~~~ Below another example of how the Bush Team really does not understand to foundations of American Democracy. Dictatorships do detention without trial. In the USA , everyone --- no matter their legal or citizenship standing --is entitled to their day in PUBLIC courts when accused of a crime. ~` ~~~ ~` TP
Guantánamo tribunals ruled Illegal
Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington
Tuesday February 1, 2005
Guardian / http://www.guardian.co.uk/
The Bush administration suffered a legal setback over its conduct of the war on terror yesterday when a US federal judge ruled that the special military tribunals at Guantánamo Bay were unlawful.
The judgment was seen as a victory for the 540 detainees in Guantánamo, and for civil rights organisations which have campaigned for three years for inmates to have the right to challenge their detentions in court.
"This means that these folks are actually going to get a hearing," said Barbara Olshansky, of the Centre for Constitutional Rights. "[The judge] is saying that the rule of law in this country cannot be disregarded by executive fiat - despite what this administration might want."
The judgment was highly critical of the Pentagon's military tribunals, set up in June last year to decide whether to continue holding the inmates at Guantánamo.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------
