Civilians in military courts! authored by Ddembe on 3. December - TopicsExpress

Civilians in military courts! authored by Ddembe on 3. December 2005 at 11:36 Monsieur Niyibizi says, “You did ask me about ONE country which use the court martial to trial civilian; here is one; are you ready you will not believe this I am sure but because you are in Europe please double check this it is true:United State Of America or USA” The US of A has become creative with the law since 9-11! It has used the court martial to charge “civilians” on charges of terrorism. This tactic has caused it a lot of grief in the process! The argument is the same -the US government does not trust the civillian courts not to release suspects it believes to be guilty so it holds them beyond those courts, gives them a label that strips them of the right to a speedy and fair trial as well as rights of appeal in the US justice system, and subjects them to a justice system that is not directly under the supervision of the formal justice system in an offshore location! This was based on the argument that the prisoners held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba are “unlawfull combattants”! They are also neither American citizens, nor recognised enemy combattants and therefore not covered (in the American governments interpretation) by the Geneva convention! By being non citizens not held on American soil in a gazetted prison, they are effectively held outside of the jurisdiction of the American law courts! In contrast, Zacarias Moussaui a Frenchman of Morrocan origin arrested a month before the Sept. 11 attacks after enrolling in a flying school and demanding to be taught how to steer jumbo jets but showing no interest in take offs or landing was not tried by court martial! There are a few telling things about the discomfort that trying civillians by court martial causes in America and elsewhere! For one, they are yet to try their first prisoner due to the various roadblocks they have come across in the various courts, in congress, within party ranks on both sides of government, the general public, the UN (which recently declined to interview Guantanamo bay prisoners as the US would not provide unrestricted access), other governments including allies (Britain refused to have its citizens (including one Ugandan born man) tried by court martial in Guantanamo bay and had all of them repatriated back to the UK where they were set free as they could not be charged retrospectively under terrorism laws!). GWB’s administration has spent most of the last 4 years defending the act of trying civilians by court martial! The UK in demanding the repatriation of its citizens cited a lack of confidence in the ability of court martials to give them a fair trial! While charges have been brought against some of the “unlawfull combattants” such as Australia’s George Hicks, they are yet to try anyone by court martial even though they continue to defend their right to do so! George Hicks even applied for a UK passport having found out that his mother still carries a UK passport (children born of UK mothers have the right to apply for UK citizenship). Even though that application was denied he appealed in a case that is still before the courts. The argument is that once given a UK passport, the US will have no option but to release him as it did all the other UK citizens as his own country of Australia refused to request his return home! Could you please name that civilian US citizen held on American soil in a gazetted prison who has been tried by court martial?