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  • Guantanamo bay

    Firstly.. WHY???

    Secondly... Why not ordinary civilian courts? Isn't there double standards when the only American citizen there is tried under civilian juries etc? Also the two British guys up for trial there look like they have some hope, though the Americans don't want the same legal opportunities given to the rest of the prisoners. Why not?

    Thirdly, and this takes the form of a question as much as anything else. I would like to know what people think about the presumption of innocence before guilt. I agree with it very strongly of course, but hearing other arguments is interesting.

    Fourthly and on a slightly different note, Bush said that "these are bad people", referring to the two British men up for trial, and presumably the rest of the inmates. This of course either demonstrates that they are pretty much condemned, or that Bush is irrationally jumping to conclusions, or that he is operating on fallacious, absolutist principles of good and bad, without evidence to make those assumptions, pretty much except that these men were at the wrong place at the wrong time, thus got arrested in Afghanistan.

    Fifthly, to those that support Guantanamo, why? Isn't fair trials, innocence before guilt, and adherence to the spirit and letter of international conventions that the US signs up to, enshrined in your constitution? IMO, being patriotic at best is being loyal to that constitution, not to Bush or irrational sentiment based as much on revenge as anything else. Perhaps some of the arguments for Camp X-ray or whatever its called would be interested, because I may be missing something...
    "I work in IT so I'd be buggered without a computer" - Words of wisdom from Provost Harrison
    "You can be wrong AND jewish" - Wiglaf :love:

  • #2
    Lets talk about San Francisco Bay or even Galveston Bay.
    Which side are we on? We're on the side of the demons, Chief. We are evil men in the gardens of paradise, sent by the forces of death to spread devastation and destruction wherever we go. I'm surprised you didn't know that. --Saul Tigh

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    • #3
      Firstly.. WHY???

      Secondly... Why not ordinary civilian courts?


      Because they don't want to release information that, though it is essential to the trial, is also classified intelligence information. Releasing it could cause irreperable harm to US interests.

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      • #4
        yep, I'd be interested to hear a defence of locking up people for 18 months (or whatever) on no charge and then convicting them on the say-so of the very people who locked them up in the first place!

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        • #5
          Releasing it could cause irreperable harm to US interests.
          IMO to most rational people, that is precluded by fair justice, and does not justify the barbaric treatment of prisoners there, nor the legal limbo they are in. Justice, and fair, open justice is essential to the integrity of a fair democracy, that, constitutionally, America should be proud of. Indeed, my position seems to be backed up by those who included that clause in your constitution in the first place!!
          "I work in IT so I'd be buggered without a computer" - Words of wisdom from Provost Harrison
          "You can be wrong AND jewish" - Wiglaf :love:

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          • #6
            barbaric treatment


            examples?

            ustice, and fair, open justice is essential to the integrity of a fair democracy, that, constitutionally, America should be proud of.


            Exactly. These people are not American citizens (or even residents), so at least on a technical level it does not apply to them. However, it DOES mandate the government working "for the common defense".

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            • #7
              examples
              Better part of two years without legal representation, living in cages, that can be viewed by guards and other inmates (no privacy), reports of beatings and rough treatment, at first unable to pray the required number of times per day (5 i think), lack of intellectual stimulation, being hooded and sensory deprivation (which is defined under the geneva convention as torture iirc).
              "I work in IT so I'd be buggered without a computer" - Words of wisdom from Provost Harrison
              "You can be wrong AND jewish" - Wiglaf :love:

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              • #8
                Exactly. These people are not American citizens (or even residents), so at least on a technical level it does not apply to them
                They are human, and the principles of the constitution apply to humans, and especially those under the protection of that constitution, including prisoners and foreign nationals on US or US military soil.

                However, it DOES mandate the government working "for the common defense".
                How a few dozen emaciated men, whose guilt has been far from proven represents a threat to that defence is beyond me. If you're going to ruin someones life for the sake of national security, you need something much stronger than little or no evidence.
                "I work in IT so I'd be buggered without a computer" - Words of wisdom from Provost Harrison
                "You can be wrong AND jewish" - Wiglaf :love:

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                • #9
                  Better part of two years without legal representation


                  Bad? Maybe. Barbaric? No.

                  living in cages


                  It's called a "jail". Most countries have them

                  that can be viewed by guards and other inmates


                  You want to give a terrorist (even suspected) privacy?

                  reports of beatings and rough treatment


                  From whom? (the reports that is).

                  at first unable to pray the required number of times per day (5 i think)

                  First, I'd like to know what the situation on this sort of thing is in normal prisons. Even so, I don't see who this is really a bad thing. Sucks for them.

                  lack of intellectual stimulation


                  you mean bored? It is now barbaric not to AMUSE people?

                  being hooded and sensory deprivation


                  Huh?

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by elijah
                    How a few dozen emaciated men, whose guilt has been far from proven represents a threat to that defence is beyond me. If you're going to ruin someones life for the sake of national security, you need something much stronger than little or no evidence.
                    If trying them publicly would cause irreperable harm to US national security (revealing sources, etc.), then it falls under the mandate for common defense.

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by skywalker
                      Exactly. These people are not American citizens (or even residents), so at least on a technical level it does not apply to them. However, it DOES mandate the government working "for the common defense".
                      Did the USA sign the Geneva convention?

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                      • #12
                        Originally posted by elijah
                        ...living in cages, that can be viewed by guards and other inmates (no privacy), ...
                        No comment on the rest but I do have to ask what kind of hotels you have masking themselves as prisons in Europe.
                        I make no bones about my moral support for [terrorist] organizations. - chegitz guevara
                        For those who aspire to live in a high cost, high tax, big government place, our nation and the world offers plenty of options. Vermont, Canada and Venezuela all offer you the opportunity to live in the socialist, big government paradise you long for. –Senator Rubio

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                        • #13
                          Originally posted by elijah
                          They are human, and the principles of the constitution apply to humans, and especially those under the protection of that constitution, including prisoners and foreign nationals on US or US military soil.
                          How so? The constitution is a contract between US citizens and the US government.

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                          • #14
                            Originally posted by reds4ever


                            Did the USA sign the Geneva convention?
                            Does the Geneva convention require that the US apply it's constitution to foreign nationals?

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                            • #15
                              Originally posted by skywalker
                              Does the Geneva convention require that the US apply it's constitution to foreign nationals?
                              The real question you have to answer is if the Geneva Convention applies in this instance and then work from there.
                              I make no bones about my moral support for [terrorist] organizations. - chegitz guevara
                              For those who aspire to live in a high cost, high tax, big government place, our nation and the world offers plenty of options. Vermont, Canada and Venezuela all offer you the opportunity to live in the socialist, big government paradise you long for. –Senator Rubio

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