Gitmo Tribunal Craziness
Charles Johnson
Mon Jun 4, 2007 at 6:36 pm PDT • Views: 272
I don’t know what to say at this point, except “aaarrrgghhh:” Guantanamo war crimes trials screech to halt.
Andy McCarthy at The Corner hopes this isn’t a case of “monumental incompetence.” Indeed.
GUANTANAMO BAY U.S. NAVAL BASE, Cuba, June 4 (Reuters) - U.S. military judges dropped all war crimes charges on Monday against the only two Guantanamo captives facing trial, rulings that could preclude trying any of the 380 prisoners held at the U.S. base in Cuba any time soon.
The judges said they lacked jurisdiction under the strict definition of those eligible for trial by military tribunal under a law the U.S. Congress enacted last year.
“It’s another demonstration that the system simply doesn’t work,” said the tribunals’ chief defense counsel, Marine Col. Dwight Sullivan.
The rulings did not affect U.S. authority to indefinitely hold the 380 foreign terrorism suspects detained at the Guantanamo Bay naval base in southeast Cuba.
But it was the latest setback for the Bush administration’s efforts to put the Guantanamo captives through some form of judicial process. It was forced to rewrite the rules last year after the U.S. Supreme Court deemed the old tribunals illegal.
Frank says: