Nov
Posted at 11:43pm on Nov. 8, 2007 Blogging from GITMO IV: The Truth About Military Commissions
By James Jay Carafano
At the hearing of Omar Khadr, a detainee at Guantanamo Bay accused of murder and other crimes during the war in Afghanistan, the prosecutor seemed ready to go to war himself.
The defense team refused to challenge the right of the tribunal (established last year by Congress in the Military Commissions Act of 2006) to have jurisdiction over the case. The prosecution, it appeared, had really hoped that the defense would raise that objection. The prosecutor apparently had a slew of witnesses and evidence ready to go argue that under the statute the Military Commission had every right to handle the case. The evidence included a video of Khadr making and planting bombs and witnesses that saw him in combat in Afghanistan.
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Posted at 7:35pm on Nov. 8, 2007 Blogging from GITMO III: Play by Play of the Hearing of Omar Khadr
By James Jay Carafano
On a spit of land overlooking Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, more fit for a luxury hotel than a court, the U.S. Military Commission, authorized by Congress in 2006 began its first proceedings against Omar Khadr. Khadr was captured on the battlefield in Afghanistan and is accused of murder, attempted murder, providing material support to a terrorist group, and espionage. These alleged crimes include throwing a grenade that killed a U.S. soldier. Among the evidence the prosecution plans to introduce is a video captured with Khadr, showing him making and emplacing improvised explosive devices (roadside bombs).
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Posted at 6:44pm on Nov. 8, 2007 Blogging from GITMO II: Lawfare
By James Jay Carafano
The U.S. Court of Appeals rejected an effort yesterday by lawyers for Omar Khadr to block his trial by Military Commission here at the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. So it looks like the case will go to the military judges tomorrow morning.
One of the most extraordinary things I have observed so far is the extraordinary efforts made to do things rights. Not only have lawyers had every possible access to challenge the legality of the proceedings in U.S. courts, the military has gone to extraordinary lengths to conduct the proceedings in an appropriate manner including building a state-of-the-art hearing facility on par with the most modern federal court rooms in the United States. Virtually everyone in the courtroom will have access to screens and monitors providing audio and video feeds including simultaneous translation in multiple languages.
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Posted at 12:40pm on Nov. 7, 2007 Blogging From GITMO: The Trial of Omar Ahmed Khadr
By James Jay Carafano
Over the next several days I’ll be at the military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as an observer to the proceedings against Omar Ahmed Khadr, who was taken into custody on the battlefields of Afghanistan. Congress established military commissions for unlawful combatants held at GITMO that the government wants to try as criminals.
Read on . . .