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 In Pursuit of Justice: Prosecuting Terrorism Cases in the Federal Courts
Arbitrary Justice: Trials of Guantanamo and Bagram Detainees in Afghanistan Tortured Justice: Using Coerced Evidence to Prosecute Terrorist Suspects Leave No Marks: Enhanced Interrogation Techniques and the Risk of Criminality Private Security Contractors at War: Ending the Culture of Impunity [PDF - 2.79 MB] Command's Responsibility: Detainee Deaths in U.S. Custody in Iraq and Afghanistan [PDF - 803 KB] Behind the Wire: An Update to Ending Secret Detentions [PDF - 485.30 KB] Getting
to Ground Truth: Investigating U.S. Abuses in the “War on Terror.” [PDF - 400.22 KB] Ending Secret
Detentions [PDF - 383.31 KB] Assessing
the New Normal [PDF - 1.66 MB] Imbalance of Powers [PDF - 669.61 KB] A Year of Loss [PDF - 543.58 KB]  In Their Own Words: Detainees Tell of Degradation of Religious Beliefs at Guantanamo (05/19/05)   U.S. Law and Security Work from 9/01 to 12/02 US Law & Security |
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Human Rights First
on John Walker Charges The announcement of charges by the U.S. government against John Walker Lindh raises some serious questions. At this point, the most pressing is this: is the U.S. government following its own rules about due process, and in particular, about access to counsel? Mr. Walker has been held on military ships in the Arabian Sea, since he was taken into custody. The lawyer retained by Walker’s family has been repeatedly denied access to him. Walker is an American citizen who is going to stand trial before a U.S. court on extremely serious charges. This is a case where the legal requirements are clear and they need to be clearly applied. The right to counsel is a core Constitutional right and the U.S. government needs to be scrupulous in following the law, especially in circumstances where the defendant has been detained for weeks without any judicial monitoring whatsoever. The U.S. government should provide Mr. Walker access to his lawyer immediately. While the government has said that Mr. Walker waived his right to a lawyer, the Administration will have a heavy burden to demonstrate that Mr. Walker’s waiver was, under the conditions of his confinement, “knowing and voluntary.” Anyone looking at Mr. Walker’s picture taken at the time would have serious doubts about his ability to make that kind of decision. |
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