September 11 Attacks: Crimes Against Humanity The Aftermath The Proposed U.S. Military Commissions Under President Bush's November 13th Military Order on military commissions, any foreign national designated by the President as a suspected terrorist or as aiding terrorists could potentially be arrested, tried, convicted and even executed without a public trial, without adequate access to counsel, without the presumption of innocence or even proof of guilt beyond reasonable doubt, and without the right to judicial appeal.
The Department of Defense is now drafting the rules that will implement the President's order authorizing military commissions to try suspected terrorists. Please send letters to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld urging him to ensure the commissions provide defendants with full due process protections. December 18, 2001 U.S.: Commission Rules Meet Some, Not All, Rights Concerns The Defense Department's new rules for military commissions include important due process protections, Human Rights Watch said today. The rules nevertheless fail to meet the core human rights requirement of appellate review by an independent and impartial court, or to meet the requirements of the Geneva Conventions. They also leave intact the sweeping military jurisdiction over non-citizens contained in President Bush's November 13 order authorizing military trial of suspected terrorists. March 21, 2002 Court-Martial Code Offers a Fair Way to Try Terrorist Suspects If you listened to the talking heads on U.S. television, you would think that the United States has only two choices for prosecuting accused Qaida terrorists: either summary trials under President George W. Bush's order for military commissions that would allow the government to convict and execute suspects with no presumption of innocence, no need to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt and no right to appeal; or O.J. Simpson-style legal circuses with cameras in the courtroom, huge pressure on frightened jurors and evidence being thrown out because the Special Forces didn't read the suspects their Miranda rights. Published, December 29, 2001 in International Herald Tribune U.S.: Use Courts-Martial Rules for Military Commissions In a letter released today, Human Rights Watch urged Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to draw on basic standards of U.S. military justice to address serious flaws in the President's order establishing military commissions. December 18, 2001 Letter to U.S. Secretary of Defense on Military Commissions Dear Secretary Rumsfeld, We are writing to urge you to ensure that the rules and procedures governing military commissions authorized by the President's order of November 13 fully honor the fair trial guarantees mandated by international human rights law and found in the Uniform Code of Military Justice. December 17, 2001 Due Process Protections Afforded Defendants: A Comparison between the Proposed U.S. Military Commissions and U.S. General Courts-Martial December 17, 2001 Military Commissions Can't Compare to International Courts Judicial standards permitted by a new presidential order on military commissions would be significantly lower than those at war-crimes courts established by the United Nations, although the U.S. administration has claimed they are similar. December 4, 2001 Due Process Protections Afforded Defendants: A Comparison between the Proposed U.S. Military Commissions and the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia December 4, 2001 Fact Sheet: Past U.S. Criticism of Military Tribunals The U.S. State Department has repeatedly criticized the use of military tribunals to try civilians and other similar limitations on due process around the world. Indeed, its annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices evaluate each country on the extent to which it guarantees the right to a "fair public trial" - which it defines to include many of the due process rights omitted by the President's Military Order. November 28, 2001 New Military Commissions Threaten Rights, Credibility Human Rights Watch today called on President Bush to rescind his Executive Order permitting the trial of non-citizens by special military commissions. The Executive Order gives the military commissions extraordinary powers to violate the most basic due process rights long guaranteed by the United States. November 15, 2001 Letter to President Bush on Military Commissions Dear President Bush, We are writing to express our profound concern with the new Executive Order on the Detention, Treatment, and Trial of Certain Non-Citizens in the War Against Terrorism, issued on November 13, 2001. We recognize that the existing state of emergency in the United States permits certain derogations of internationally protected human rights. Nevertheless, the broad reach of the executive order sacrifices fundamental rights to personal liberty and to a fair trial that go far beyond what is permitted even in times of crisis. November 15, 2001 | | |
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