Due Process Undone in First Conviction at Guantánamo

This morning, a jury of six military officers found Osama bin Laden’s driver, Salim Hamdan, guilty of providing material support for terrorism. Mr. Hamdan was acquitted of two counts of conspiracy.

Human Rights First has attended nearly every military commission hearing, including the Hamdan trial, since the proceedings began in 2004. From the inception, Human Rights First has voiced its objection to a system that permits the admission of evidence obtained through coercion and abuse, ignores fundamental tenets of due process, and has shown itself vulnerable to unlawful command influence, manipulation and political pressure.

“Inventing an entirely new trial system with such profound flaws was not only inconsistent with American traditions and standards of justice, but unnecessary as well,” said Washington Director Elisa Massimino earlier today. “Our existing criminal courts – civilian and military – are well equipped to handle these cases.”

Indeed they are. Human Rights First’s recent report, In Pursuit of Justice: Prosecuting Terrorism Cases in the Federal Court, studies more than 120 terrorism cases prosecuted in the federal courts during the past fifteen years and finds that the federal criminal justice system has succeeded in balancing the government’s need to protect sensitive national security information with defendants’ fair trial rights.

For more on this subject, take a look at U.S. District Judge John Coughenour’s recent Op-Ed in the Washington Post.

Mr. Hamdan’s sentencing hearing is scheduled to begin this afternoon. Regardless of the sentence, the U.S. government has said that Hamdan will remain imprisoned as an “enemy combatant” until the end of the “war on terror.”

Here is a breakdown of the verdict:

Count 1: Conspiracy

Specification 1: conspiracy to commit a variety of offenses (attacks on civilians, etc.) – acquitted

Specification 2: conspiracy to commit murder in violation of the law of war by attacking US and coalition servicemen – acquitted

Count 2: Material Support

Specification 1: Providing himself as personnel to al Qaeda with knowledge or intent that this support would “be used for an act of terrorism” - acquitted

Specification 2: Providing himself as personnel to al Qaeda, period – CONVICTED
Specification 3: Providing al Qaeda with SA-7 surface-to-air missiles in November 2001, knowing they would be used for an act of terrorism – acquitted

Specification 4: Providing al Qaeda with SA-7 surface-to-air missiles in November 2001, period – acquitted

Specification 5: Providing support to al Qaeda through his service as a driver, knowing this would facilitate communications and planning for terrorist acts – CONVICTED

Specification 6: similar to Specification 5 – CONVICTED

Specification 7: Providing support to al Qaeda through service as a bodyguard, knowing this would facilitate communications and planning for terrorist acts – CONVICTED

Specification 8: similar to Specification 7 – CONVICTED