Direct from Guantánamo Bay. Hicks' Trial. Amnesty International Report

[Solly Mack]

Direct from Guantánamo Bay

This week, I observed the first military commission hearings for Amnesty International. As you probably know, Australian national David Hicks pleaded guilty to “providing material support for terrorism.”

Amnesty International was there, irrespective of Mr. Hicks' guilt or innocence, because his plea was made after years of indefinite detention, isolation, and allegations of torture and ill-treatment. Amnesty was there because the military commission system does not provide for due process or justice... and it does not represent the America we believe in.

I want to personally thank you for being an Amnesty supporter, because your support is what enables us to investigate the abuses at Guantánamo as well as a myriad of other human rights abuses around the world.

This week's proceedings do not bode well for the 60 to 80 people whom the government claims it will prosecute under the military commission system. The proceedings reaffirm the need to close the Guantánamo detention camp and to end the lawlessness that it has come to symbolize.

The military commissions should be scrapped. The government should charge the Guantánamo detainees with recognizable criminal offenses and bring them before a fair trial before a competent, independent, and impartial tribunal, or else release them with full protections against further abuse.

You can read my report on the proceedings in Guantánamo earlier this week here - Direct from Guantánamo Bay.

Thank you for your support,

Jumana Musa
Advocacy Director
Domestic Human Rights and International Justice
Amnesty International USA