Could a "little old lady in Switzerland" who sent a check to an orphanage in Afghanistan be taken into custody if, unbeknownst to her, some of her donation was passed to Al Qaeda terrorists? asked U.S. District Judge Joyce Hens Green.
"She could," replied Deputy Associate Atty. Gen. Brian Boyle. "Someone's intention is clearly not a factor that would disable detention." It would be up to a newly established military review panel to decide whether to believe her and release her.
Boyle said the military could pick any foreigner who provided support to terrorists or might know of their plans. And the foreigners held on the U.S. naval base in Cuba "have no constitutional rights enforceable in this court," Boyle told the judge.
"That's really shocking," Thomas B. Wilner, attorney for 12 Kuwaiti detainees, told reporters after Green's hearing. "People throughout the world will fear the United States is asserting the power to pick up little old ladies and men who made a mistake."
Bu then, fear's the point, isn't it? It's easier if you can prevent something from happening than to have to police things that are happening.
[...]
The government has asked the judges to throw out the cases.
Boyle said combatant status review tribunals set up by the U.S. military since the Supreme Court decision, and a subsequent annual administrative review by the military provided "more than sufficient due process" to satisfy the high court.
Wilner and other attorneys for detainees called the review tribunal process inadequate. They said the panels, which consisted of three military officers, had orders to presume the government's evidence was accurate and to accept statements given under torture, and didn't allow the detainee to have a lawyer or to see secret evidence against him.
Good old American justice.
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