In a ruling that comes far too late for the detainee himself but could have major implications for other US attempts to charge detainees with war crimes, a US Court of Appeals has determined that being Osama bin Laden’s driver in the late 1990’s is not a “war crime.”
The detainee, Salim Hamdan, was convicted of “war crimes” over the charge in August 2008, sentenced to 66 months in prison, but released because he was given time served credit for the years he was in Guantanamo Bay. He has been released and lives in Yemen.
The conviction was based on the 2006 Military Commissions Act and the defense argued that it amounted to an ex post facto prosecution, and also argued that driving a car doesn’t constitute a war crime. The second point was ignored by the court, however, which simply conceded the first point and dismissed the conviction.
The US Justice Department is reviewing the ruling, and it is likely to leave many of the potential prosecutions the administration is hoping for in trouble, as most rest on the 2006 law criminalizing things done prior to 2006.
Just another example of the feckless remains of what was once a somewhat honest Judicial system… A spark of light under the veil of darkness in the valley of the shadow of death in which we have chosen to inhabit……
When "they" did 911, "they" were DESPERATE to populate their legend with actual persons.. they began buying them in Pakistan and elsewhere…. Anyone would do. The innocent, children.. the deranged…. A play needs actors and the directors really were not much concerned about the quality of their cast…… After all, if they got the lines wrong, they would be suffocated, injected with drugs that cause pain… hallucinations… until what is true and what is needed becomes reconcilable.. Plus they had lots of gorillas to just plain beat their hapless victims to death. Don't forget general James ("It's good fun to shoot people") Mattis…. The victims of these mega criminals who have killed more than a million innocent souls are deemed war criminals… It's the ultimate irony….delicious for them and obviously one that Henry could appreciate…. The little people are there to be slaughtered by these higher beings who are numb to their sufferings…….. These masters of the world..
I had more or less given up on this court …. but I'm too cynical to take any solace in this verdict….. The fix is surely in for any transparency or justice that could ever be derived by it…. Maybe it will assist the Rommy candidacy… A sadist nation needs a bully president to make the weak feel safe… He can be their bully… Too bad this court didn't give some relief to Omar Kad(i)r… The CHILD captive that first Bush and now Obama have been torturing all these years… He may have "murdered" an American Soldier in a firefight…. Never mind that the Geneva convention proscribes such charges… There are no rules in war… and There is no law in America anymore… The punishments are for the poor and the powerless.. so the next time "they" blunder into the fray…. I hope they can find peace knowing so…. for themselves and their children and their children's children….
It also means that the Prosecution of Hicks is also flawed, Hick's Lawyer Major Moro USMC made this one of his first objections in his defence case for Hicks and it was scoffed at, interestingly there were a number of other breaches of Geneva in the case, Including having Hicks sent to serve his time in a Penetentiary style prison on Australian soil! Technically a grave breach!
As was a plea bargain, another grave breach! Now that also goes for the Australian Prime Minister of the day John Howard. I suggest also a close read of the Whole of the Judgement of Hamdan V Rumsfeld Judgment especially the minority opinions there are some very interesting comments in them especially from a Republican Justice! Who was the person that probably committed WAR CRIMES mentioned, it most definitely wasnt Hamdan!