Heated Hearing Exposes Guantanamo Embarrassment

From Chris Sousa

This week Senator Specter of Pennsylvania called a public hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee to look at the policies and procedures of Guantanamo Bay Naval Base. The Committee met due to rising concern around the country about keeping "enemy combatants" incarcerated with only the vaguest guarantees of due process normally available to prisoners of war. The members of the Committee wanted answers to questions over how the Administration allowed for the creation of what many call a "legal black hole" that has proved to be detrimental to winning the hearts and minds in the global war on terror.

One of the most startling revelations of the hearing was the testimony of Lieutenant Commander Charles D. Swift, a member of the JAG-Corps assigned as defense counsel to a detainee for a hearing at the base's military tribunal. According to Lt. Commander Swift, the prosecutor of the case itself facilitated access to the client. The opportunity for any visit was contingent on the guarantee of a guilty plea for the detainee that had not yet been charged with anything. This startling lack of respect for impartiality and fairness exemplifies the negligence of human rights apparent at Guantanamo Bay.

Even more deplorable was the evasion of several specific questions about Guantanamo Bay. Senator Biden of Delaware made simple inquiries about the detainees at the facility, and every Administration official claimed it was outside of their scope to comment on such issues as the number of people incarcerated, the countries in which they were captured, and how the military processed these individuals before defining them as "enemy combatant". These evasive tactics were unconvincing, as the other testimony given by these officials illustrated their proximity to and in-depth knowledge of these issues.

While not comparable to Soviet gulags, as Amnesty International said in a recent report, and likely home to some "very bad people", as Vice President Dick Cheney said on Fox News on Sunday, the practice of ignoring the legal processes and procedures of the Military Code of Conflict not only allows for the indefinite incarceration of an unknown number of innocent Arab men and women, but also lessens the appeal of democracy in a region of the world where that is needed. Extralegal activities of the Bush Administration at Guantanamo Bay might save us from a handful of terrorist suspects, but will only create future terrorists and serve to fuel American disenchantment abroad. In order to save the rule of law at home, and to restore America's image as the shining "city on a hill" abroad, voters should call their Members of Congress and ask them to take charge in investigating the Bush Administration's extraordinary avoidance of the rule of law.