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EDITORIAL: Don't Leave Afghan Prisoners in U.S. Legal Limbo
Monday, February 25, 2002
Newsday

A federal judge's ruling that the courts have no jurisdiction over the detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is a troubling reminder that, when it comes to the war on terrorism, President George W. Bush has placed himself above the law.

The 300 detainees were captured in Afghanistan, where they fought against the United States. They do not excite much sympathy. Still, a nation committed to the rule of law should not abandon due process and leave the fate of any prisoners solely in the hands of the president. But that's what's happening.

Bush has set himself up as prosecutor, jailer and judge, allowing no role for the courts, Congress or international convention.

The detainees are being held without charges. They have no lawyers. They have not had access to any court. And they have been denied prisoner-of-war status by executive fiat, in apparent violation of the Geneva Convention, which requires a hearing to defeat the presumption that combatants captured on the field of battle are POWs.
(More: Newsday News Source)
2002 © Newsday, Inc.

Dan