- Joined
- Jun 25, 2008
- Messages
- 8,080
- Reaction score
- 3,918
- Location
- Canada
- Gender
- Male
- Political Leaning
- Independent
With some changes...
Obama revives Guantanamo Bay tribunals
I like how the wording doesn't address whether or not waterboarding was torture, but it bypasses the controversy entirely by simply omitting the evidence. If there was probable cause to detain them in the first place, then that should be provable anyway.
Obama revives Guantanamo Bay tribunals
Article said:For now, the military trials will remain on hold, as they have been since the beginning of his administration, while Obama makes the necessary legal changes. The revised system is expected to try fewer than 20 of the 241 detainees now being held at Guantanamo.
The changes include:
* Restrictions on hearsay evidence that can be used in court against the detainees.
* A ban on all evidence obtained through cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. This would include statements given by detainees who were subjected to waterboarding, a form of simulated drowning.
* Giving detainees greater leeway in choosing their own military counsel.
* Protecting detainees who refuse to testify from legal sanctions or other court prejudices.
The restrictions on evidence almost certainly will result in only a fraction of detainees going to trial. The rest of the detainees would either be released, transferred to other nations or tried by civilian prosecutors in U.S. federal courts, an official said.
I like how the wording doesn't address whether or not waterboarding was torture, but it bypasses the controversy entirely by simply omitting the evidence. If there was probable cause to detain them in the first place, then that should be provable anyway.