Musical Interlude

Sorry, things are a bit crazy right now so it is time for another musical interlude.

Khadr trial continued after his attorney collapses...

According to Daphne Eviatar (click on the title above) the attorney collapsed while questioning the first witness. Being a sole practitioner myself I can imagine the stress and strain for the sole attorney for this young man (yes, Khadr does have canadian counsel and I am sure they are helping as much as they can but they are not allowed to handle courtroom duties....like examination of witnesses, etc). The case is continued for at least 30 days and of course a new jury will be empaneled at that time.
And so the saga of the US war crime in trying a child for war crimes continues........

Military Jury Selected in Khadr Trial

And so....now we have a jury selected for our war crimes trial against the young man that we picked up at age 15, which in turn makes our country guilty of a war crime in trying a child for war crimes instead of following international law....sigh.
Click on the title for more from Carol Rosenberg.
Click here for more from al jazeera.

The Cook's Two Sentences...

After reaching a plea deal the "cook" also had to sit through a sentencing hearing. Supposedly the sentence reached by the jury was just for show (14 years for being a cook...yikes) and the plea deal is two years. We shall see.
Click on the title for more.

And While We Are At It.....

Seems that the sentence for Osama Bin Laden's former cook is going to be kept a secret...except that someone seems to have spilled the beans and it seems the cook is getting two more years....
Click on the title for more....if you can bear it.

why bother to try for fairness at this point...

Obviously that is the lesson of the day coming from the military judge at the kangaroo commission for Omar Khadr....the judge held that the statements made by the 15 year old after being threatened with rape and possible death are admissible in the "trial." Yes, the judge is a disgrace but so is my country.....click on the title for a little bit more from emptywheel.

This Week in War Crimes

On Friday the U.S. Supreme Court refused to intervene in the War Crimes Trial of Omar Khadr.

So ...my country will commit yet another war crime by trying the kid (yes, he was 15 years old when we imprisoned him at Guantanamo) in a kangaroo commission this week.

Click on the title for more from scotusblog.

and click here to see what al-jazeera has to say.

Keeping detainees away from courts and lawyers

Click on the title for this AP story about how the Bush administration moved the so called "high value detainees" to Gitmo after some of the initial torture and then as it became clear that the Supreme Court was going to rule on whether the men at Guantanamo were entitled to lawyers....they moved them out again so they could not tell lawyers and the International Red Cross about the torture they were subjected to. Emptywheel has more here..... and Andy Worthington has more here and here.

More on the Torture Doctors

Scott Horton pulls in all together. Click on the title for more...........

Ex-Gitmo Detainee running for office in Afghanistan

click on the title for the story........

One more word from Canada...

A quote from the Canadian Judge....about the "gross misconduct" of the US....

"I recognize tht the collection of intelligence is of the highest importance in protecting and securing a nation from the dangers of terrorism. It must also be recognized that there will always be a tension, especially in troubled times, in the balancing of intelligence and security issues with cherished democratic values, such as the rule of law and protection from human rights violations. In civilized democracies, the rule of law must prevail over intelligence objectives. In this case, the sum of the human rights violations suffered by Khadr is both shocking and unjustifiable. Although Khadr may have possessed information of intelligence value, he is still entitled to the safeguards and benefit of the law, and not to arbitrary and illegal detention in a secret detention centre where he was subjected to physical abuse. The United States was the driving force behind Khadr's fourteen month detention in Pakistan, paying a $500,000 bounty for his apprehension. The United States intelligence agency [CIA] acted in concert with the ISI to delay consular access by DFAIT to Khadr for three months, contrary to the provisions of the Vienna Convention. The United States, contrary to Canada's wishes, pressured the ISI to delay Khadr's repatriation because of its dissatisfaction with Khadr being released without charge, even though there was no admissible evidence upon which to base charges at that time. In my view, given this gross misconduct, there cannot be a clearer case that warrants a stay."

meanwhile....younger brother's tribunal still set for next week

The DC circus court just denied the young Khadr's motion to stay the kangaroo tribunal.

ScotUS has more here.

Canada Refuses to Extradite Khadr's Brother to US

And why won't they extradite to the US? Because my country violates international law!

Abdullah Khadr is the older brother of Omar Khadr....We have been holding Omar at Guantanamo since he was 15 years old. The whole saga of our country holding this child for all of these years is outrageous and it is high time the Canadians fought to get him released....but they have a few problems of their own as Canada was complicit in the violations of international law...

Well, at least the brother goes free.

Click on the title to read more from Peace, order and good government, eh?