Fantastic adventures from the Greene residence
In our bathroom, there is a pile of dirty washing on the floor. Above this pile of washing has been a sign which says
TAKE YOUR WASHING OUT WITH YOU
Underneath this sign, another sign has recently appeared, saying
YOU ARE ALL BLIND
and
OR JUST STUPID.
TAKE YOUR WASHING OUT WITH YOU
Underneath this sign, another sign has recently appeared, saying
YOU ARE ALL BLIND
and
OR JUST STUPID.
The US Supreme Court has ruled President George W Bush overstepped his powers and breached the Geneva Conventions by setting up special war crime tribunals for "war on terror" suspects.
The ruling could have far-reaching consequences for the conduct of the US "war on terror" unleashed after the September 11, 2001 attacks and the future of the Guantanamo Bay prison camp where about 440 suspects are held.
"The judgement of the court of appeals is reversed and the case is remanded for further proceedings," the Supreme Court said in a 5-3 verdict on an appeals court ruling that declared the military tribunals legal.
The justices also ruled that the tribunal system set up by the US administration "does not meet those requirements" laid down by the Geneva Conventions.
The landmark judgement was reached in the case of a former driver for Osama bin Laden, Salim Ahmed Hamdan, a Yemeni detainee at Guantanamo, whose lawyers challenged the military charges against him.
The Supreme Court ordered that the future of the tribunals will have to again be argued by a lower court by the US government and Hamdan's lawyers.
The ruling was critical to the future of the much-criticised camp and represented a landmark test of expanded presidential powers used to order the first US war crimes tribunals since World War II.
President George W Bush said he had been waiting for the Supreme Court verdict to decide on the future of the tribunals.
"We have no comment until we've read the ruling, read the decision," White House spokesman Tony Snow said.
Another senior White House official, who requested anonymity, explained: "It's a complex ruling; legal counsel will be looking at it to see what it says".
The case centred on an appeal by Hamdan over the constitutionality of the tribunals.
Justices were also asked to decide whether a law passed by US Congress last year, stripping federal courts of jurisdiction over the military tribunals, can be applied retroactively to the Hamdan case.
Geneva Conventions
Another question at issue was whether the tribunals breach the 1949 Geneva Conventions on the treatment of people captured in wartime.
Mr Bush said this month that he wanted to close Guantanamo, but stressed that the most dangerous prisoners should face justice.
He said he needed to know the Supreme Court's decision before deciding on the proper venue for such trials.
Hamadan's lawyers had argued that the tribunals were not approved by Congress.
Mr Bush counters that he did not consult Congress over the makeup of the tribunals because he had used the special powers given to him by the body a week after September 11 to take all necessary action against those implicated in the attacks.
The first tribunals were set up in June 2004, but only 10 inmates have been formally charged and all the trials have been suspended to await the Supreme Court's ruling.
Australian David Hicks, originally from Adelaide, has been held at Guantanamo Bay since 2002.
The 30-year-old convert to Islam was captured in Afghanistan where he allegedly fought alongside the ruling Taliban against US-led forces who invaded after the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001.
He faces charges of conspiracy, attempted murder by an unprivileged belligerent and aiding the enemy.
Major Michael Mori, the military lawyer appointed to defend Hicks before the tribunals says he is not surprised by the US Supreme Court decision.
"It doesn't come as a shock to me," he said.
"The military lawyers who have been defending the defendants at Guantanamo have been saying this all along. Any real lawyer who isn't part of the administration knows this violates the Geneva Conventions."
Mr Bush authorised the military tribunals in the weeks after the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington.
They were the first war crimes tribunals since the Nuremburg trials set up for Nazi leaders after World War II.
- AFP
FULL STORY http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200606/s1675163.htm
Reply
Reply
Leave a comment