David Hicks
In my last post about Schapelle, I talked about other terrible injustices around the world. One of the greatest is surely the appalling Military Commissions set up by George W Bush to try terrorists, and in particular the treatment of Australian, David Hicks.
David Hicks is now in his fifth year in Guantanamo Bay as a prisoner of the US Army. David is purportedly facing charges of attempted murder, aiding the enemy and conspiracy. It all sounds pretty serious and is based on his being with the Taliban, purportedly fighting against allied soldiers.
Only, it was actually the other way round. David Hicks was having a boys-own-adventure with the Taliban, a legit army that were not involved in any war with anybody. Then all of a sudden George W Bush and John Howard declared war on Afghanistan and his comrades. It's far from clear that David Hicks did any fighting anyway. He was caught by the Northern Alliance while escaping to Pakistan.
His other fault was apparently to attend an Al Quada training camp. But bear in mind that at that stage there had been no 9/11 atrocity and that attending the camps did not have the same connotations it does now.
My view is that there is at least a good chance he is not guilty of any crime but that he has no chance of acquittal by a military commission where the U.S Army serves as arresting officer, prosecutor, defence, judge and jury, and where there are no rules of evidence. That bit about ‘no rules of evidence’ takes on additional weight when you take into account the likelihood that Hicks, like other prisoners, was tortured to obtain evidence against him.
I also think that having kept Hicks incarcerated for 5 years it is likely that the US Army would feel that an acquittal would be just too embarrassing to contemplate.
It’s not just my view that the military commissions are unfair. The British Government wouldn’t allow any of their citizens to be tried by this unfair system and successfully demanded their repatriation back to Britain. Nor would the Americans allow any of their citizens to front the commissions. Former High Court judge Mary Gaudron has also been critical of the military commission process, as well as the ADF's senior military counsel, Captain Paul Willee and three US prosecutors who quit the commission process, claiming it is unfair.
I think we'll probably find out one day, that our Government's unwavering and passionate support for the military commissions is a secret codicil to the free trade agreement with the USA or is a payback for not making a fuss about the AWB's activities in Iraq. Or something like that.
And I for one get angry when the Government abandons an individual for the greater economic good of us all. I find it all too easy to imagine myself, a family member or a friend in the same situation.
David Hicks is now in his fifth year in Guantanamo Bay as a prisoner of the US Army. David is purportedly facing charges of attempted murder, aiding the enemy and conspiracy. It all sounds pretty serious and is based on his being with the Taliban, purportedly fighting against allied soldiers.
Only, it was actually the other way round. David Hicks was having a boys-own-adventure with the Taliban, a legit army that were not involved in any war with anybody. Then all of a sudden George W Bush and John Howard declared war on Afghanistan and his comrades. It's far from clear that David Hicks did any fighting anyway. He was caught by the Northern Alliance while escaping to Pakistan.
His other fault was apparently to attend an Al Quada training camp. But bear in mind that at that stage there had been no 9/11 atrocity and that attending the camps did not have the same connotations it does now.
My view is that there is at least a good chance he is not guilty of any crime but that he has no chance of acquittal by a military commission where the U.S Army serves as arresting officer, prosecutor, defence, judge and jury, and where there are no rules of evidence. That bit about ‘no rules of evidence’ takes on additional weight when you take into account the likelihood that Hicks, like other prisoners, was tortured to obtain evidence against him.
I also think that having kept Hicks incarcerated for 5 years it is likely that the US Army would feel that an acquittal would be just too embarrassing to contemplate.
It’s not just my view that the military commissions are unfair. The British Government wouldn’t allow any of their citizens to be tried by this unfair system and successfully demanded their repatriation back to Britain. Nor would the Americans allow any of their citizens to front the commissions. Former High Court judge Mary Gaudron has also been critical of the military commission process, as well as the ADF's senior military counsel, Captain Paul Willee and three US prosecutors who quit the commission process, claiming it is unfair.
I think we'll probably find out one day, that our Government's unwavering and passionate support for the military commissions is a secret codicil to the free trade agreement with the USA or is a payback for not making a fuss about the AWB's activities in Iraq. Or something like that.
And I for one get angry when the Government abandons an individual for the greater economic good of us all. I find it all too easy to imagine myself, a family member or a friend in the same situation.
posted by True Blue at 8:02 pm
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