Posted on 02/24/2002 7:20:32 PM PST by Pokey78
British lawyers accuse US defence secretary of 'horsetrading with human beings'
Lawyers acting for British detainees at the US military base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba yesterday stepped up pressure for their release and attacked Donald Rumsfeld, the US defence secretary, for saying that they could be repatriated only on condition that they were prosecuted here.
Gareth Peirce, who is acting for the families of Shafiq Rasul and Asif Iqbal, both from Tipton in the West Midlands, accused Mr Rumsfeld of "horsetrading with human beings".
She said the prisoners were being unlawfully detained and there was growing evidence that they had been interrogated in a vulnerable and distressed state. Mr Rasul's family had received a letter saying he had lost three stone in weight. Foreign Office consular officials agreed at a meeting in London last week that he was "very thin", she said.
The FO admitted that it did not know on what basis five British prisoners were being held at Camp X-Ray in Cuba, Ms Peirce said. It also did not know in what circumstances they had been captured in Afghanistan.
Mr Rumsfeld told the Daily Telegraph that he would send the prisoners back provided they were dealt with by the British courts rather than "simply turning them loose, putting them back out on the streets and having them go get more aeroplanes and flying into the Pentagon and the World Trade Centre again".
The US would demand "a chance to go back and interrogate" them, Mr Rumsfeld added.
Other detainees kept at the base could be tried by military commissions. Asked whether they would face the death penalty, Mr Rumsfeld replied: "Oh, sure."
The US describes the detainees as "unlawful combatants", not prisoners of war. According to the Geneva conventions, in cases of doubt the status of detainees should be decided by an independent tribunal.
It emerged yesterday that the first letter home from a Briton held in Camp X-Ray was marked "prisoner of war mail".
Feroz Abbasi's brief message of reassurance sent to his mother in Croydon, south London, was a surprise, said London-based lawyers acting on his behalf.
Solicitor Louise Christian said: "This is very important, because if they are being recognised as prisoners of war they should be released immediately, as hostilities have now ceased."
The 22-year-old's handwritten letter, the first from a Briton held in high security at Guantanamo Bay, arrived on Thursday. Today, his mother, Zumrati Juma, is to make a public statement demanding that lawyers and medical experts be allowed immediate access to prisoners at Camp X-Ray. Her appeal is backed by the Law Society.
· The British-born chief suspect in the kidnap and murder of reporter Daniel Pearl could go on trial in front of an American military tribunal, Mr Rumsfeld said yesterday. Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh has confessed to playing a part in the kidnapping of the 38-year-old Wall Street Journal reporter, whose murder was confirmed last week.
Mr Rumsfeld said Mr Saeed, who is from Wanstead, east London, and dropped out of the London School of Economics before becoming an Islamic militant in Pakistan, met all the criteria for going on trial in front of an American military tribunal. The American Department of Justice is reportedly moving to extradite Mr Saeed from Pakistan.
Mr Rumsfeld told NBC's Meet the Press programme: "He certainly is someone that has committed a crime against an American and would be someone that I assume that our law enforcement people would extradite."
Police in Afghanistan revealed that they are searching for three Arab nationals believed to have played a part in the kidnapping and murder.
What? The game is over, so put the checker board away?
I don't think this person knows what this war is.
When it slows down to a dull roar, we just don't tell the guys "Good war, thanks for playing. You can go now"
Geeeez !! Shouldn't the Muslim terrorists surrender first or something?
The people that started this whole thing believe that you can punish people for the crimes of others, so do the prisoners at Gitmo.
Terrorists believe that you can punish people for the crimes of others, as long as they're Jews or Christians.
It's a bitch to be treated as you treat others, isn't it?
You are correct in that they have nothing to do with Pearl. However, they are terrorist criminals, arrested in a zone under military control. They are not American citizens, they are not in the United States, and therefore they have no rights under the U.S. Constitution. They are subject to military, not civil, jurisdiction.
The detainees were followers and associates of known criminals, bin Laden et al, who had previously conspired to murder Americans, and had done so at Khobar Towers and elsewhere. Their leaders spoke openly of their plans to attack innocent civilians in the United States. These plans were disseminated throughout the criminal organizations, through personal meetings, video and audio tapes, and the media - And there is considerable evidence that there was a uniformly high level of knowledge of these plans throughout the organization.
The detainees either took direct action resulting in the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, or aided and abetted those who did. Either way, it was done with full malice aforethought.
They are all, by virtue of their membership in this criminal conspiracy, either murderers or accessories to murder, if not before then certainly after the fact.
Those are the charges. The penalty ought to be death. These were crimes committed against Americans, and it is our right to exact our justice, in any way we deem appropriate, and I don't give a rat's ass what the leftist Euro-trash have to say about it.
Gotta love this guy.
The argument that you are making is the exact argument the terrorist need for civilized people with lofty ideals to make: that it is OK for them to butcher you, but not OK for you to butcher them in return.
I happen to like the way we live here, I like the fact that I can assume the reasonable expectation of not being butchered by some Islamic religious f#%k on my way to work on your average work day.
I like that.
I don't want to live the way Israel lives.
So when a group of people show the willingness, and the ability to do what they did to us on 9/11, we have to take them out.
I don't want to enact draconian laws, and do more damage to our already damaged civil rights. I don't want military police at the airpost, I don't want to spend more hours just trying to get on an airplane to go somewhere within my own friggin' country.
And I really don't like the fact that someone else is dictating all these policies to me via killing innocent people, our people, on our own soil.
It's like being trained to become Pavlov's Nation.
I want the things they used to be, unless WE decide to change them.
So what do you do? You go out, and make damned sure that the whole world understands three damned things:
1) You are not going to take this crap from any individual, group, or nation out there without some serious massive retaliation.
2) You are not allowing any foreign government to harbor, foster, or in any way protect people who would do these sort of thing without bringing it down.
3) You got the muscle to do whatever you want to do.
Then you go out and waste a few that needed wasting just to let everyone know that you are dead serious.
They will bitch, and moan, and not like us very much (they don't know), and they'll leave us the hell alone.
Then I we go back to having the ability to assume the reasonable expectation of not being butchered by some Islamic fanatical f#%k on our way to work on an average work week.
Works for me.
Just thought I'd remind you.
LOL!
RIGHT ON c.a.p.!! And Pokey...how in the world can you say the hostilities have ceased????? You can't believe that, can you????
I can sure tell that so many arguing for "lamb and rice", 8 hours of sleep and a rec center with masseuse for the "Guantanamites" have never been in a street fight, batlle, or war, and never studied their history or have anything resembling common-sense!
There are still Fundamentalist Muslims around the world gearing up to take down the infidels (me and you) and will do it with horrific disregard of courtesy, decency, civility, and humanity. You will not be allowed to have a prayer time before bed, eat your turkey for Thanksgiving, or have a Ham for Christmas while whistling "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen"
Here is a message for all of you who think this war is even close to over:
Take cover and go wet your pants in a corner, the real men are going to protect you whether or not you deserve it. When it is over, you can watch some documentaries on this war and learn what it took to protect your grandchildren from certain doom...you'll probably try to claim some of the credit for the victory....go ahead, just stay out of the way for now!
Geesh. Can hardly stand this intense pressure. Let's release them immediately.
Good Post Pokey!
Works for me.
Well said, Luis!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.