Bush Approves Military Trial for Guantanamo Prisoners

21/07/2003| IslamWeb

Six unidentified terrorism suspects held at Guantanamo Bay may be tried before American military commissions. US President George W. Bush has said he has reason to believe the captives are members of Al-Qaeda or otherwise involved in terrorism against the United States. Charges set out by the Pentagon in instructions for the trials could bring the death penalty. Once the suspects are charged, they will be assigned a military defence lawyer and will have the right to hire a civilian lawyer approved by the Pentagon. The hearings are set to be held at the Guantanamo US naval base in Cuba where some 600 prisoners are currently held without charges or access to lawyers. The Pentagon vows the trials will be full and fair, but human rights groups say their rules are biased towards the prosecution and place unacceptable conditions on the defence. By BBC report, two of the six al-Qaeda suspects due to be tried before a US military tribunal are Britons, Moazzam Begg, 35, from Sparkbrook, Birmingham and and Feroz Abbasi, 23, from Croydon, south London. Mr Begg's father said he feared his son, a father-of-four, may not get a fair hearing. "The trial will be military, the judge will be military and yet my son is a civilian. This is just not right," he said. "If the government or military are appointing people in the court, that is absolutely wrong. It should be an independent person." Mr Begg repeated his claims that his son was the victim of mistaken identity. Also Australian detainee David Hicks, who is being held at the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, likely will be one of the six, said his lawyer, Stephen Kenny. **PHOTO CAPTION*** U.S. President George W. Bush helps his pet dog, Spot, off Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House, June 16, 2003. REUTERS/Larry Downing