Obama inauguration could put a stop to Guantanamo trials

[babylonsister]

Obama inauguration could put a stop to Guantanamo trials

AFP
AFP Global Edition

Jan 18, 2009


With Barack Obama set to shut down the controversial "war on terror" detention camp after his inauguration, Guantanamo Bay detainees could see their military commissions trials canceled.

A full week of pretrial hearings are to begin Monday at the US naval base.

A mental competence hearing is scheduled for Ramzi bin al-Shibh, alleged co-conspirator of the Sepbtemter 11, 2001 attacks. All five men charged with plotting the attacks are expected to appear at the hearing.

In December, the self-proclaimed 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four co-defendants said they would submit guilty pleas to terror charges pending mental competency evaluations. Judge Stephen Henley said the defendants also wanted to dismiss their tribunal-appointed attorneys.

Should the guilty pleas go forward, the men could be sentenced to death.

Evidentiary motions are also planned for Omar Khadr, a Canadian citizen arrested in Afghanistan when he was 15 years old for allegedly killing a US soldier with a hand grenade. His trial has been set to begin on January 26.

But experts predict the trial may never take place.

"The military commissions are going to be stopped next Tuesday or Wednesday. It is expectable that the process is going to be stopped ... before it (the Khadr trial) starts," said Sarah Mendelson, a human rights and security expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

more...

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2009/01/obama_inauguration_could_put_a_stop_to_guantanamo.php

[K Gardner]

1. K&R