Guantanamo a lawless prison: lawyer
Penelope Debelle, Adelaide, and Ian Munro
February 6, 2007
GUANTANAMO Bay is a lawless prison run by the CIA and US interrogators using CIA techniques of subjugation and degradation, David Hicks' Adelaide lawyer said yesterday on his return from Cuba.
David McLeod, a conservative military lawyer and decorated army legal reservist, said he was "shirt-fronted" by the US military last week because he talked to the media about the conditions in which Hicks was held.
"I was subjected to a rather aggressive interrogation by one of the officials there for talking to the media in the way that I have," he said. "This is the standard approach, this is what happens when a lawless place like Guantanamo Bay is subject to scrutiny."
Mr McLeod would not reveal details of the interrogation but said Guantanamo Bay was a lawless place that sought to avoid public scrutiny.
US prosecutor Colonel Morris Davis said Hicks' defence lawyers would be better employed preparing their case rather than chasing publicity.
Seeking to counter defence claims that Hicks was being subjected to retrospective legislation, Colonel Davis said the charge of providing support for terrorism levelled at Hicks was created more than a decade ago.
Professor Norman Abrams, a specialist in terrorism law at the University of California in Los Angeles, said the law was originally enacted in 1994 and it had been used in a number of prosecutions since.
However, Hicks' military lawyer, Major Michael Mori, criticised the use of the charge, saying it was "not part of the law of war". He said the law was being applied retrospectively to Hicks, something Americans would not do to one of their own citizens.
He challenged Attorney-General Philip Ruddock's claim that the second charge of providing material support to terrorism was not based on retrospective legislation but on codified law.
Speaking on ABC radio, Mr Ruddock denied the law was retrospective.
"I've been assured that there were existing laws and this is a mere codification," he said.
Major Mori said: "What are they saying the law was? What pre-existing law is my question."
Mr McLeod spoke emotionally of having to leave Hicks behind.
The move by the US military prosecution to announce charges against Hicks the day after his legal team left was an act of "bastardry". "I think he would be absolutely devastated by the fact that occurred in the absence of his legal team that had been there talking to him for four days," Mr McLeod said.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister John Howard has defended the determination of the US authorities to charge Hicks with attempted murder.
"Attempting to murder someone is not only constituted by pointing a gun at somebody and pulling the trigger and it not going off or it missing," Mr Howard said last night.
He said people should remember that the allegations against Hicks were that he trained with al-Qaeda and, with full knowledge of the September 11 attacks, he returned to al-Qaeda allegedly to co-operate with that terrorist organisation.
"It's a serious allegation and that's the reason why we have been willing to see him tried before an American military tribunal and not bring him back to Australia where we would have to set him free because there was no criminal offence with which he could be charged," Mr Howard said.
Hicks' legal representatives say he decided after September 11 to come home to Australia and was captured by the Taliban after travelling from Pakistan to Afghanistan to collect his belongings.
LinkHere
February 6, 2007
GUANTANAMO Bay is a lawless prison run by the CIA and US interrogators using CIA techniques of subjugation and degradation, David Hicks' Adelaide lawyer said yesterday on his return from Cuba.
David McLeod, a conservative military lawyer and decorated army legal reservist, said he was "shirt-fronted" by the US military last week because he talked to the media about the conditions in which Hicks was held.
"I was subjected to a rather aggressive interrogation by one of the officials there for talking to the media in the way that I have," he said. "This is the standard approach, this is what happens when a lawless place like Guantanamo Bay is subject to scrutiny."
Mr McLeod would not reveal details of the interrogation but said Guantanamo Bay was a lawless place that sought to avoid public scrutiny.
US prosecutor Colonel Morris Davis said Hicks' defence lawyers would be better employed preparing their case rather than chasing publicity.
Seeking to counter defence claims that Hicks was being subjected to retrospective legislation, Colonel Davis said the charge of providing support for terrorism levelled at Hicks was created more than a decade ago.
Professor Norman Abrams, a specialist in terrorism law at the University of California in Los Angeles, said the law was originally enacted in 1994 and it had been used in a number of prosecutions since.
However, Hicks' military lawyer, Major Michael Mori, criticised the use of the charge, saying it was "not part of the law of war". He said the law was being applied retrospectively to Hicks, something Americans would not do to one of their own citizens.
He challenged Attorney-General Philip Ruddock's claim that the second charge of providing material support to terrorism was not based on retrospective legislation but on codified law.
Speaking on ABC radio, Mr Ruddock denied the law was retrospective.
"I've been assured that there were existing laws and this is a mere codification," he said.
Major Mori said: "What are they saying the law was? What pre-existing law is my question."
Mr McLeod spoke emotionally of having to leave Hicks behind.
The move by the US military prosecution to announce charges against Hicks the day after his legal team left was an act of "bastardry". "I think he would be absolutely devastated by the fact that occurred in the absence of his legal team that had been there talking to him for four days," Mr McLeod said.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister John Howard has defended the determination of the US authorities to charge Hicks with attempted murder.
"Attempting to murder someone is not only constituted by pointing a gun at somebody and pulling the trigger and it not going off or it missing," Mr Howard said last night.
He said people should remember that the allegations against Hicks were that he trained with al-Qaeda and, with full knowledge of the September 11 attacks, he returned to al-Qaeda allegedly to co-operate with that terrorist organisation.
"It's a serious allegation and that's the reason why we have been willing to see him tried before an American military tribunal and not bring him back to Australia where we would have to set him free because there was no criminal offence with which he could be charged," Mr Howard said.
Hicks' legal representatives say he decided after September 11 to come home to Australia and was captured by the Taliban after travelling from Pakistan to Afghanistan to collect his belongings.
LinkHere
posted by Kangaroo Brisbane Australia at 1:17 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home