Hearings set for "high-value" Guantanamo inmates

[maddezmom]

Hearings set for "high-value" Guantanamo inmates
06 Mar 2007 22:04:28 GMT
Source: Reuters

WASHINGTON, March 6 (Reuters) - The United States will begin initial hearings on Friday for 14 men transferred to the military prison camp at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba from secret CIA jails, U.S. defense officials said on Tuesday.

The 14 include Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States, and the Indonesian known as Hambali, who is accused of planning the 2002 bombings that killed more than 200 people in Bali.

No reporters or other outside observers such as defense lawyers would be allowed to attend the hearings to determine whether the men were enemy combatants, U.S. officials said.

"We will commence with the combatant status review tribunals for the 14 high-value detainees that came into DoD (Department of Defense) custody in September, commencing this Friday," Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters.

"We will provide transcripts, with necessary redactions for national security, to you so that you can follow the proceedings that took place."

~snip~

Indefinite detention and allegations of mistreatment at Guantanamo, which the U.S. military denies, have tarnished the image of the United States abroad. Many countries, including U.S. allies, have called for the camp to be closed.

Lawyers for some of the Guantanamo prisoners said in an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday that the suspects had been unlawfully detained for more than five years and deserved at least a hearing to challenge their confinement.

more:http://mobile.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N06439059.htm

[Eugene]

1. No observers, no press, no lawyers, no appeal.

But the military will be nice enough to provide partial transcripts of the proceedings.

Which dictatorship is BushCo using as its model? :grr:

[gratuitous]

2. Sounds like Stalin, to me

The Soviet Union had a remarkable conviction rate, and I think Dubya is a tad jealous. But give him 30 years like Stalin had, and I'll bet he could do pretty well by comparison.