Guantanamo Eyes Possible Execution Chamber

MKSheppard · Post by **MKSheppard** » 2003-06-10 04:22am

http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/storie ... CTION=HOME

Guantanamo Eyes Possible Execution Chamber

By PAISLEY DODDS
Associated Press Writer

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) -- Guantanamo
officials are ready to provide a courtroom, a prison and an execution chamber if the order comes to try terror suspects at the base in Cuba, the mission commander said.

Although no new directive has been given and no plans have been approved, a handful of experts are looking at what it will take to try, imprison and, if need be, execute detainees accused of links to Afghanistan's fallen Taliban regime or to the al-Qaida terror network.

"We have a number of plans that we work for short-term and long-term strategies but that's all they are - plans," Army Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller said in a telephone interview Monday.

Isolated on Cuba's eastern tip and out of the jurisdiction of U.S. civilian courts, Guantanamo is a likely location for U.S. military trials.

Last month, officials named Army Col. Frederic Borch III the chief prosecutor and Air Force Col. Will Gunn as chief defense lawyer for the proposed trials. The Pentagon has listed 18 war crimes and eight other offenses that could be tried, including terrorist acts, and has issued rules for the tribunals.

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Borch said he was looking at prosecuting at
least 10 possible cases before a tribunal.

Some 680 detainees from 42 countries are in Guantanamo, categorized as unlawful combatants by the U.S. government. It has refused demands from human rights organizations to recognize them as prisoners of war. They have no constitutional rights as non-U.S. citizens being held outside U.S. territory, and none have been formally charged or allowed access to attorneys.

The cases would be decided by a panel of three to seven military officers who act as both judge and jury. Convictions could be handed down by a majority vote; a decision to sentence a defendant to death would have to be unanimous.

Some civil liberties advocates have criticized the process.

"Any further movement in the direction of trying these men in commissions that could have the power to carry out death sentences is cause for great concern," Vienna Colucci of Amnesty International's Washington D.C. office said Monday.

Miller said renovations on a building being considered as a courtroom began in March and likely will be completed next month. The building is being rewired and could be used as a courthouse with facilities for media and military officers.

There also are plans to build a permanent modular detention facility, to imprison detainees who might be sentenced to indefinite terms, and an execution chamber should any be sentenced to death, he said.

"We're getting ready so we won't be starting from scratch," Miller said, speaking while on a visit to Washington D.C.

About five people have been drafting several plans for the last six months, he said. It was unclear how much money it would take to sustain such a permanent mission.

After the detention center opened in January 2002, Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld called the detainees "among the most dangerous, best trained, vicious killers on the face of the Earth." But, after lengthy interrogation, many are thought to be low-level former Taliban fighters and unlikely prospects for commission trials.

Post by **weemadando** » 2003-06-11 07:19am

Wow. I can hear the human rights groups slavering right now.

And I'll say that I think its a bad idea to keep it all internal - there is going to be a backlash, people already question the detention, what do you all think is going to happen if the world has to start questioning the execution?

jegs2 · Post by **jegs2** » 2003-06-11 09:09am

weemadando wrote:Wow. I can hear the human rights groups slavering right now.

And I'll say that I think its a bad idea to keep it all internal - there is going to be a backlash, people already question the detention, what do you all think is going to happen if the world has to start questioning the execution?

That could lead to mistreatment, torture or execution of captured American... oh wait -- that already happens...

Post by **weemadando** » 2003-06-11 07:36pm

jegs2 wrote:
weemadando wrote:Wow. I can hear the human rights groups slavering right now.

And I'll say that I think its a bad idea to keep it all internal - there is going to be a backlash, people already question the detention, what do you all think is going to happen if the world has to start questioning the execution?
That could lead to mistreatment, torture or execution of captured American... oh wait -- that already happens...

Indeed it does, but do you want to lower yourself to their level - oh well - too late, you might as well just surrender any moral highground you still hold and start executing all prisoners and civilians on sight. Its about the only step left.

Howedar · Post by **Howedar** » 2003-06-11 07:46pm

I do not consider this okay.

Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi · Post by **Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi** » 2003-06-11 10:47pm

I think it's a plan to have all the members of Amnesty International die of heart attacks upon hearing the news, opening the door for more of stuff like this. It's a conspiracy I tell you! A conspiracy!

Stormbringer · Post by **Stormbringer** » 2003-06-11 11:14pm

Two questions: When do we start and can I join the firing squad (do my patroitic duty and all

)?

Seriously, I say go ahead. These guys are scumbags and I don't doubt they'll be legally tried and legally executed. I mean why shouldn't we try them? Isn't it what so many people are clammering for? What's the problem?

Nathan F · Post by **Nathan F** » 2003-06-11 11:22pm

Honestly though, if they are tried and found guilty in ANY US court (Sans maybe California), they are going to be executed. And why would they need special execution facilities? Other than a good backstop that can stop a 5.56x55 round, that is...

SpacedTeddyBear · Post by **SpacedTeddyBear** » 2003-06-12 12:01am

Honestly though, if they are tried and found guilty in ANY US court (Sans maybe California), they are going to be executed. And why would they need special execution facilities? Other than a good backstop that can stop a 5.56x55 round, that is...

Waste of a 5.56X55 round if you ask me.......

Nathan F · Post by **Nathan F** » 2003-06-12 12:03am

SpacedTeddyBear wrote:
Honestly though, if they are tried and found guilty in ANY US court (Sans maybe California), they are going to be executed. And why would they need special execution facilities? Other than a good backstop that can stop a 5.56x55 round, that is...
Waste of a 5.56X55 round if you ask me.......

Eh, give the guards a bit of practice and stage an 'escape' if you don't like the first idea.

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2003-06-12 12:10am

Nathan F wrote:Honestly though, if they are tried and found guilty in ANY US court (Sans maybe California), they are going to be executed. And why would they need special execution facilities? Other than a good backstop that can stop a 5.56x55 round, that is...

They should hang, it is more fitting. The reason for special facilities is there never going to be on US soil.

Sir Sirius · Post by **Sir Sirius** » 2003-06-12 10:24am

5.56x45, not 5.56x55.

Nathan F · Post by **Nathan F** » 2003-06-12 11:05pm

Sir Sirius wrote:5.56x45, not 5.56x55.

*doh*

Eh, shoulda just used ".223 Remington" so I wouldn't screw up my millimeter measurements.

Post by **Vympel** » 2003-06-12 11:13pm

Check the announcements section. Imperial measurements are strictly not allowed.

Post by **Beowulf** » 2003-06-12 11:15pm

Nathan F wrote:
Sir Sirius wrote:5.56x45, not 5.56x55.
*doh*

Eh, shoulda just used ".223 Remington" so I wouldn't screw up my millimeter measurements.

But .223 Remington isn't the caliber. It's 5.56x45.

Post by **Edi** » 2003-06-13 02:22am

Stormbringer wrote:Seriously, I say go ahead. These guys are scumbags and I don't doubt they'll be legally tried and legally executed. I mean why shouldn't we try them? Isn't it what so many people are clammering for? What's the problem?

Are you trying to be funny, or are you really serious? The US government has denied them rights granted by the US Constitution to people under US jurisdiction, and you expect that they would get a fair trial, or even a pretense of one? Never mind what it looks like to outside observers. The whole Guantanamo issue has been a colossal PR clusterfuck of the US Administration's own making since day one (and deliberate too, because of their pigheadedness), and going ahead like this will just confirm everyone's worst perceptions. Some of those people are undoubtedly guilty of a lot of crimes, but the way the US has handled the whole mess has brought things to a point where it is utterly impossible to change the perceptions around the world unless there is indeed a fair, open trial with no closed doors at all.

Edi

jegs2 · Post by **jegs2** » 2003-06-13 09:06am

Edi, while I agree that the perception is what it is, much of it due to the sorry PR effort on our part, I fear the open trial you recommend would be impossible. Many Islamic terrorists are trained to use the US Justice system as a PR circus in their favor, and a lot of what they would want to say in a public trial is classified, thus its release would jeporadize ongoing military and intelligence operations, possibly causing the death of US soldiers and/or agents.