Torture, tribunals and the death penalty

Well, it seems utterly opportunistic to me. Mohammed al-Khatani, our client, has been in Guantanamo six years. This could have happened before. They had commissions set up before. And it looks to me like in a broad way that the Republicans want to make the Democrats appear weak on issues of national security and themselves to appear strong. So they come out and say, "Look it, we've captured the 9/11 guys. We're going to put them on trial." And you have the Democrats saying, "Well, we don't think these trials are fair." And so the public perception, at least the ones the Republicans hope for, is that the Democrats are seen as weak on an issue of national security, which is always one of the Democrats' alleged worries in taking on the Republicans. That's certainly one of the major reasons I think we're seeing these charges now, particularly as it's unlikely those trials will go forward before the elections. The second, of course, could be that this is the last year of the Bush administration. How does he go out of office without at least saying, "Hey, guys, I at least captured the people and put them on trial who were involved in 9/11"? 'Cause he certainly hasn't done that with Osama bin Laden. They've been saying they want to close Gitmo for years. The president said he wanted to close it. But words don't mean anything. There's still over 250 people at Guantanamo. The question is: what's going to happen to those? The administration claims they're going to charge 60 or 80 people, but I think you and I will be talking next year before we actually get one of these trials full end to completion, because there are so many ways in which they are off the page of human liberty and off the page of law that I question that even our moderate to conservative courts in the United States will uphold trials based on evidence from torture. So I think we're talking about a very long time to both closing Guantanamo as well as to having any trials go forward. The broader issue, which has been happening for a number of years now, post-9/11, is first the issue of the legitimization of torture and the use of evidence from torture in the trials of alleged terrorists, and trying to make that an exception to the fact that we can't allow or don't allow evidence of torture or coercion in any of our regular criminal trials. And one question is: will that be just an exception, bad as it is? Or will that, as it often happens, seep into our regular justice system? The second is setting up a special set of courts to try alleged terrorists. That's what's done or what was done in Peru under Fujimori; that was done in Nigeria; that was done in Turkey. And the question is: does the fact that the major country in the world, one that is supposedly proud of its human rights, is engaging in torture and special tribunals and the death penalty, will that really set a template not only for the future of justice in the United States but for the future of justice in the world?

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[MsTheresaKelly1]

@storagecasa

Think about it, the homeland security terrorist watch list which has over 1 million American citizens on it can be viewed as nothing more than a death list. Neither democrats nor republicans are good, they are corrupt as he'll!

[storagecasa]

Funny how republicans are so pro life, but they will execute people based on weak evidence and incompetent attorneys seen in the growing pace of wrongful convictions. I saw one case where parents were convicted of killing child by cutting a triangle in her in a sadistic ceremony. They where convicted.but later exonerated when it was discoved the triangle wound was from the surgeon trying to save child after family dogs attacked her. Go Texas!

[shagrama]

More than 200 detainees are held at the Guantanamo facility prisoner Al Hanashi is the fifth to commit suicide, according to the military. Two Saudi Arabians and a Yemeni hung themselves with clothes and bed sheets in 2006; another Saudi killed himself in 2007.

Hmmm... Maybe they commited sucide because of the nice SPA treatment called waterboarding that they received on a daily basis.

[Michkuty]

how the fuck can you have a trail based on the testimony forced by torture?

fucking retarded BS us govtshit

im pissed off now

[huydiennuoc]

Đạm Cà Mau

[milofonbil]

Bush and his cronies need to be arrested for war crimes under Geneva III.

This whole torture precedence needs to be stopped along with extra-ordinary renditions, incarcerations without charge... I really can't believe my ears. What happened to all of what I learned in civics class in Jr High?

And these same turkeys don't want to testify in Congress for their wrongdoings? There is something really wrong with this scene.

[sxmadrid]

Great vid. Re the final question; the answer seems obvious, it's just phenomenal that some people are so angry and aggressive, or so scared and confused, that they don't get it.

[colombosueco]

Everybody knows that was a goverment consphiracy! everything is a lie!

Bush is the real threat!

[indulf]

The evidence suggests that the 11 September 2001 attacks were the work of the CIA and its friends.

[givebirthathome]

As long as the trials are secret, we have no reason to believe any statement or conclusion issuing from them. We the people should be demanding public trials, not only for the human rights of the defendants, but because we the people deserve to know all the facts about 9-11.

A different 9-11 defendent was executed a few years back in Pakistan. & of course, an execution means the victim will never be able to tell his story, or give additional information to anyone else.