Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Guantanamo and the Unravelling of American Justice

The U.S. military judge who's been presiding over the "trial" of Canadian citizen and Guantanamo Bay inmate Omar Khadr has been removed from his position three weeks after he threatened to halt proceedings if the prosecution failed to release the Canadian's detention records.

Col. Peter Brownback had ordered prosecutors to supply a classified prison log by May 22 to the defence, which alleges that Khadr was abused and coerced into making incriminating statements.
Khadr was captured in Afghanistan when he was 15 years old. Two months after he was transferred to Guantanamo, his chief interrogator in Afghanistan was convicted in the death of an Afghan taxi driver while in custody. Now 21, Khadr faces life in prison for allegedly throwing a grenade that killed a U.S. soldier, Sgt. Christopher Speer, in July 2002.

There's no point in beating round the bush (ha, ha). This abuse of the limited judicial process surrounding the Guantanamo Bay detainees is outrageous. It's the sort of thing we used to criticise in China and the old Soviet Union. Now it's happening in America.

I hate what the warmongers have done to the process of justice.

They'll come for all of us if we let them.







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