Now that the supreme court is willing to look at the legal aspects of the Guantanamo "detainees" perhaps this arbitrary inquisition will get the attention it deserves.
Our treatment of war prisoners in Guantanamo Bay violates the Geneva Conventions and the UN Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment. These violations weaken the international law that protects all military prisoners. That law requires that each prisoner must appear before a judge to ascertain whether or not they are prisoners of war. This has not been done in Guantanamo.
Over 660 people, most of them taken on the battlefields of Afghanistan, are imprisoned at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Station. Some of them are civilians who have not taken up arms against the United States. Some of them were 16 years old or less when captured. Many have been held for eighteen months, extensively interrogated and allowed only two 15 minute exercise periods a week. Held without lawyers, they have been seen only by their guards, interrogators and the International Red Cross.
These prisoners come from more than forty countries. Secretary Powell has written the Pentagon requesting the prompt processing of the prisoners because their detainment is interfering with international cooperation for the prevention of terrorism. Preparations are now underway for the trial and possible execution of a small number of prisoners accused of war crimes. A courtroom is being built at Guantanamo for their trial by a special three judge military court. The rules of evidence are also special to this court. For example, the fact that evidence cannot be authenticated or is hearsay is not grounds for barring it and all communications between civilian lawyers and their clients may be monitored by intelligence agents. The more than six hundred prisoners against whom there are no criminal charges remain in a debilitating limbo.
The war between the United States and the government of Afghanistan is long over and whatever information may have been gained about terrorism is now outdated. There is no reason to continue to hold these prisoners in opposition to the rules of war and world opinion. The American people should be concerned because many millions of taxpayer dollars have been expended on housing , guarding and now trying these prisoners. The United States is setting an example of the arbitrary treatment of prisoners that will endanger our own service people should they be captured in the future.
But greater than these practical considerations is the corrupting effect that ignoring this cruelty has upon our nation. The International Red Cross now reports that this unlimited imprisonment is having a terrible effect upon the mental state of the prisoners, many of whom have attempted suicide.
The question is not whether Guantanamo is part of the U.S. and covered by the Constitution; the question is whether the reputation and honor of the U.S. can be sacrificed on the altar of fear. How can we profess to teach democracy to others when this illegal and cruel imprisonment violates every principle of the rule of law? Holding the Guantanamo "detainees" is a dark stain on our nationšs history that will not be removed by anything that we may accomplish elsewhere.
Peter Cohen is a veteran of WWII, an artist and peace activist now living in Santa Barbara, CA. He can be reached at aerie@silcom.com
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