[PRISONACT] [fppp] Top UK judge slams Guantanamo

http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe/11/25/guantanamo.judge/index.html

Top UK judge slams Guantanamo Deal for Australian suspects

LONDON, England --One of Britain's top judges has condemned the
U.S. for what he called a "monstrous failure of justice" over its
detention of terrorist suspects at Guantanamo Bay.

In a speech Tuesday evening in London, Law Lord Johan Steyn told
an audience that the U.S. was acting illegally in holding suspects
at the U.S. military base without trial and without access to legal
representation, Britain's Channel Four News reported.

"The purpose of holding the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay was and is
to put them beyond the rule of law, beyond the protection of any
courts and at the mercy of victors," he was quoted as saying.

His comments were criticized by a legal advisor to the Pentagon who
said Styen does not understand the type of battle the U.S. in engaged
in.

"These are people who intended to kill innocent civilians in our
opinion," lawyer Ruth Wedgwood said.

As a law lord, Steyn sits as one of a panel of judges in the UK's
upper house of parliament, the House of Lords, constituting the
country's highest court of appeal.

His comments came as the Australian government announced it had
reached a deal over a trial and any possible punishment of two
Australian citizens held at the base, on the eastern end of the
island of Cuba.

Attorney General Philip Ruddock told lawmakers in Canberra that if
they were convicted by a military tribunal, Australia had agreed
with the United States that the two would not face the death penalty.

David Hicks and Mamdouh Habib, both of whom were captured in
Afghanistan, have been held at the base for more than two years on
suspicion of links to the al Qaeda terror network.

Announcing the agreement, Ruddock said the two men would be allowed
face-to-face meetings with lawyers ahead of any trial and would be
allowed to serve out their sentence in an Australian prison.

More than 600 suspects are being held at Guantanamo Bay -- among
them the two Australians and nine British citizens, and nationals
from about 40 countries.

Only one of the Australians and two of the Britons have so far been
listed as eligible for trial.

Appeals Human rights groups have condemned the Guantanamo detentions,
saying they go against international conventions on the treatment
of prisoners of war.

Several countries, including Britain, have raised concerns over
treatment and legal rights for detainees as well as the possible
use of military courts and death sentences.

Earlier this month the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear two appeals
on the legality of the Guantanamo detentions -- the first time the
constitutionality of the Bush administration's policy has been
tested. (Full story)

Hearings are expected to begin early next year with the ruling
likely around June.

The Bush administration says the detainees are "enemy combatants"
and have provided valuable intelligence in the war on terror helping
avert further attacks.

The Guantanamo base is part of an intelligence war and many detainees
represent a dangerous threat to the U.S. and its allies, White House
officials argue.

As "enemy combatants" they say the detainees do not fall under the
same category of prisoners of war.

However, in his speech Tuesday evening, Lord Steyn rejected the
Bush administration's position urging the British government to
unambiguously condemn the "lawlessness" of the detentions, Channel
Four News reported.

"As a lawyer brought up to admire the ideals of American democracy
and justice I would have to say that I regard this as a monstrous
failure of justice," he said.

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