[Mb-civic] CBC News - GENEVA CONVENTION NOT FOR AL-QAEDA, U.S. COURT SAYS

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GENEVA CONVENTION NOT FOR AL-QAEDA, U.S. COURT SAYS
WebPosted Fri Jul 15 14:53:56 2005

---An appeal court in Washington has ruled that the 1949 Geneva
Convention on the treatment of prisoners does not apply to members
of al-Qaeda.

The decision clears the way for a military commission consisting of three
U.S. colonels to judge Salim Ahmed Hamdan, a prisoner in Guantanamo Bay,
who was Osama Bin Laden's driver in Afghanistan.

The colonels will operate under rules laid down by President George W.
Bush for what he called a war on terror after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks
on New York and Washington.

The U.S. has charged Hamdan with conspiracy to attack civilians,
destruction of property, terrorism and murder, but it's not seeking the
death penalty.

Hamdan is alleged to have trained at an al-Qaeda-sponsored camp,
delivered weapons to al-Qaeda members and served as Bin Laden's bodyguard
and chauffeur.

The 35-year-old Yemeni was captured in Afghanistan in November, 2001. He
has acknowledged driving for Bin Laden. But his court-appointed lawyer, a
U.S. Navy officer, argued last year that he was "a mechanic who drove
people around," not a terrorist.

INDEPTH: Guantanamo

INDEPTH: Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaeda

On Thursday, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeal for the
District of Columbia overturned a November decision in which a federal
judge said it had yet to be determined whether Hamdan was a prisoner of
war under the Geneva Convention.

The November decision temporarily blocked Hamdan's trial by the military
commission, where his rights — including the right to hear the
evidence against him — are more limited than in a U.S. civilian
court or a military court-martial.

FROM AUG. 24, 2004 First Guantanamo detainees face trial

FROM NOV. 8, 2004: U.S. must prove Guantanamo prisoner not a PoW: judge

With full Geneva Convention protection, a prisoner "can be validly
sentenced only if the sentence has been pronounced by the same courts
according to the same procedure as in the case of members of the armed
forces of the detaining power."

In Thursday's decision, the appeal court systematically rejected Hamdan's
claims for such protection, saying that al-Qaeda is not a nation, does
not have uniformed troops operating under the laws and customs of war,
has not signed the Geneva Convention and can hardly be seen as foreign
power following treaty rules.

"Even if al-Qaeda could be considered a power, which we doubt, no one
claims that al-Qaeda has accepted and applied the provisions of the
convention," the panel said in a 20-page ruling.

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