Ishaq
06-30-06, - 09:59 AM
The US Supreme Court dealt a serious blow to the Bush administration on Thursday by ruling that military commissions created to try prisoners at Guantanamo Bay violate both US law and the Geneva conventions on the treatment of prisoners.
In a far-reaching decision that has implications for all 450 prisoners at the US detention centre in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the court ruled 5-3 that the military trial of Salim Ahmed Hamdan, a former driver for Osama bin Laden, was illegal because he was not given basic legal rights such as hearing all the evidence.
The court also delivered a stunning rebuke to President George W. Bush by disagreeing with his ruling that suspected members of al-Qaeda are not entitled to any protection under the Geneva convention.
“Even assuming that Hamdan is a dangerous individual who would cause great harm or death to innocent civilians given the opportunity, the Executive nevertheless must comply with the prevailing rule of law in undertaking to try him and subject him to criminal punishment,” Justice John Paul Stevens wrote for the majority.
The decision was also a major setback for administration arguments that its powers to prosecute the “war on terror” should be unfettered.
However, while the court rejected the current structure of the Guantanamo military commissions, it said the administration could work with Congress to establish military tribunals that would adhere to US law and the Geneva conventions.
“Our decision today is a limited one,” wrote Justice John Paul Stevens. “Nothing prevents the President from returning to Congress to seek the authority he believes is necessary.”
Speaking during a press conference with Junichiro Koizumi, the Japanese prime minister, Mr Bush said: “To the extent there is latitude to work with the Congress to determine whether or not the military tribunals would be an avenue in which to give people their day in court, we will do so.”
Critics of Guantanamo Bay and the Bush administration’s handling of detentions in the “war on terror” praised the ruling - which comes as European countries press Mr Bush to close the controversial prison - as a huge victory for the rule of law.
“The Supreme Court has made clear that the executive branch does not have a blank check in the war on terror and may not run roughshod over the nation’s legal system,” said Anthony Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union.
In a scathing dissent read from the bench, Justice Antonin Scalia said: “The Court takes on a new role as active manager of the details of military conflict”.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2006
In a far-reaching decision that has implications for all 450 prisoners at the US detention centre in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the court ruled 5-3 that the military trial of Salim Ahmed Hamdan, a former driver for Osama bin Laden, was illegal because he was not given basic legal rights such as hearing all the evidence.
The court also delivered a stunning rebuke to President George W. Bush by disagreeing with his ruling that suspected members of al-Qaeda are not entitled to any protection under the Geneva convention.
“Even assuming that Hamdan is a dangerous individual who would cause great harm or death to innocent civilians given the opportunity, the Executive nevertheless must comply with the prevailing rule of law in undertaking to try him and subject him to criminal punishment,” Justice John Paul Stevens wrote for the majority.
The decision was also a major setback for administration arguments that its powers to prosecute the “war on terror” should be unfettered.
However, while the court rejected the current structure of the Guantanamo military commissions, it said the administration could work with Congress to establish military tribunals that would adhere to US law and the Geneva conventions.
“Our decision today is a limited one,” wrote Justice John Paul Stevens. “Nothing prevents the President from returning to Congress to seek the authority he believes is necessary.”
Speaking during a press conference with Junichiro Koizumi, the Japanese prime minister, Mr Bush said: “To the extent there is latitude to work with the Congress to determine whether or not the military tribunals would be an avenue in which to give people their day in court, we will do so.”
Critics of Guantanamo Bay and the Bush administration’s handling of detentions in the “war on terror” praised the ruling - which comes as European countries press Mr Bush to close the controversial prison - as a huge victory for the rule of law.
“The Supreme Court has made clear that the executive branch does not have a blank check in the war on terror and may not run roughshod over the nation’s legal system,” said Anthony Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union.
In a scathing dissent read from the bench, Justice Antonin Scalia said: “The Court takes on a new role as active manager of the details of military conflict”.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2006