Why is Amnesty concerned about prisoners being tried before military tribunals?
Again, it’s a matter of due process and respect for the law. The US president has signed a Military Order allowing special military commissions to try non-US citizens suspected of involvement in “international terrorism.” The Military Order creates a parallel and inherently unfair justice system that violates international laws and standards, specifically the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Amnesty International is particularly concerned that the Order: • is discriminatory by affording foreign nationals a lower standard of justice than US nationals; • gives unchallengeable discretionary power to the government to decide who will be prosecuted and under what rules, as well as to review convictions and sentences; • expressly bypasses the normal principles of law and rules of evidence applied in the trials of people charged with criminal offences in the US courts; • provides no right of appeal to a higher court; • prevents any human rights violations that may occur d
Related Questions
- How concerned are you, Mr President, about a potential Israeli military strike against an Iranian nuclear facility?
- Does Amnesty International believe that captured Taleban and Al Qaeda members are Prisoners of War (PoWs)?
- What is Amnesty saying about the treatment of prisoners detained in Afghanistan?
