Omar Khadr Condemns the Military Commissions
Carol Rosenberg, recently freed from her arbitrary banning at Gitmo, posts this picture of a statement Omar Khadr read aloud in court today explaining why he wants to boycott any further proceedings. [my transcription; I’ve added punctuation but not changed spelling]:
Your honor, I’m boycotting this military commission because:
- Firstly, the unfairness and unjustice of it. I say this because not one of the lawyers I’ve had, or human right organization or any person say that the commission is fair, or looking for justice, but on the contrary they say it is unfair and unjust and that it has been constructed solely to convict detainees and not to find the truth (so how can I ask for justice from a process that does not have it or offer it?) [new color ink–apparently added later] and to accomplish political and public goal and what I mean is when I was offered a plea bargain it was up to 30 years which I was going to spend only 5 years so I asked why the 30 years? I was told it make the US government look good in the public eyes and other political causes.
- Secondly, the unfairness of the rules that will make a person so depressed that he will admit to alligations or take a plea offer that will satisfy the US government and get him the least sentence possible and ligitimize the show process. Therefore I will not willingly let the US gov use me to fullfil its goal. I have been used to many times when I was a child and that’s why I’m here taking blame and paying for thing I didn’t have a choice in doing but was told to do by elders.
- Lastly I will not take any plea offer or [several words redacted] because it will give excuse for the gov for torturing and abusing me when I was a child.
In some of her tweets, Rosenberg said the judge has proposed reconvening on the suppression hearing August 9 and moving forward with the trial in October.
Update: Corrected post to note that Khadr read this aloud. Also note Rosenberg’s latest:
Guantanamo prosecutor: Omar Khadr is trying to mock the war court. Judge notes the Canadian did try to fire his lawyers this time last year
God forbid anyone mock our kangaroo court. Follow Rosenberg on twitter yourself here.
Update: Here’s Rosenberg’s article on today’s hearing.
Hell of it is, everything he says above is true.
Msg to Obama: If we’ve have thought of this in 1955 and applied it to subversive blacks (Black Panthers=AQ, all other black groups guilty of terrorist support) we’d never had to deal with that pesky civil rights movement or the civil rights act of 1964. And MLK would still be alive.
Boxturtle (locked up in gitmo, but alive)
We couldn’t do that in 1955. At that time, we had a Cold War to fight, and the Communists were making an issue of the treatment of blacks in America, an issue that had great appeal in the Third World.
Rats, Okay, how about Communist Party = AQ, all blacks are communists?
J. Edgar could have had all the evidence made up in a week, with a little overtime.
Boxturtle (Don’t I recall he tried to link the Panthers to the communists?)
You never heard of the Pink Panther?
Well, heaven forbid that our system of show trials should be put on trial. /s
Bob in AZ
It’s actually embarassing how poorly we do show trials. We should contract with the Russians for a couple of experts from the Soviet days. They could get half the world to at least not condemn their trials, we can’t even fool our own citizens!
Boxturtle (And they did their show trials within their own laws!)
If the hearing doesn’t reconvene until 9 August, that means that Shephard, Koring, and Edwards can at least reapply to attend as well.
Khadr is still taking advice from his Canadian lawyers, Nathan Whitling and Dennis Edney, although they’re not allowed to appear for him. I don’t know but suspect that they were opposed to any plea bargaining; Edney would have been anyway.
Today or tomorrow we will hear whether the Government of Steve is going to appeal Judge Zinn’s order that he seek an effective remedy for Khadr.
Note Spencer’s update of the status of your Canuck journos. It sounds like Shepherd and Edwards have already been given the okay, but not in time for this trip, so they should definitely be there in August.
Thanks for that — very interesting report on Koring, who is a great reporter. I wondered why the Grope would hold itself apart.
How to you make a mockery of a mockery?
Boxturtle (Yes, I know I’m hogging the thread, but somebody had to say it. I’ll go away now)
In update… did you mean aloud?
Aw nuts. I did. Thank you.
also 3rd line main post reads ‘allowed’
America where have you gone , don’t you care about your sons and daughters?
What VILE, INHUMANE, TRAITORS george and dick still are.
We act shocked that Nazis were living among us after the war yet these two traitors to humanity walk free and in doing so imprison us all in their dungeon, thanks to their co-conspirators barrack and eric, by definition war criminals too.
In case anyone’s paying attention BP (Big Polluter) is giving it’s Deepwater Horizon oil gusher a new hat. They are doing now what they (and everyone else around here)were saying that they couldn’t do a month ago– that is, unbolt the base of the old riser pipe to fully remove the stub of the bent and sheared old riser. If I wanted to spend the time, I could find the comment I made back then suggesting that they do just that. They are apparently bolting in its place a new stub, with a clean top and O-ring(?), onto which they will place the new cap, with a better and near-perfect seal. The new cap will have a bunch of open relief valves on it so that the pressure from the oil gusher will not blow off the new cap, or prevent it from being seated properly. Once seated, they will start closing off the relief valves, while keeping track of pressure inside the BOP, to make sure that the pressure doesn’t force the oil & gas out from some other undesirable place (like the ocean floor, or the base of the well head on the ocean floor). If shutting those valves doesn’t force the oil to leak out somewhere else, they should be able to completely contain the leak with this new rig, siphoning off *all* the oil and gas to the waiting tankers up top.
But no one is (publicly) calling this the final solution. The official final solution is still the “relief” wells, which are supposed to plug the well near its source far *under* the ocean floor. After which, supposedly, the leak will be history.
But color me skeptical about this public posturing. *If* this new cap works as advertised, and no more oil is leaking out into the ocean, BP will argue, why plug the well? After all, Big Polluter did not drill the well in order to plug it. They drilled the well to extract gas and oil. If they have to plug it, they lose their entire investment. So if the cap works, expect to hear a lot about that.
BTW, all this should have been at the ready on Day 1. The whole story of BP’s hapless attempts to stop the leaking oil is ample evidence that their damage control plan was absolutely and fraudulently worthless. From Day 1. Not worth the paper it was written on. That damage control plan should henceforth be Exhibit A in how to write a fraudulent and deceptive damage control plan, enumerating in detail every single worthless aspect (and these aspects are legion) of the plan, with counterpoint showing what *should* have been included. Their butts should be kicked all the way to the tax haven where their worthless CEO and his staff are hiding.
Bob in AZ
PS I didn’t stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night, but I was listening to CNN this morning.
Didn’t you remind us recently that Dudley Do-Right had been put back on the job? Given that this latest attempt seems to be planned, organized and implemented in a more rational fashion than the Tony fiascoes which we all witnessed to our horror, I wonder if Dudley hasn’t lived up to his name.
I think I must need to take a nap. Unable to decode. Lost my decoder ring. Got up too early this morning.
Bob in AZ
Great picture! Tony Fiasco, the F*ck-Up, looks a wee bit intimidated.
Ah! Thanks. All is clear. Besides, I did take a nap (*g*)
Bob in AZ
My turn to take a nap now. I was so sleepy I almost ran over a shopper in the natural foods aisle today.
PS Has anyone seen Hmmm?
Don’t miss this one, Bob. It is truly pathetic.
I hear you, Omar.
Khadr’s got it figured out, and he sounds like one American indefinite detention victim who’s not going to willingly participate in any more of the “sham,” politically-driven military commission system our Congress and Presidents have hatched:
From Carol:
[EW: You’ve got “allowed” where you meant “aloud” in the third sentence, in addition to the first sentence of the Update as klynn noted.]
Khadr’s assigned military defense counsel (Lt. Col. Jackson) should do what Al-Bihlul’s principled military defense counsel (David Frakt) did, despite pressure from the military judge – honor his client’s wishes, and remain mum during any further commission proceedings.
You saw he’s going to consult with his bar?
Yes – seeing Carol’s tweet about that is what prompted my comment. [A comment in which I misspelled Al-Bahlul’s name, and called a line a sentence when pointing out the first ‘allowed/aloud’ homonym in your important post…]
Oh, gee — what a surprise. The Cons are appealing Judge Zinn’s ruling. (The Federal Court of Appeal is the last before the Supremes. Nicholson can keep this up forever.)
How, nice. Harper worries about his prerogatives, even though Zinn left it up to Harper how best to cure his failure, while a fellow-citizen remains jailed since he was a minor. Khadr is being tried by a tribunal with questionable jurisdiction and a more questionable foundation, but Harper is worried about the charges, not due process or whether Khadr, as a 15 year-old, did what truth-challenged US administrations, incapable of admitting their own failings, claim he did.
Switzerland, however, can release Mr. Polanski because it can’t assure itself that all its questions were answered. Unrelated cases, to be sure, but inconsistent concern for the rights of the accused, the relevance of fact and admissible proof, and due process.
I never thought I would understand Kafka, Dreyfus, the Catholic Church and the Roman Empire, or the history of American actions in Latin America. Now it all seems perfectly clear.
Even more maddening is the fact that Iggy will, yet again, let Steve off the hook, even enabling Steve to form a majority gubmint.
Oye, if only we had a true Librul leader …
Am I right in thinking that U.S. judges can lose their tempers at lawyers who repeatedly bring bad arguments to court and finally send some of them to jail for a bit?
I’m not sure that our guys can. I wish they would though.
It’s not that simple. A judge can find a lawyer in contempt and sanction them – typically a money fine; in rare, extreme cases, jail for short periods of time. More commonly, a judge will report a lawyer to state bar authorities for investigation and discipline; a referral from a judge, as opposed to a sometimes disappointed or ill-informed client, can carry more weight.
Real sanctions aren’t all that common; the organized bar, like its medical and accounting counterparts, seems loathe to discipline its members. Short of outright fraud or criminal conduct, the behavior has to be beyond fierce advocacy to consistent, egregious behavior. It’s more common for lawyers who piss off judges to lose credibility. Their lives and their clients’ are made more difficult: informal arrangements become unavailable, formally documenting and proving contentions becomes time-consuming, expensive and the source of delay.
A recent example of egregious conduct allegedly comes from California lawyer/dentist Orly Taitz.
Jeebus, folks, I’m sorry for my serial “alloweds.” And thanks for the persistence on getting me to fix them.
It’s your place, EW, so your spelling idiosyncrasies are aloud.
Oh just kwit it wit yer hoomur.
Thanks for this post EW. My soul seems filled with speechless desperation for justice and extremely restless in the hope for wholeness in our judicial system.
“I was told it make the US government look good in the public eyes and other political causes.”
nailed it on the head
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/07/12/1726747/omar-khadr-i-spurned-us-offer.html#ixzz0tVowvkK5
That’s a very telling answer. What legal background is needed to participate in a made up proceeding?
He’s got as much experience with them as anyone else who is involved, if not more. The lawyers and judges have been rotating in and out, after all, but he’s still there.
To be fair, the U.S. lawyers Omar has had, military and civilian both, have been exceptionally good from all I can tell. Lt-Cmdr Kuebler especially was wonderful — a couple of years ago he swayed the Canadian Bar Association and gave brilliant testimony before a Commons committee. He went under as much to DoD politics at GTMO as he did to Khadr’s decision at the time, an early expression of frustration.
It’s my understanding that the pair of civilian lawyers just fired did valuable research that I hope Lt-Col Jackson can and will use — unless he goes the silent route, which I could also understand.
The problem is, as Omar says, that all these lawyers have said the same thing — Kuebler said it to a Commons committee, and Kuebler is a loyal and very conservative member of your armed forces: Omar cannot get a fair trial this way.
I do believe the lawyers have gone the extra mile, and that matters, although it’s not getting Omar out, which matters more.
There is no law in a lawless place. It’s a joke, a star chamber, a propaganda exercise to build the war on terror (or whatever they are calling it these days). Note, too, his cynicism towards “elders” in general, which may partake of bitterness for all who told him what to do, and left him alone at the end, including his political family. That may be fair or not, or it may be a theme that’s been impressed on him by his interrogators over the years, whose Army Field Manual instruction is to instill feelings of “futility” in the prisoner.
It should be our patriotic duty to openly mock such a travesty of justice as these military commissions.
Thank you very much, EW, for going to the trouble of the transcription. It’s very important that such a document be made available in this format.
Yes, EW, thanks from me too. I haven’t seen the full statement anywhere else either.
The new cap they put on the blown-out well has a little slogan printed on the side: “Think twice– Act Once.”
Hmmm.
Bob in AZ
Seems in the past their slogan must have been “Think once, act many times.” How else to explain all their failed attempts?
“Think once, go yachting; hope the little people don’t notice”.
Hahahahaha. Thnx. I needed that.
I see your BP, and raise you a Kyl.
Headlines: Rich need tax cuts more than jobless needs benefits — Senator
Kyl.
Warning: never, never vote for a Repub even if you want to send a fucking
signal…
On topic..ouch check this out
http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/node/38320
Andrew Napolitano: Bush and Cheney Should Have Been Indicted for Torturing, for Spying and Arresting Without Warrants
Ralph Nader does the interview
http://www.booktv.org/Program/11711/After+Words+Andrew+Napolitano+Lies+the+Government+Told+You+interviewed+by+Ralph+Nader.aspx
“Nader: So you think George W. Bush and Dick Cheney should even though they’ve left office, they haven’t escaped the criminal laws, they should be indicted and prosecuted?
Napolitano: The evidence in this book and in others, our colleague the great Vincent Bugliosi has amassed an incredible amount of evidence. The purpose of this book was not to amass that evidence but I do discuss it, is overwhelming when you compare it to the level of evidence required for a normal indictment that George W. Bush as President and Dick Cheney as Vice President participated in criminal conspiracies to violate the federal law and the guaranteed civil liberties of hundreds, maybe thousands of human beings.”
Obama has never realized that the coalition of voters who pulled the lever for him included a huge number whose primary overlap areas were the belief in the rule of law and in accountability. He’s been so busy sucking up to those who are never going to pull the lever for him – those who don’t believe in the rule of law and accountability, that he doesn’t realize what he’s lost.
I worked in Colorado for a month before the Dem convention in Denver and at the convention. I was blown away by how many Republicans were not only going to vote for him they were out putting in time for the Dems. Had seen this phenomena running the GOTV campaign for a few candidates in southeaster Ohio. Quite a few Republicans coming into the offices to work. Sick of the Bush administration.
They had better do something soon to keep these folks on the bus. Along with keeping the progressives on the bus
Wonder how many democrats will be working for the GOP this time around because they’re sick of ObamaLLP.
I won’t be, simply because all the GOP contenders at this time are much worse. And I suspect that is what Obama is counting on in 2014: No GOP alternative and no primary.
But I won’t be knocking on doors for him. Nor will he get a dime of my money.
Boxturtle (Chtulhu for president! Don’t settle for the LESSER evil)
I was not an Obama supporter before he won the nomination, had watched him too closely in the Senate. He was a fence sitter with his finger in the wind. Have no respect for that strategy. Not a supporter of Hillary’s either (she knew what she was doing when she voted for that bloody 2002 war resolution) Once Obama won the nomination what the hell else could one do?
Hate to say it but I will do a bit of work for him because I am one of those folks who say this may be as good as it gets. I have gone to some of those teabagger events, I have talked with people with little crosses around their necks as they scream out “kill them all” when referencing Iraq, Iran. I will not put in the thousands (literally) that I put in for many Dems the last few election cycles..
Although if they make any more aggressive moves toward Iran I am done…off the bus for good. Hell they can’t even count the dead, injured and displaced in Iraq and are allowing the I lobby and Israel to push them towards a military confrontation with Iran. That will push me off the bus for good. Forever in my life time. Enough of this warmongering horseshit
—————————————-
Surprised that Amy goodman does not have anything up about Omar Khadr condemning the trial and Rosenberg’s piece
Leen,
My strategy is to back the Dems who deserve backing– even if that means sending money to a Democratic candidate for a congressional seat in a distant state, rather than to anyone in my own state, or the national party. There ARE candidates who deserve our support. For example, right now, it looks like Sen. Russ Feingold is in need of a little love because of a surprisingly close race against a Tea Bagger.
Bob in AZ
Good to know. Have a deep respect for Feingold on most issues. Figure at 58 going to keep pushing (unless Obama and crew attack Iran or support Israel attacking Iran) if that happens I am off the bus for good. Figure this is the last chance in my lifetime that we have this much momentum and a collective of sorts. Push hard. For the folks in my age bracket and older when are we going to get another chance like this? This may be the best it is going to get. Unless Senator Sherrod Brown enentually runs
Fuck em if they are going to attack another country based on alleged claims. Fuck em over the cliff
and bobschacht @ 53:
Just got my copy of the latest mass mailing from DFA announcing “Dean Corps 2010.” They’re targeting specific, “most important races around the country to recruit volunteers, make calls, knock on doors and mobilize supporters . . . .”
If you’re interested, but here’s their web page.
What Leen said, and bob, too.
He’s running against being an incumbent.
Amy has a headline in an otherwise all-Haiti show — looks like she’s in Port-Au-Prince. (Would love if it she stepped over about 200 miles to Guantanamo.)
I think there’s a guy named jeb that may save us and the republicans from palin, to our determent .
Do you think the bush clan are done ruffing us up yet?
Best book I have read on the Bush dynasty was former Republican Keven Phillips book. follow the $$$
American Dynasty: Aristocracy, Fortune, and the Politics of Deceit in the House of Bush
http://www.amazon.com/American-Dynasty-Aristocracy-Fortune-Politics/dp/0670032646
They’ve thrown too many people under the bus (even ran over a few along the way), that recovering that enthusiasm looks kinda difficult at this point. Latest WaPo poll.
Duh duh duh dadadadadada
The Empire gets it’s very own remote control robot ships of death
Taranis unveiled
@33 Definitionally – a military commission is a lawless proceeding. It is dependent on a state of lawlessness before it can spring into existence. At least, that’s how it always was – before the MCA. It should be still, but so far the bench is being populated by co-conspirators to cover up Exec Branch crime – not really auspicious for what the bench will make of the MCA provisions if they ever do go up. I mean really – Kagan is a policymaker from the Obamaco DOJ Assassinations Approvals division and she’s going onto the Sup Ct. There’s no lower bar. The Sup Ct that will sit to determine the lawfulness of the MCA includes someone who has been a part of the Obamco DOJ that has decided assassinations of Americans as lawful and should become policy as well. How do you recover from that? Ever?
@35 – I think you can’t leave Vokey off the list of excellent lawyers.
For sure. Here is Michelle Shephard on Lt-Col Vokey from back in 2007.
I honour these guys, and I’m not alone, although bigger numbers would certainly help.
Am I the only one wishing he’d said “Take your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape!”
Planet of the Apes
EW,
Can you compare the Nuremberg trials quest for justice and fairness of the process for former Nazis to the current issue. Abuse of process seems to be the operative word here. MC is a staged event, controlled by handlers for political reasons to control the flow of information. Similar to what Nazi’s did to those accused of being Ungerman?
Did Executive Oil et als “USE” the military to protect the interests of corporations under the façade of national protection? Do we have a Corporate quid pro quo between BP and Exxon Mobile? US overthrows Saddam and BP moves in under Bush Cheney now BP “”shits”” in the gulf and Exxon Mobile/GOP benefits by corporate bullshit and brain-dead Americans blame the government and Obama, and put the corporate energy slave owners back in power to further rape the republic! A scary thought?
Planet of the Apes! “When Taylor comes upon the ruins of Lady Liberty along the shore in the restricted/dead zone!” What where his words?
Ask Jeremiah Wright.
What circle of hell do you suppose he had in mind?
Well, this is an interesting excursion!
Dude! That’s US!
This is actually a joy to read — not only do you recognize BP, the banks, the politicians, the judges, but the poetic justice they meet! Poor Karl Rove, Eighth Circle, Bolgia 9:
(eww, yicky jello)
Well, I got no problem going all the way, sounds like us in the bullseye beyond the ninth circle:
Yep, Great Satan, that’s us.
Ah, justice.
OT, but the funniest interpretation of Dante is Rowan Atkinson’s Welcome to Hell. Beware adulterers, French, Germans, Christians and those who didn’t stop en route to spend a penny because they failed to notice that it was damnation without relief.
He be mocking the court mocking the constitution. Hard choice to make as to what the bigger mockery, and who the bigger crock.
:-)