Prudence In The Rule of Law

November 9, 2004 Off By leigh

Proof there is still consideration and sanity in the U.S. courts in this decision concerning the application of POW status to Guantanamo Bay detainee Hamdan:


Proof there is still consideration and sanity in the U.S. courts in this decision concerning the application of POW status to Guantanamo Bay detainee Hamdan:

“The government has asserted a position starkly different from the positions and behavior of the United States in previous conflicts, one that can only weaken the United States’ own ability to demand application of the Geneva Conventions to Americans captured during armed conflicts abroad. Amici remind us of the capture of U.S. Warrant Officer Michael Durant in 1993 by forces loyal to a Somali warlord. The United States demanded assurances that Durant would be treated consistently with protections afforded by the Convention, even though, if the Convention were applied as narrowly as the government now seeks to apply it to Hamdan, “Durant’s captors would not be bound to follow the convention because they were not a ‘state’”.”

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA MEMORANDUM OPINION

SALIM AHMED HAMDAN, Plaintiff, v. DONALD H. RUMSFELD, Defendant. Civil Action No. 04-1519 (JR)

It’s refreshing to see the clarity of the concept expressed that upholding international laws is indeed to the advantage of U.S. As the Project to Enforce the Geneva Conventions notes, the logic of the Bush administration’s behaviour is now very shaky. This starts to open up the opportunity for impeachment and war crimes trials.