Guantanamo Hearings Delayed as Legal Files Vanish 170
A user writes "The defense lawyers of Guantanamo prisoners have been ordered to stop using government computers for sensitive information due to security and confidentiality concerns. One News from New Zealand says 'In another case, system administrators were searching files at prosecutors' request and were able to access more than 500,000 defense files, including confidential attorney-client communications.' Due to all this, hearings were postponed."
What kind of moronic "defense" lawyer... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Lose lose for prisoners (Score:5, Interesting)
Well, the Obama administration has made the actual policy on Guantanamo prisoners very clear indeed several months ago: None of them will ever be released under any circumstances. Even those who are known to be innocent of any crime or terrorism. Even those who present (or at least presented before they went in) no threat whatsoever to the United States.
The reason we know this is that they shut down the office that was in charge of arranging releases of Guantanamo prisoners. Everything else is window dressing.
Re: Lose lose for prisoners (Score:5, Interesting)
While the GOP certainly has created obstacles to the token efforts Obama has made toward cleaning up this mess its precisely because its in military courts we can hold the president almost completely accountable. The cynic in my thinks Obama wanted this moved into the civilian courts so he could duck responsibility .
Whatever happens in civilian courts the president could have simply said, its a judicial matter and I can't as the executive interfere. As it is he is the Commander and Chief, its certainly is within his power to insist the military tribunals be conducted quickly and fairly, rather than let the be the kangaroo courts they have become. It is within his power to move or remove any military personnel that interfere or obstruct that agenda. In either military or civilian courts its within his power to pardon; the ones he believes to be innocent could certainly be freed if he wanted to do so.
So I think we can conclude one more of the following is true:
1. Obama really does not care about the issue, it was all just sound bites to help win an election.
2. Obama does not think these victim's lives are worth the political capital it would cost him to see justice served.
3. Obama does not want them release now because of what they may now do, now that we have 'radicalized' them.
4. Obama does not want them release because as bad as holding people indefinitely without or with obviously sham trials does not make his and the previous administration look nearly as bad or as lawless what these folks may reveal if released.
5. Obama believes them all to be guilty and that justice is being served; independent of the integrity of the trial process.
Re:willing to take the released prisoners? (Score:4, Interesting)