U.N. Reviews Military Tribunals...

GENEVA, Switzerland, Oct. 29 (UPI) -- Military tribunals, convened outside the civilian justice system, need to conform to basic standards for due process, a U.N. rights official said from Geneva.

Gabriela Knaul, U.N. special envoy on judicial independence, said U.N. member states need to enact tighter principles to govern military tribunals.

"Irrespective of their military status, these tribunals must be an integral part of the general judicial system," she said in a statement Monday. "It is also essential to ensure that military tribunals are compatible with human rights standards, including the respect of the right to a fair trial and due process guarantees."

Amnesty International in June said a military tribunal in Indonesia was being used to shield human rights violators from the rule of law. The rights group said a trial for 12 soldiers accused of the extrajudicial execution of four detainees was a sham.

Human Rights Watch, in a separate statement, said it's "convinced" the use of military commissions to try suspected terrorists at the U.S. Navy's detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is a serious error. It said the justice system there is "substandard."

Knaul did not single out any particular system in her statements. She served as a Brazilian judge before starting service with the United Nations in 2009.

Read more: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2013/10/29/UN-reviews-military-tribunals/UPI-82601383059792/#ixzz2jE3QVrJC

Khadr's doctor speaks out....

Khadr's doctor, retired U. S. General Stephen Xenakis, spoke out about the treatment of his patient Omar Khadr in Edmonton yesterday. The whole notion that this young man who was arrested at age 15 and had to plead guilty to charges- some of which were not even a crime at the time- to get out of the hell hole commonly known as Guantanamo is beyond the pale. My Canadian friends---Please don't let your country start mimicking the worst of our traits here in the U. S. ---or I guess I should say Please don't let your country continue to mimic our worst traits....
Read more about the good general here.