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| No lawyer for inmates in Guantanamo parole process |
| By Reuters |
| Published: 03/08/2004 |
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Foreign terrorism suspects held at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, do not have the right to a lawyer when appearing before a panel that will annually consider their possible release, the Pentagon said last Wednesday. The Pentagon unveiled draft rules for administrative review panels of three military officers that will serve as parole boards for Guantanamo prisoners. The prisoner has the right to make his case personally to a board during a hearing, with an interpreter supplied by the Pentagon if necessary, but has no right to counsel, the Pentagon said. "The detainee is not going to be given an attorney," said a defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity. The review board will assign a U.S. military officer "to assist the enemy combatant in preparing his presentation to the board," and that officer may "serve as the spokesperson for the enemy combatant in presenting his information to the board," a Pentagon memorandum stated. The prisoner's home country may be allowed to provide a written submission to the review panel, including information from his family, the Pentagon said. A U.S. military officer will present the panel with any information demonstrating the need for continued imprisonment. The United States holds at Guantanamo roughly 640 non-U.S. citizens caught in what President Bush calls the global war on terrorism, most caught in Afghanistan. Human rights groups have criticized the United States for holding the prisoners, some for more than two years, with no charges or legal representation. The Pentagon memo said the review process permitted each prisoner at least annually "to explain why he is no longer a threat to the United States and its allies in the ongoing armed conflict against al Qaeda and its affiliates and supporters, or to explain why it is otherwise in the interest of the United States and its allies that he be released." |
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