U.S. to Allow Afghan Detainees to Challenge Detentions

By Matthew DeLong 9/12/09 9:05 PM

http://washingtonindependent.com/58859/u-s-to-allow-afghan-detainees-to-challenge-detentions

Hundreds of prisoners held by the U.S. military in Afghanistan will for the first time have the right to challenge their indefinite detention and  call witnesses in their defense under a new review system being put in  place this week, according to administration officials.

The new system will be applied to the more than 600 Afghans held at the Bagram military base, and will mark the first substantive change in the overseas detention policies that President Obama inherited from the Bushadministration. [...]

Under the new rules, each detainee will be assigned a U.S. military  official, not a lawyer, to represent his interests and examine evidence against him. In proceedings before a board composed of military officersdetainees will have the right to call witnesses and present evidence when  it is “reasonably available,” the official said. The boards will determine  whether detainees should be held by the United States, turned over to  Afghan authorities or released. For those ordered held longer, the process  will be repeated at six-month intervals.

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Hardly due process by an independent judiciary. At this rate, NATO will need to be in Afghanistan for hundreds of years before a decent system of  justice is set up, not to mention a democratic voting system that works.On military grounds alone, however, this flies in the face of previous  experience. As MacArthur pointed out, "once war is forces upon us, thereis no other alternative than to apply every available means to bring it to  a swift end. War's very object is victory, not prolonged indecision."


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