Gitmo Detainees Turn Poetic

A Guantanamo defense lawyer with a Ph.D. in English has compiled poems written by detainees that will be published in an 84-page book. Marc Falkoff, who represents 17 Yemeni prisoners, began the project after two of his clients mailed him poems, the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) reports. Falkoff asked…

Jun 20, 2007 3:44 PM CDT

Terrorists in a Different Legal Category

The Bush administration is claiming that the old legal categories don’t work for suspected terrorists. There are civilians, who can be prosecuted in ordinary courts, and soldiers, who can’t be prosecuted for fighting the enemy. But the administration proposed a new category in 2001, that of “unlawful enemy combatant,” according…

Jun 13, 2007 3:29 PM CDT

Courts Reject Bush Tactical Decision

President Bush’s legal approach to fighting terrorism may not outlast his presidency. That’s the conclusion of a Wall Street Journal analysis (sub. req.) of court rulings that blocked government actions against terrorism suspects here and at Guantanamo Bay. The setbacks stem from a tactical decision to assert the president had…

Jun 13, 2007 2:21 PM CDT

Rehearing Sought in ‘Sleeper Agent’ Case

The U.S. Justice Department says it will ask a federal appeals court for an en banc rehearing of a three-judge panel’s ruling yesterday that the military could not hold a civilian indefinitely.

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in a 2-1 ruling said Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri could be charged with a crime, deported or held as a material witness. But he has a right to habeas corpus and must be released from military detention, the Richmond, Va.-based court said.

A Justice Department statement said al-Marri trained at Osama bin Laden’s terrorist training camp in Afghanistan and was an al-Qaida sleeper agent sent here to explore methods of disrupting the U.S. financial system.

Jun 12, 2007 1:21 PM CDT

Nuremberg Attorney: Gitmo Trials Unfair

An 88-year-old American lawyer who helped try war criminals at Nuremberg, Germany, after World War II says today’s Guantanamo Bay cases fly in the face of the prosecutorial precedent he helped set there. “I think Robert Jackson, who’s the architect of Nuremberg, would turn over in his grave if he…

Jun 12, 2007 12:27 AM CDT

Close Gitmo, Powell Says

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell says he would close the military prison at Guantanamo Bay and move the detainees’ cases into the federal court system.

Powell told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that the Guantanamo prison has hurt America’s reputation, according to a Washington Post account of the interview.

Jun 11, 2007 3:35 PM CDT

Committee OKs Gitmo Habeas Bill

The Senate Judiciary Committee has approved a bill to restore habeas corpus rights for Guantanamo detainees.

The move is part of a renewed effort by Democrats to challenge the Bush administration’s treatment of the detainees, the Washington Post reports.

Jun 8, 2007 4:35 PM CDT

Bush Likely to Pursue Gitmo Trials

The Bush administration is likely to fix rather than abandon trials for terrorist detainees at Guantanamo Bay.

Legal analysts told the Los Angeles Times there is no viable alternative because much of the evidence would be inadmissible in the regular court system.

Many of the detainees were picked up on the battlefield, “and a battlefield is different from a crime scene,” Pepperdine law professor Douglas W. Kmiec told the newspaper.

Other problems involve high-level terrorists questioned in secret CIA prisons. Evidence obtained under such circumstances would likely be excluded in U.S. courts.

Jun 7, 2007 5:15 PM CDT

Suit to Seek Information on Secret Detainees

Three human rights groups plan to file a lawsuit today seeking documents and information about detainees believed to be in secret custody of the Central Intelligence Agency.

The Washington Post says the suit will name several U.S. agencies, including the CIA, the Justice Department and the Defense Department.

Jun 7, 2007 2:03 PM CDT

Democrats Push Rights for Gitmo Detainees

Democrats are citing the dismissal of charges against two Guantanamo detainees in renewing calls for changes in the system used to try their cases.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said legislation to restore habeas corpus rights for detainees could reach the Senate floor this month, the Washington Post reports.

Another proposal would give detainees access to evidence and lawyers when their cases are reviewed by Combatant Status Review Tribunals, which determine whether detainees are enemy combatants.

Jun 6, 2007 2:11 PM CDT

Possible Appeal in Gitmo Case

Military prosecutors are considering an appeal of yesterday’s decisions tossing out charges against two Guantanamo detainees because they were not properly classified as “unlawful” enemy combatants. Prosecutors asked for a 72-hour delay to consider an appeal of the first judge’s decision in the case of Omar Khadr, a Canadian captured…

Jun 5, 2007 12:26 PM CDT

Judge Tosses Charges Against Gitmo Detainee

A military judge today threw out charges against a Guantanamo detainee who was 15 when he was captured in Afghanistan. However, Army Col. Peter Brownback said the dismissal was without prejudice, which means the government could refile charges against the Canadian man, Associated Press reports. Brownback said the government had…

Jun 4, 2007 7:03 PM CDT

Bin Laden Driver Fighting Tribunal Law

The lawyer for the man who acted as Osama Bin Laden’s driver says he will challenge the new military tribunal system in a trial that begins today. The driver, Salim Ahmed Hamdan, is among the first detainees charged under the new system, the Associated Press reports. He goes on trial…

Jun 4, 2007 4:15 PM CDT

Detainee Who Died Denied Lawyer Visits

The Guantanamo Bay detainee found dead in an apparent suicide had never been given the opportunity to see a lawyer and had never been charged with a crime. A Pentagon official told the Washington Post that the detainee was not allowed to meet with lawyers because he had not been…

Jun 1, 2007 5:29 PM CDT

Military Lawyer’s Career Hurt due to Gitmo Work

A Marine Corps lawyer who represented Australian David Hicks in a Guantanamo Bay case that resulted in a favorable plea deal has apparently suffered career repercussions as a result – and he is not the only one. In the aftermath of his aggressive defense of Hicks, Major Michael Mori has…

May 11, 2007 8:01 PM CDT