Obama Administration Examines Civilian Trials of Terrorism Suspects

Obama Administration Examines Civilian Trials of Terrorism Suspects

By Stephen Kopko

Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

WASHINGTON D.C., United States – Facing relentless pressure from both human rights groups and national security groups, the Obama Administration is reassessing their decision to try some September 11, 2001 suspects in civilian courts.  The Administration is examining whether military commissions would be a better place to try the suspects.

In November, Attorney General Eric Holder recommended that five suspects being held at the Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility be tried in Article III courts.  Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind behind the September 11 attacks, was one of the suspects to be tried in a civilian court.  Since the Attorney General’s decision, the Administration has been pressured by those favoring civilian trials and those who support trying the suspects in military commissions.  Facing congressional and local government opposition to civilian trials, the Obama administration is focusing the costs and benefits of trying the suspects in military commissions.

Many groups still believe that the suspects should be tried in civilian courts.  Three former military officers believe that holding military commissions would negatively impact the image of the United States overseas.  Also supporting civilian trials is the September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows.  Donna Connor, spokeswoman for the organizations, said “military commissions are an illegitimate system that undermines the rule of law.”

Opponents of civilian trials cite different reasons for their opinion.  Local governments in the places where the trials could be held were concerned with the high cost of trying terrorism suspects.  They also were worried about the amount of security that would be needed to try the suspects.  Citing security concerns, some members of Congress threatened to cut funding for civilian trials.

Assessing the opinions and concerns of both camps, the Obama Administration has been negotiating with Senator Lindsey Graham.  According to those negotiations, the suspects would be tried in military commissions.  There would be more procedural protections in the new commissions than what traditional military commissions have afforded.  Also, a new supermax prison would be built in Illinois to house the terrorism suspects.  The military commissions would be held at this prison.

Despite the pressure facing the Obama Administration, the President will make a decision in the coming weeks whether military commissions will be used to try the suspects.

For more information, please see:

Wall Street Journal – White House Considers Military Trial for Alleged Sept. 11 Plotters – 6 March 2010

MSNBC – Military trials ahead for 9/11 suspects? – 5 March 2010

NY Times – White House Postpones Picking Site of 9/11 Trial – 5 March 2010

Dutch Local Elections Return Big Results for Xenophobic, anti-Islam Party

 By Elizabeth A. Conger
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe Desk

 Dutch far-right politcian Geert Wilder speaking to supporters in Almere. [Source: Robin Van Lonkhuijsen/AFP/Getty Images]

Dutch far-right politician Geert Wilder speaking to supporters in Almere. / Source: Robin Van Lonkhuijsen/AFP/Getty Images

AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands – Wednesday’s local elections in the Netherlands brought major gains for Geert Wilders’ anti-Islam Freedom Party (PVV).  The PVV, which ran in two cities, came in first in election results in Almere, and second in in The Hague, where the Labour Party retained a slight lead.

Just days before the elections, Wilders said that a ban on Muslim headscarves in public places would be a non-negotiable facet of the PVV’s platform. In response, dozens of protesters, men and women, Muslim and non-Muslim, wore head scarves as they turned out to vote in Almere and The Hague.  

A third of the city of Almere, with its population of  190,000,  is of immigrant origin. Thirty-five-year old Kadriye Kacar, a Dutch-born resident of Almere of Turkish descent, said: “People are looking at us in a new way today as if they are thinking, ‘We won and you are leaving’.”

Wilders, visibly jubilant by election returns, told his supporters in Almere: “Today Almere and The Hague, tomorrow the whole Netherlands . . . We are going to win back the Netherlands from the leftist elite that believes in cuddling criminals, that believes in Islam and multiculturalism and the idiocy of development aid and the European superstate.”

Wilders has called for an immediate stop to immigration from Muslim countries, a ban on mosque construction, and the imposition of €1,000 a year tax on Muslim women who choose to wear headscarves. He has also likened the Qur’an to Mein Kampf, and wants Muslim immigrants deported.

Two weeks ago the ruling Christian Democrat-Labour coalition government collapsed after a disagreement about prolonging the Dutch military presence in Afghanistan beyond August.  The collapse of the ruling coalition prompted the local elections, which were the starting point of an intense three-month national campaign period which will end in June.  The latest opinion polls have indicated that the PVV is likely to take twenty-seven of the one hundred and fifty seats in the Dutch parliament.

Wilders has indicated that he is willing to make the compromises necessary to form partnerships with other parties, but it is yet unclear as to whether other parties will be willing to work with the extremist PVV.

The PVV gains reflect a drift to the right in Dutch politics which has been underway since the anti-immigration and anti-Islam politics of Pim Fortuyn, who was murdered during the 2002 Dutch national election campaign. Fortuyn’s assassin, animal rights activist Volkert van der Graaf, claimed that he had assassinated Fortuyn to prevent him from carrying out his anti-immigration agenda.

Agnes Kant of the Dutch Socialist Party stated that Wilders is a threat to samenleving, Dutch society’s history of allowing diverse ethnic and religious groups to live together. Wilders retorted:  “Agnes, thanks very much!”

Muslims now make up six percent, or one million, of the Netherland’s population of sixteen million.

For more information, please see:

BBC – Anti-Islamists gain in Dutch poll – 6 March 2010

The Sydney Morning Herald – Foothold for far right in Dutch local elections – 6 March 2010

Reuters – Dutch concerns over Islam, globalisation drive Wilders’ support – 5 March 2010

RNW – Geert Wilders’ anti-Islam party makes major gains – 4 March 2010

The Guardian – Geert Wilders’s party wins seat in Dutch elections – early results – 4 March 2010

Financial Times – Gains for far-right in Dutch elections – 3 March 2010

Pakistani Workers Killed in Afghan Attack

By Michael E. Sanchez
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan- On Thursday gunman on motorcycles shot dead four Pakistanis and an Afghan working for a company building roads in southern Afghanistan, officials said.  The Afghan interior ministry said the trio of gunman opened fire on the group of laborers, killing five and wounding another Pakistani and an Afghan.

The ambush took place in the Kobi area of Panjwayi district in Kandahar province.  This area has been a center for the Taliban-led insurgency since late 2001 in their efforts bring down the Western-backed Afghan government.  The ministry said the laborers were attacked at 7:30 am while on their way to work at a site by the SAITA road construction company.  In addition they identified the attacked only as “terrorists”.

The SAITA road construction company employs around 1,000 Pakistanis in Afghanistan.  These laborers work mainly on road construction projects funded by grants from Japan and Europe, said Ajmal Farooqi, a company executive, who confirmed the deaths of the four Pakistanis.  He said “They were going to work when this incident took place.  We are arranging transportation of their bodies back to Pakistan.”

Last August a truck bomb exploded in front of SAITA’s office in central Kandahar city during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, leaving 40 people dead and at least another 80 injured.  Though the recent attack bore resemblance of the Taliban, the militants did not claim responsibility, possibly because the dead did not include foreigners and were civilians.

A Taliban spokesman said he was unaware of the incident.  Yousuf Ahmadi, speaking by telephone from an undisclosed location said “Our friends did not say anything about it, we don’t have information about the incident.”

A Pakistan foreign ministry spokesman said Pakistan had asked the Afghan authorities to investigate Thursday’s incident and improve security for its nationals in the country.  Pakistanis arouse particular suspicion in Afghanistan, where many accuse the country of harboring links with the Taliban.  Kandahar shares a border with Pakistan and was the spiritual capital for the Taliban when they ruled Afghanistan from 1996 until their ouster in 2001.

For more information, please see:
Gulf Times- Pakistani Workers Shot Dead in Afghanistan– 4 March 2010

Pakistani Police Brutally Beat a Suspect in Custody

By M.E. Dodge
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -In response to the beating by police of a suspected thief, the Supreme Court directed that all provincial administrations form committees and create a report by March 11 to indicate the degree and extent of police torture of citizens in all regions. Chief Justice, Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry, ordered the Punjab police chief to take stern action against the cops involved in the torture of people at the police stations.

The Supreme Court’s mandate is the result of five police officials in the Pakistani province of Punjabm, who whipped and beat a citizen who was suspected of stealing rice. The man was one of four suspected in the incident. The officials were arrested after footage was released and then aired on a widely broadcasted network of national TV channels, and showed the officers severely whipping the man accused of stealing rice. The footage shows one policeman holding the legs of a victim, while another stands on his hands.

Infuriated human rights activists claim that the incident highlights a common practice by Pakistani police, who have a long-standing reputation for brutality and torture. Those who have spoken out condemning the incident worry that despite government efforts, the acts will continue to occur. Asma Jahangir, head of the influential Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, called the actions of this event “barbaric,” and advocated for harsh punishments for those involved.

Inspector General of Police, Punjab Tariq Saleem Dogar, said in a press release that every police officer would be taken across the board and not a minor act of the accused officer would be tolerated. Dogar commended the response of the media, he stated that “[I] come to know many incidents through media,” and in this incident, the media was a critical role in creating awareness about criminal acts directed toward the general public. 

In discussing the event, Dogar said that the acts of barbarity and inhuman torture by police were the result of absence of a proper system of accountability in the Police Department, lack of supervision by senior officers and weaknesses at police station level.

Punjab’s law minister, Rana Sanaullah, assured Pakistanis in an interview with Dunya television, that appropriate legal action was being taken, and that the officers “will not remain in the police force.”

For more information, please see:

BBC World News – Police filmed beating robbery suspects – 5 March, 2010

Daily Times – ‘Law of the jungle’ prevalent in country, says CJP – 5 March 2010

Pakistan Times –SC directs for submission of report in Chiniot police torture case – 5 March 2010

 

Students Protest the High Cost of College Education

By Stephen Kopko

Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

CALIFORNIA, United States – Students in the public higher educational system in California protested across the state yesterday to voice their frustration over tuition increases and funding cuts.  The organizers of the protest named March 4 “a strike and day of action to defend public education.”  Students and faculty from across the state protested at their various institutions.

The California organizers were joined by other students across the United States to protest the high cost of college education and the cuts in funding public higher educational institutions.  From Maryland to Washington, organizers conducted blockades of class buildings and entrances to schools as well as walk outs of classes.  For example, protesters at the University of California at Santa Cruz sat in the entrance to the school, effectively canceling classes.  In Washington, protestors rallied at the state capitol around a fake coffin which stated “R.I.P. Education.”

In response to budget shortfalls and a lack of tax revenue, many states have lessened their contribution to higher educational systems.  This contributed to a budget shortfall for many schools of higher education.  To make up for their budget deficits, schools have raised tuition, furloughed teachers, and canceled classes.

The California State public education system has been hit hardest by the lack of funding. In order to make up for its budget deficit, the system increased student tuition by thirty-two percent and the employees took a ten percent pay decrease through furloughs.

The student protestors believe the state governments are harming the future of the United States by cutting educational funds. Reid Milburn, president of the Student Senate of California Community Colleges, stated; “How are we going to save our future if we can’t even get into our classrooms.” Organizer of the Maryland protests, Bob Hayes, was concerned with the high salaries of administrators and the spending of universities on capital improvement projects.  He felt that students “were being run by a Fortune 500 company instead of by a university.”

Arrests were made at some of the protests. Many of the violations were of a nonviolent nature despite the students’ passionate protest against tuition increases and funding cuts. The organizers of the protests stated that they will continue to hold rallies to raise awareness of the issue.

For more information, please see:

AP – Angry US students protest cuts to higher education – 5 March 2010

NY Times – In California, a Day of Protests Over Education Budget Cuts – 4 March 2010

Washington Post – Students protest cuts to higher-education funds – 4 March 2010