Report: Gitmo Detainees Denied Witnesses

[Rose Siding]

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- The U.S. military called no witnesses, withheld evidence from detainees and usually reached a decision within a day as it determined that hundreds of men detained at Guantanamo Bay were "enemy combatants," according to a new report.

The analysis of transcripts and records by two lawyers for Guantanamo detainees, aided by more than two dozen law students, found that hearings that determined whether a prisoner should remain in custody gave the accused little opportunity to contest allegations against him.

"These were not hearings. These were shams," said Mark Denbeaux, an attorney and Seton Hall University law professor who along with his son, Joshua, is the author of the report. They provided an advance copy of the report to The Associated Press late Thursday and planned to release it Friday on the Internet.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/16/AR2006111601285_2.html

Just one of several remarkable findings:

"_ In three cases, the panel found that the detainee was "no longer an enemy combatant," but the military convened new tribunals that later found them to be enemy combatants."

[jwirr]

1. Dark ages, here we cometh!

[ChairmanAgnostic]

2. The USSR had better legal systems.

The Chinese are beginning to respond to horrific stories of rural legal abuse.
The dark ages indeed.

[Judi Lynn]

3. ""No American would ever consider this to be hearing," Denbeaux said. "This is a show trial.""

Denbeaux has more faith in the population than I do. I think there are more than enough people who have no concern whatsoever for the poor unlucky people who just get in the road of _Bush's war wagon.

[B3Nut]

4. You can't even call this a kangaroo court

without making kangaroo courts look bad.

Thomas Jefferson must be spinning in his grave at 1500 RPM about now...

Todd in Beerbratistan

[WePurrsevere]

5. This is so very wrong and on so many levels. n/t

[FernBell]

6. 'Sham' Guantánamo hearings detailed

The U.S. military called no witnesses, withheld evidence from detainees and usually reached a decision within a day as it determined that hundreds of men detained at Guantánamo Bay were "enemy combatants," according to a new report.

The analysis of transcripts and records by two lawyers for Guantánamo detainees, aided by more than two dozen law students, found that hearings that determined whether a prisoner should remain in custody gave the accused little opportunity to contest allegations against him.

"These were not hearings. These were shams," said Mark Denbeaux, an attorney and Seton Hall University law professor who along with his son, Joshua, is the author of the report. They provided an advance copy of the report to the Associated Press last night and planned to release it today on the Internet.

.......

The military held Combatant Status Review Tribunals for 558 detainees at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantánamo Bay in southeast Cuba between July 2004 and January 2005 and found all but 38 were enemy combatants. Handcuffed detainees appeared before a panel of three officers with no defense attorney, only a military "personal representative."

According to the report, the representatives said nothing in the hearings 14 percent of the time and made no "substantive" comments in 30 percent. In some cases, the representative even appeared to advocate the government's position, the report said.



http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/index.ssf?/base/news-10/1163745621307060.xml&coll=1

[indepat]

7. Most of the governmental apparatus is little more than a sham as is the bulk of the MSM

Edited for context

[Up2Late]

8. Is this really news?

I think most of us here already knew this.

[saigon68]

9. Its a KANGAROO COURT made up of military THUGS and war criminals

SHAME SHAME on these "defenders of freedom" I spit on them.

They are beneath contempt