The Hindu : International : Britons in Guantanamo to have limited rights

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Wednesday, Sep 29, 2004

International

International

Britons in Guantanamo to have limited rights

By Vikram Dodd

LONDON, SEPT. 28. The U.S. is to put the remaining four Britons held in Guantanamo Bay as suspected terrorists through "backdoor trials" within a month, according to U.S. military papers seen by the Guardian. The documents reveal the Britons will be presumed to be enemy combatants by the handpicked U.S. military officers hearing their cases before they start, have limited rights to call witnesses, have no lawyer, and that hearsay evidence can be used against them.

The decision comes despite the U.S. agreeing last year with the U.K.'s Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith, that the Britons will not face military commissions. The detenus' lawyers said some of the tribunal's features are even worse than the military commissions.

A second snub

It represents a second snub by the U.S. to Tony Blair over Guantanamo, as the Prime Minister prepares to address the annual conference of his Labour Party today, with the Iraq war and his closeness to U.S. President, George Bush, concerns for delegates. In June the Guardian revealed Mr. Blair had directly asked Mr. Bush to return the four Britons, a request that was rejected. The Pentagon documents come from U.S. court hearings where lawyers for the Britons are trying to challenge their detention before civilian courts, a move the Bush administration is resisting.

U.S. military documents outline the rules for the combatant status review tribunals (CSRT), a new process announced by the Pentagon in July after the Supreme Court ruled Guantanamo Bay was subject to the jurisdiction of U.S. courts.

`Neutral' members

Furthermore, the tribunal will start with the assumption that the U.S. Government case against the Britons is correct, the documents reveal: "There is a rebuttable presumption that the Government evidence ... is genuine and accurate."

The documents reveal that prisoners have no right to a lawyer, only to a U.S. military representative, who can inform his superiors of what the prisoner tells him. The documents also reveal that second hand testimony will be allowed as evidence of guilt: "The tribunal is not bound by the rules of evidence such as would apply in a court of law. Instead the tribunal shall be free to consider any information it deems relevant and helpful ... it may consider hearsay evidence, taking into account the reliability of such evidence in the circumstances." —

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