The Hindu : U.S. lawyer brands Guantanamo trials unfair

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Mar 26, 2004

International

International

U.S. lawyer brands Guantanamo trials unfair

LONDON, MARCH 25. A U.S. military lawyer representing a detainee at Guantanamo Bay said yesterday that his client could not receive justice under the existing system of military commissions.

``The system is not set up to provide even the appearance of a fair trial,'' said Major Michael Mori, who was appointed by the Pentagon to defend the Australian detainee, David Hicks.

``If there is credible evidence, take him to an established justice system,'' he said at a press conference in London given by lawyers acting for the prisoners. ``If it is not credible, that does not justify changing the rules.''

Two of the four Britons still being held at the U.S. detention camp, Martin Mubanga and Richard Belmar, have been named as potential defendants in military hearings.

The cases against the other two, Moazzam Begg and Feroz Abbasi, have been suspended pending further talks with Britain.

The Government has said all four men should be returned to Britain or given fair trials. It said it was not satisfied with the current commission rules.

Michael Ratner, the lawyer representing detainees in a U.S. Supreme Court case next month, told the press conference: ``The idea the British Government would let them go forward [for trial] is shocking.''

The hearings are unlikely to proceed until the American Supreme Court has ruled on whether U.S. courts should have jurisdiction over the American naval base in Cuba.

``There is no such place in the world as a law-free zone,'' said Mr Ratner, the president of the New York-based Centre for Constitutional Rights. But Major John Smith, a military lawyer and the Pentagon's spokesman on the commissions, told The Guardian that the detainees would receive ``full and fair trials'', as the President, George W. Bush, had promised.

He said: ``The fact Major Mori is out there arguing his client's case says a lot about the fact these will be fair trials and shows we have provided vigilant defence lawyers. I support his zealous defence but absolutely disagree with his assertions.''

He claimed Maj Mori had misrepresented the system. ``Different does not always mean unfair,'' he said. ``It is very easy to be critical of the process because people have not seen it in action.''

Earlier, Maj Mori said that labelling the defendants as terrorists had allowed the U.S. Government to lower its standards of justice. He said the system lacked checks and balances, such as a truly independent appeal process.

Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004

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