes trials and Bush signed them into law.
Hamdan, who allegedly was Osama bin Laden‘s driver, was charged with conspiracy — centered on his alleged membership in al-Qaida and purported role in plotting to attack civilians and civilian targets — and with providing material support for terrorism.
As part of the second charge, Hamdan was accused of transporting at least one SA-7 surface-to-air missile to shoot down U.S. and coalition military aircraft in Afghanistan in November 2001.
Associated Press writer Rob Gillies in Toronto contributed to this report.
------
Interesting.