Been There, Done That: Vandeveld Opposes National Security Courts, Advocates Trying Gitmo Detainees in Federal Courts

Darrel Vandeveld, a former lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve, has seen firsthand the workings of the military commission proceedings at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Beginning in June 2007, Vandeveld worked as a prosecutor for the Office of Military Commissions at Guantanamo. He resigned in September 2008, stating that the legal process at Guantanamo could not provide detainees with fair trials. His Op-Ed in today’s Washington Post states that the creation of a national security court system in the U.S. would simply continue the problems currently facing the military commissions at Guantanamo:

“There is a way out of Guantanamo. It is not as difficult as some apologists
have made it seem. Many of the detainees have not committed war crimes and the
handful of real terrorists and war criminals can be tried in federal court. The
Department of Justice has a well-developed expertise in these cases and can
achieve justice with transparency and rigorous due process.

Although some have called for a new national security court to
prosecute terrorist suspects, this should be squarely rejected. If we've learned
anything from Guantanamo, it's that it is hard to create an entirely new system
of justice from scratch. A special court would inevitably be subject to
criticism and legal challenge, only further delaying the day when the terrorists
are brought to justice.”

Read the rest of the Op-Ed here.