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U.S. justice on trial at Guantanamo Print E-mail
By Time   
Last Updated ( Thursday, 05 June 2008 )
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four alleged co-conspirators in the Sept.11 terror attacks were to be arraigned at Guantanamo on Thursday before a military commission, ahead of a trial later this year. Pentagon officials like to compare the Guantanamo process to the Nuremberg tribunals that convicted top Nazi war criminals at the end of World War II. But critics say the Nuremberg analogy actually highlights the shortcomings of military justice at the U.S. Naval base.

Nuremberg is generally remembered as having been a fair and careful legal process conducted at a time when many were demanding summary execution for leading Nazis.

The legality of the proceedings due to begin at Guantanamo, however — against men held in secret CIA prisons where some were tortured, before being brought to Cuba — has been challenged by critics around the world, not least by the U.S. military lawyers appointed to represent the accused.

"Under these circumstances it is impossible to ethically and properly represent our clients," Navy Cpt. Prescott Prince, chief military counsel to Khalid Sheik Mohammed told TIME. "In a capital murder case involving thousands of victims, it is just unbelievable that many members of the defense team have barely been able to meet with their clients, and some not at all."

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Accused mastermind wants death penalty | AP

Who are the five suspects | PR-inside.com   

 

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