The military tribunal established to prosecute the five leading suspects
in the September 11th attacks opened this weekend at Guantánamo Bay.
During a nine-hour hearing on Saturday, the five prisoners refused to
enter pleas on murder and terrorism charges, or to talk or listen to the
judge, in what one of their lawyers explained was a “peaceful
resistance to an unjust system.” Defense attorneys say the trial for the
five leading suspects in the September 11th attacks is rigged to lead
to their execution. Critics say the Obama administration has set a
dangerous precedent by proceeding through a military tribunal. After
initially attempting to move the case to a civilian courtroom in New
York, the White House caved to vocal opposition and agreed to resume the
military commissions begun under President George W. Bush at
Guantánamo. At least one defense attorney argues it will be impossible
to present testimony against his client that is not corrupted by
treatment he says amounted to torture. “Waterboarding is mock execution
by way of drowning. That is a classic act of torture. Bush has admitted
ordering that. There is no escaping the fact that he should be a
criminal suspect, as should the other people in the room, people like
Tenet, Rumsfeld, Cheney,” says Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human
Rights Watch, who attended the military trial at Guantánamo this
weekend. “I think President Obama has simply decided that he is not
willing to invest the political capital that would be required for those
kinds of difficult trials.” Video
Source: Democracy Now!
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