THE US: The start of military trials of foreign terrorism suspects held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba is imminent, the Pentagon's chief prosecutor said yesterday, while defending a rule allowing the US government to monitor conversations between the defendants and their lawyers.
President Bush in 2001 authorised the first US military commission trials of wartime prisoners since the second World War. On July 3rd, he designated six foreign captives as eligible for such trials. The Pentagon refused to identify them.
"I think it's safe to say our start is imminent, soon," Col Frederic Borch, named by the Pentagon to lead the prosecution, told an American Bar Association event. He did not give a specific date, nor say how many defendants would be tried or the charges involved.
The rules set by the Pentagon for the trials have come under sharp criticism from human rights groups and criminal defence lawyers, who doubt the defendants can get fair trials.
"Ultimately, I would ask all the critics, wait until we actually start the process so you can see what actually happens," Col Borch said.
Defendants tried before the commissions of seven American military officers must be non-US citizens. They are expected to be among the roughly 660 foreign prisoners, most captured in Afghanistan and imprisoned at the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay. No criminal charges have been brought against any Guantanamo prisoners to date. Commission trials are set to be held there. Defendants could face the death penalty if convicted.
Critics argue the rules are biased in favor of the prosecution, place unacceptable conditions on the defence and allow for no civilian judicial review.
"We are now putting forth a system of justice before the world that doesn't meet either current American or international standards of due process," said Mr Kevin Barry, a renowned expert in military justice and board member of the National Institute of Military Justice.
One rule that has drawn particular fire is the right to monitor communications between the defendants and their lawyers.
Each defendant will be assigned a US military defence attorney and also has the right to hire an American civilian lawyer as long as that attorney is deemed eligible by the Pentagon to hear classified evidence and agrees to conditions that include monitoring conversations. - (Reuters)