The ACLU has worked continuously on the issue of child soldiers being held at Gitmo, in violation of international law and treaty obligations. Recently, ACLU put together a video regarding two of the more prominent cases, which you can view at right.

From the ACLU blog:

Six days after the inauguration of President Obama, the U.S. is scheduled to begin the first trial of a child soldier accused of war crimes since World War II…. 

Here is some background to the trial set for January 26: Canadian citizen Omar Khadr was 15 years old when he was captured in Afghanistan in the midst of a firefight that seriously injured Khadr and resulted in the death of a U.S. solider. Khadr was sent to Guantánamo where he was been held for 7 years — one-third of his life. He was beaten, subject to painful stress position and even used as a “human mop” after he urinated on the floor during one interrogation. Under these conditions, the prosecution of Khadr raises grave concerns about the rule of law and underscores how unconstitutional the military commissions are. President Obama must end them as he has promised.

Doing so will spare ACLU client Mohammed Jawad from trial in an illegal system. Jawad was sent to Guantánamo after he was captured at about age 16 at the scene of a grenade attack in Afghanistan that injured two U.S. soldiers. Afghan authorities threatened Jawad with his death, and that of his family, if he didn’t confess to the attack. Based on the resulting false “confession” Jawad was transferred to U.S. custody, where he was further abused, and then to Guantánamo. Among other forms of cruel treatment he suffered at Guantánamo, Jawad was subjected to the so-called “frequent flyer” program, where he was moved every few hours — 112 times over two weeks — to deny him sleep. His trial date under the military commissions has not been set because the Bush administration has appealed the military judge’s decision to suppress torture-derived “confessions”. The appeals court decision is pending.

Earlier this week, Dick Cheney was interviewed by Jim Lehrer for PBS’ NewsHour:

…As we dig in and look at hundreds of cases, we may well find a few people who were not properly treated. You know, I ran the Pentagon. I know that you can’t absolutely guarantee, at all times, that everybody’s doing it the way they’re supposed to be doing it. 

I can tell you what the policy was; I can tell you that we had all the legal authorization to do it, including the sign-off of the Justice Department….

Dick’s got no regrets. (YouTube)  

How about the rest of us?   Are we truly safer because of this conduct — or less safe?

I’d certainly like answers on how we are going to conduct ourselves going forward in terms of respecting the rule of law as a matter of official governmental policy.  

Because, quite honestly, I’m not buying the "blame the lawyers, not me" method of passing the buck.  Not.  One.  Bit.  The lawyers bear their own share of the blame for knuckling under to conformity over constitution, but the onus lands squarely on Dick and George. 

Froomkin has much more. 


Related posts:

  1. Jawad, Ghailani Cases Challenge US Torture Under Rule of Law
  2. CIA Torture Report Remains Under Wraps; Has Rule of Law Resurfaced?
  3. Gitmo: Obama Considers Gutting UCMJ Protections — For What?
  4. Khadr Case Goes Nowhere at Gitmo (Again)
  5. What NYT “Recidivism” Story Misses: Gitmo as Our Recruitment Tool