Pentagon sets no-win rules for detainee trials; Amnesty responds

In yet another setback for human rights, the Pentagon now wants to allow hearsay evidence and coerced testimony in the trials of Guantanamo detainees. [Read story.]

Now imagine that you have been wrongfully imprisoned at Guantanamo, and those are the terms of your trial. It's your word against the the word of whatever uniformed individual might have a grudge against you that day.

In a press release yesterday, Jumana Musa of Amnesty International USA issued the following statement:

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"If the goal is to bring people to justice, rather than tinkering with a system that was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court and hastily passed by Congress, the United States should use the system that is in place -- the federal courts, as their procedures meet fair trial standards. Amnesty International regrets that the Department of Defense declined to subject the new military commissions rules to a notice and comment period, which would have allowed relevant legal and human rights experts the opportunity to provide input into the system. Amnesty International has repeatedly raised concerns about the commissions rules and finds that with today?s revised rules there remain fundamental issues that will prevent these reconstituted military commissions from meeting internationally recognized fair trial standards.

"Although Congress has authorized this ill-advised system that gives fewer rights and protections to foreign nationals than to U.S. citizens, that does not guarantee that the system will pass judicial scrutiny. While there are some notable improvements over the old system that the Supreme Court struck down, the changes do not go far enough to ensure the due process rights of those who will face the system. Civilians picked up far from any battlefield still may be tried in a military system of justice, and defendants can be convicted on evidence obtained through coercion or cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment that would be inadmissible in any other U.S. judicial forum. The commissions are not bound by any precedent or case law, making the mounting of an effective defense extremely difficult.

"Amnesty International renews its call to scrap the new military commissions system and instead to try people accused of terrorism-related offenses in federal court. Rather than proceed with these commissions, the United States should use established systems of justice whose standards meet the requirements for fair trials."

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