Australia AG insists Hicks military trial will not hear evidence coerced by torture

[maelorin]

Australia AG insists Hicks military trial will not hear evidence coerced by torture
[JURIST] The US military commission expected to try Australian Guantanamo detainee David Hicks will not allow evidence coerced through torture, Australian Attorney General Philip Ruddock told... [more].

And just how will anyone in the room know that evidence led by the prosecution was not coerced? (I think we can presume that no protest raised by David at the commission's hearing will carry any weight.)

More importantly, how can we trust this assertion by our AG?

Comments

[verdigriis.livejournal.com]

I think it's pretty safe to say that we can't trust any of these assertions. There is no independant oversite of Guantanamo (by the Red Cross, for example). The government in charge has partially renounced it's commitment to the Geneva conventions. Allegations of torture by the prisoners are dismissed without investigation. Our own government is trying to redefine "torture" to exclude the forms of torture in use by the US government.

Rule of law? We don't need no stiiinking rule of law!

[maelorin]

history has a habit of taking a dim view of those who drop standards, or turn their backs on their own cultural history.

unfortunately, we have to live thorough this right now.

yay.

[verdigriis.livejournal.com]

I read another interesting article in the Jurist that was discussing the ramifications of the US government deliberately chosing to create a prison outside of the reach of its own court system. It says disturbing things about US democracy that they are looking for loopholes in their own laws.

Personally, I kind of feel like any government should be required to extend the rights of their own citizens to any person they are imprisoning etc. The US has allready decided that it has the right to kidnap foreigners and try them under US legal codes - how about taking full responsibility and offering those people a fair trial?

Not that I really appreciate the Team America! World Police! attitude...

But yeah, the blatant and shameless abandoning of a nation's founding principles is a little sickening to watch, and a lot sickening to live through.

[maelorin]

hence, i'm slipping sideways into other issues.

some things are a tad big to tackle front on, so i thought i might try a end-run round the side ...

[verdigriis.livejournal.com]

Oh, BTW - I love the new LJ layout. Very suave. :-)

[maelorin]

well, thanks :)