By Kenneth J. Theisen, 3/28/07
In an ironic twist,
Australian David Hicks, a former kangaroo skinner, entered a guilty plea to a
“material support of terrorism” charge before a U.S. kangaroo tribunal on March 26,
2007. He specifically denied committing
any violent act. He has been held in
detention at Guantanamo
without trial since January 2002. On Monday he was given a sham hearing rigged
in favor of conviction.
David Hicks is the first
prisoner held at Guantanamo
to be tried. He was tried under the Military Commissions Act (MCA) which
stripped detainees of most legal rights when Congress passed it late last year.
The MCA tribunals were put
into place when the Supreme Court ruled the previous tribunals for trying Guantanamo prisoners were
unconstitutional. Unfortunately the
revised system is equally bad as shown by the Hicks” case. The latest system of kangaroo courts is being
challenged by a new case before the Supreme Court. But in the meantime, the
Bush regime is going through with the sham proceedings in the hopes of getting
convictions that will convince the public that the “War on Terror” (WOT), and
in particular its degrading and abusive treatment of prisoners, was necessary
to deal with “real terrorists” who do not deserve due process.
Earlier this month at two Combatant
Status Review Tribunal hearings (also authorized by the MCA), Khalid Sheikh
Mohammed and Walid Muhammad bin Attash allegedly “confessed” to various
terrorist acts. The Bush regime has
trumpeted these confessions as proof that the WOT is necessary and that it is
okay to ignore international laws regarding treatment of prisoners. (See
International Red Cross Reports Abuse of CIA Detainees)
At the beginning of the
kangaroo proceedings on Monday, Hicks asked for additional civilian legal
assistance. “I’m hoping to have more
lawyers and paralegals to get equality with the prosecution,” he told the
court. But instead of giving Hicks more
legal assistance, the Presiding officer, Marine Colonel Ralph H. Kohlmann,
disqualified two of his three attorneys. One of Hicks” civilian attorneys, Joshua
Dratel, was forbidden to defend him because Dratel wisely refused to promise in
advance to follow procedural rules that have not yet been defined. Kohlmann then ruled that the second civilian
attorney, Rebecca Snyder, was disqualified on the grounds that MCA regulations
only allow civilian representation if there is no expense to the
government. Since Snyder is employed by
the Pentagon the government would have to pay her salary. Both lawyers were ordered to leave the defense
table immediately. Before departing,
Dratel told the tribunal, “These are the same problems that plagued the
earlier commissions, that the process is ad hoc.”
Then the remaining attorney,
Marine Major Michael Mori, was unable to convince Kohlmann that he needed more
time to prepare the defense, now that he was all alone on the defense team. And in an almost laughable statement, Kohlmann
warned the defense that in the future, Hicks “should not appear in prison-type
clothes, in order to make sure that his presumption of innocence may be
maintained.” This was supposed to
show the “court’s” fairness I guess. But
these hearings are being held at a top security prison at a military base where
all the defendants are “terror suspects.”
Are we to be expected to believe that the military tribunals will be
unbiased due to the clothing the defendants wear? I am sure Hicks would much rather have his
attorneys back than civilian clothing, although he should be entitled to both.
David McLeod, an Australian
attorney for Hicks, stated my client “doesn’t have a lot of confidence in the
process”. McLeod was not part of
the trial team.
After witnessing the
proceedings early Monday and realizing that his defense was futile, Hicks
decided to plead guilty Monday night. If
his plea is accepted by the tribunal, he could be sentenced as early as this
week. He will then be sent to Australia to
serve his sentence. Hicks’ father, Terry
Hicks, told the media that his son had pled guilty to get out of Guantanamo prison. He said, “It’s a way to get home, and
he’s told us he just wants to get home.”
Given the conditions that detainees face in this American dungeon this
is perfectly reasonable on Hicks” part.
He has been there longer than most prisoners.
Clive Stafford Smith, an
attorney for other detainees stated, “As one of my other clients said, he
would rather plead guilty and be sent to jahanam – hell – than stay in Guantanamo.”
After Monday’s proceedings,
the chief prosecutor for the tribunals Air Force Colonel Morris Davis told the
press he was satisfied Monday’s hearing ended in a guilty plea. He then said it was important to him that the
tribunal system be fair. You have to be
kidding Colonel.
The Center for
Constitutional Rights issued a statement on Tuesday to the media that stated in
part, “Hick’s guilty plea should not be seen as legitimizing in any way an
utterly illegal system of offshore penal colonies, abuse and ‘trials’ that violate
fundamental due process rights.”
These MCA hearings, like the
entire WOT, are crimes against humanity. Just because prisoners are “confessing” or
pleading “guilty” does not in any way justify what the Bush regime is doing in
our name. We must expose and oppose this
repression. These tribunals are just one
more reason to impeach Bush and his regime.
One of the next detainees
expected to be tried is Omar Khadr, a Canadian who was 15 when he was captured
by the U.S. He may face a death penalty if
convicted. Do you want his conviction on
your conscience?