Jul 14th, 2009
Posted by Anna Christensen, National Security Project at 5:03pm	Torture

Indefinite Detention: No Guilty Verdict Required

In her testimony before the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee last week, Denny LeBoeuf, director of the ACLU's John Adams Project, highlighted a number of the most egregious flaws in the military commissions system. LeBoeuf cited, among other things:

• the use of evidence obtained through coercion (in clear violation of the due process clause of the Constitution, the Geneva Conventions, and U.S. Military Law);
• the admission of hearsay evidence (inconsistent with international practice in numerous courts, including the International Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda and the Former Yugoslavia, and the International Criminal Court);
• the denial of the right to choose one's own defense counsel (a right emphasized by the Supreme Court and granted even to defendants at Nuremberg.)

This testimony, and the evidence which supports it, offer an irrefutable condemnation of the Obama administration's decision to revive the military commissions.

Yet even if the military commissions do go forward (as Defense Department General Counsel Jeh Johnson advocated in his own Congressional testimony last Tuesday), they are marred by an additional glaring flaw: Even if the Commissions do exonerate a defendant of all charges, the Obama administration has claimed the right to continue to imprison the defendant indefinitely. So even if a detainee's case survives the use of coerced evidence, the admission of statements from a shadowy, unnamed source, and the lack of a properly selected defense attorney — even if the defendant is able to overcome these hurdles and demonstrate his innocence — the administration can continue to detain him, on the unsubstantiated grounds that he might "endanger the American people."

Indeed, as President Obama announced in a speech on May 21, these detainees could be grouped with "all manner of dangerous and violent criminals" in federal supermax prisons.

This notion that individuals can be indefinitely detained, on the vague and unsubstantiated basis that they might pose a threat, renders the administration's proposed changes to the military commissions completely useless. Although Johnson claimed in his testimony that the improved commissions would provide a "fully legitimate forum," such "legitimacy" is pure window dressing so long as the President can detain whomever he wants to, regardless of the commissions' outcome.

The Obama administration's mistaken belief that it can legally detain individuals, even if they have been exonerated — albeit by critically flawed commissions — is completely contrary to President Obama's asserted desire to break with the abuses of the Bush administration. If the president truly wants to disavow the mistakes of the past eight years, he must begin by trying these detainees in federal court, and respect the outcomes of those trials.

Permalink |	Torture

Tags: Close Guantanamo, indefinite detention

1. Vic Livingston Says:
   Jul 14th, 2009 at 4:39pm

   "Panetta's Box"?

   THE SECRETIVE SECURITY / MILITARY / INTEL 'MULTI-AGENCY COORDINATED ACTION PROGRAM'...

   A NATIONWIDE, SECRETIVE SECURITY/MILITARY/INTEL/ EXTRAJUDICIAL TARGETING AND 'TORTURE MATRIX'...

   ...FAR MORE EXTENSIVE THAN A CIA 'ASSASSINATION RING'...

   ...INVOLVING THE WEAPONIZATION OF THE ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM...

   ... AND 'DIRECTED ENERGY WEAPONS' TORTURE OF UNJUSTLY 'TARGETED' AMERICAN CITIZENS?

   Now will Congress investigate?

   http://nowpublic.com/world/gestapo-usa-govt-funded -vigilante-network-terrorizes-america

   OR (if link is corrupted / disabled:

   http://NowPublic.com/scrivener

   RE: "GESTAPO USA: Gov't-Funded Vigilante Network Terrorizes America"

2. anon Says:
   Jul 16th, 2009 at 10:20pm

   Something is up in America -- of this, I am absolutely certain. And it seems pretty clear to me, though I can't prove it, that the government and/or law-enforcement officers are involved. What's going on is Machiavellian. It's cruel and sadistic. And it's pretty unbelievable.

   People like above writer (and perhaps even this one) are thought to be unstable at best. I wouldn't have believed some of the accusations either, but after what I've experienced, I've become unbelievably open-minded. There's some crazy stuff going on in America and I would bet my bottom dollar that one or more government agencies are involved.

   I can say this for certain: there appears to be some sort of domestic program or programs in progress that is/are still unknown to many, but need to be exposed and stopped. Until about 8 years ago, I thought that I lived in America. I don't even recognize this country anymore.

   I only know what I can see with my own two eyes. I know when my front door is left standing wide open after I've carefully locked it. I know when personal papers (tax returns, personal letters, etc.) have been taken from my home. I know when personal property is clearly vandalized. And I know when thefts have taken place. In spite of all these things and in spite of my professional background and good reputation, the police turn a blind-eye and refuse to investigate. Relocation doesn't work - the thefts, vandalism and persistent surveillance continue.

   This is something akin to COINTELPRO, but perhaps run by some other agency other than the FBI. A lawyer friend of mine tells me that COINTELPRO is now being run by the NSA and/or DIA. I don't know what's true, but that this is allowed to continue in this country is criminal.

   I'm a white, Protestant law-abiding healthcare professional with absolutely no criminal history. This isn't just happening to me -- there are many, many others, but we can't get help.

   I don't know anything about directed-energy weapons, etc., but I do have a clear grasp of reality. What's going on is nothing short of psychological harassment. There are groups of thugs/goons which are state-supported and terrorizing people who have done nothing wrong, but have been targeted nonetheless.

   We need someone to blow the whistle on these operations. Yesterday.

3. Vic Livingston Says:
   Jul 17th, 2009 at 2:47pm

   The monsters running these "black ops" programs WANT you to think the whistle-blowers are "unstable" -- that's their M.O.

   Microwave and laser radiation "directed energy weapons" are being used to induce symptoms of neurological and mental illness...

   ...so that the authoritarians running these Nazi-like programs can neutralize those who have the courage to say "No!" to tyranny and an American genocide.

   If you are a medical professional, read up on the capabilities of these microwave and laser electromagnetic weapons and devices.

   Here, I'll short-cut it for you. You know what a "Cyber-Knife" can do, right?

   There's not a lot of difference in the "effects" that can be brought to bear on a "target."

   http://nowpublic.com/world/gestapo-usa-govt-funded-vi gilante-network-terrorizes-america
   http://nowpublic.com/world/domestic-torture-radiation-weaponry-amer icas-horrific-shame
   http://www.nowpublic.com/world/zap-have-you-been-targeted-directed- energy-weapon-victims-organized-gang-stalking-say-its-happening-usa

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