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Guantanamo judges dismiss trial of Hamdan, Osama bin Laden's chauffeur
By Surajit Sen Sharma

Salim Ahmed Hamdan of Yemen is not a happy man. His unhappiness with the state of world affairs had led him at first to join al-Qaeda. His persistent and visible unhappiness had brought him quick promotions within the terrorist organization. He continued to be unhappy until he was chosen as the bodyguard and chauffer of the most unhappy Osama bin Laden, whose mission, it seems, is to spread unhappiness across nations.

Time and again, Hamdan has been at forefront of the press and the controversy surrounding military tribunals. As a prisoner in Guantanamo, he was expectedly quite unhappy, but his unhappiness exceeded all bounds when he was led to face the military tribunal. Upon his urging, his lawyers placed his case before the U.S. Supreme Court alleging that the procedure in the military tribunals violated both U.S. and international law, including the Geneva Convention.

In 2006, the U.S. Supreme Court decided in Hamdan v. Rumsfield, that military tribunals did not have the authority to try terrorism suspects and that the Guantanamo proceedings violated the Geneva Convention. A principal reason of holding the military tribunals unconstitutional was that they did not have Congressional approval. Net result for Hamdan: he stays at Guantanamo without a trial.

Within four months of the Hamdan decision, and while the Republicans still held majority, the Military Commissions Act of 2006 was pushed through and passed in the Congress. Hamdan, unhappy over his detention that continued in spite of him winning his case in the U.S. Supreme Court, decided to challenge the constitutionality of the new Military commissions. This new case has been dismissed by the District Court and Hamdan's lawyers are trying to move the case directly to the Supreme Court, bypassing the Court of Appeals. Net result for Hamdan: he stays at Guantanamo without trial.

Meanwhile, the drama gets a new twist. The State had brought charges against Hamdan before the new military tribunal at Guantanamo. On June 4, the tribunal dismissed the case holding that it was not subject to the commission on jurisdictional issues. The Guantanamo judges held that the new legislation setting up the commission permitted it to try only "unlawful enemy combatants," but military panels had previously identified Hamdan only as "enemy combatant" and that description lacked the "unlawful" designation without which the military commission could not try Hamdan. Net result for Hamdan: he stays at Guantanamo without a trial.

Posted on: 06/06/2007 01:49 AM | Number of feedback 0

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