Legal News

Obama to Revive Controversial Bush-Era Tribunal System

By Ashby Jones

Civil-liberties groups and others have voiced dismay– both inside courtrooms and out — over the Bush administration’s use of the military commission system to try suspected terrorists.

The dismay will likely continue. The Obama administration will announce plans Friday to revive the Bush-era military commission system, current and former officials said. In so doing, Obama will reverse a campaign pledge to rely instead on federal courts and the traditional military justice system. Click here for the LAT story, here for the NYT story, here for the AP story.

The administration still intends to prosecute in federal court some detainees being held at Guantanamo Bay, as Obama has pledged. But officials concluded that a small number can be tried only in military commissions, reports the LAT. And the administration contends the move is not a repudiation of campaign promises.

According to the NYT, administration aides pointed out Thursday that he never rejected the possibility of using military commissions altogether if they could be made fairer. To that end, the White House plans to tweak the system by giving defendants more rights. The procedures will ban the use of any evidence obtained through coercion and will limit the use of hearsay evidence. The rule changes will also give detainees more latitude in choosing lawyers.

Still, some were viewing the changes as largely cosmetic. Gabor Rona, the international legal director of Human Rights First, said military commission trials were unlikely to be seen as legitimate forms of justice. “Everyone knows the military commissions have been a dismal failure,” Rona said. “The results of the cases will be suspect around the world. It is a tragic mistake to continue them.”

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on May 15, 2009 (boomark / email).