Army debates Guantanamo executions

[Judi Lynn]

Army debates Guantanamo executions
From: Agence France-Presse From correspondents in Washington
January 25, 2006

US Army rule changes on executions of military prisoners did not apply to "war on terror" detainees at the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, an army spokesman said.

Paul Boyce corrected an earlier statement by another army spokesman, Sheldon Smith, who said the revision of the army regulations on procedures for military executions could affect enemy combatants at Guantanamo.
(snip)

Only 10 war-on-terror detainees have so far been charged and referred to special military commissions for trial, and the US is not seeking the death penalty in any of those cases.

But the US has not ruled out the death penalty for war-on-terror detainees, and the issue has long been a sore point for some US allies with nationals detained at Guantanamo.
(snip/...)

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,17933209-401,00.html

[rodeodance]

1. applying the death penality would be a serious mistake.

[wordpix2]

33. I agree. What kind of higher ground can we stand on if we do what they do

[Poll_Blind]

39. Is this how they're going to "release" the uncharged inmates? n/t

PB

[newscott]

2. Are they going to dump the bodies on the Cuban side of the fence?

[Vidar]

7. Sure, and blame it on Castro.

[Oversea Visitor]

3. And how will it be recorded in HISTORY

By what laws is executetion justified.
By what method has their guilt being judge.
And on what crime has they being charge with that justified the taking of their life?

[wordpix2]

34. if we have a history---will all life vanish after this nuclear arms race?

and threat to world stability, shitty as it is

[MGKrebs]

4. Does that mean they are trying to sanction killing people?

I suppose if it works it would be a piece of evidence at the crimes against humanity trial.

[Skip Intro]

5. Oh, make 'em public exections. That's the path we're on anyway.

What better place to start?

"Kill some "terrorists" and get some votes - you'll have 'em cheering the execution of their neighbors before you know it" - advice from a traitor to a mad ruler, on the final dismantling of a nation.

You just know its coming.

---

[Thor_MN]

58. Raise $100K for the GOP and get to push the button....

[LynnTheDem]

6. America's own gulag.

Enabling Act...Gitmo...

Fire at the Reichstag! Fire at the Reichstag!

[redirish28]

8. US may use Guantanamo for military executions

My wife Found this Early this morning on CNN.Com via or Netscape home page. Article reads in part.


WASHINGTON (AFP) - New US military rules mean that executions of condemned "war on terror" detainees could be carried out at the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, the US Army said.

The new rules authorize the army to set the location for executions "imposed by military courts-martial or military tribunals and authorized by the president of the United States."

"Enemy combatants could be affected by this regulation," said Sheldon Smith, a spokesman for the US Army.

Only 10 war-on-terror detainees have so far been charged and referred to special military commissions for trial, and the United States is not seeking the death penalty in any of those cases.



America has just crossed the line.

[liberal N proud]

9. Get them off US Soil and then the laws don't apply?

[FreedomAngel82]

12. What are they hiding?

[wordpix2]

52. The secret CIA prisons, for one thing. Open them up for the world to see,

CRIMINALS!

[seleff]

59. Maybe alot of former "assets"

Ever since this whole thing with Gitmo went down, alot of stuff didn't seem to make sense to me except to think that some of the mujahadin in Afganistan had stories to tell about US Military activities durign Soviet times that some folks wanted to make sure was never heard. And maybe not just from there. If you wanted to shut up former intelligence assets and you wanted to get info to round up people you would have a hard time finding, then Gitmo makes sense. No trials, just make folks eventually disappear like in Chile or Argentina. This stuff makes me sick.

[JohnnyRingo]

22. Though "Gonzo" will declare it perfectly legal

They'll only do it in Cuba to avoid EPA regulations.

[wordpix2]

53. Gonzo, that good little Hispanic water boy for BushCo. Such a good stooge

Dangerous, too

[FreedomAngel82]

10. This doesn't make sense

The end says that so far only ten detainees have been charged and going to trial but they're not seeking the death penalty on these cases. So what the heck is going on? This sounds like another lie.

[redirish28]

14. That's just it... They are not seeking it just now BUT LATER

What if all of sudden after the I doted and T's crossed on this new ruling allows them to issue the death penalty on those NOT CHARGE WITH IT YET...

[wordpix2]

54. the Nazis started slowly, too, a synagogue here, a killing there

[Demeter]

11. This Nonsense Has Gone Far Enough

There aren't enough war crimes on their souls, they have to add crimes against humanity?

Lucifer has started excavating 3 more circles in Hell for these idiots.

[fasttense]

13. Now instead of just torturing them, we are going to execute them.

I'm so proud to be an American.:sarcasm: I hope they know not to use circular firing squads. The bushites are so incompetent they may not have considered this. God help the poor soldiers who are ordered to do the executions. If I was told to do it, I would refuse. But, I guess they could always outsource it and get a contractor to do it. At least that way we would have fewer soldiers coming home and blowing their brains out over the atrocities they have committed.

I don't know of anyone who joins the military knowing they will torture and execute prisoners of war. Will the Army be using it in their recruiting ads?

[SammyWinstonJack]

61. !

:patriot: :puke:

[hlthe2b]

15. Secret Executions?

Since they don't want to identify who is there.... why would we think they would reveal when they have executed someone. How can we ever be thought to be moral again?

[radwriter0555]

16. Let the Auschwitz BEGIN!

It was just a matter of time, wasn't it?

[izzie]

17. Zealots do not run thing at all well.

I guess I have to say I am glad I will not be around long at my age. What a group of evil people we have running our country. If they are thinking what could they be thinking?

[maxrandb]

18. I'm a Liberal Dem Active Duty Military Member

should I be concerned??

[redirish28]

19. Not concerned of being executed, concerned of

being told you have to pull the trigger

[izzie]

21. Well you should give some thought what your govt. is doing.

I frankly do not wish to live under the ways of the Defense dept. any more than I think the Quakers can make their ways work for all.

[wordpix2]

37. Active Duty Member: What Bush does to them, they will do to YOU

[0007]

20. Who thinks up these ideas?

Here's how they done it in Afghanistan

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article3267.htm

[redirish28]

23. neo nazi right wing sob's who are in power and know they...

won't lose the power they currently hold.

[wordpix2]

36. BushCo is behind this, too. "Enemy combatants" are not POWs, in *world

[Marie26]

45. Right

The US Constitution doesn't apply, but the Geneva Convention for POWs doesn't apply either. Convenient, huh? "Enemy combatants" have absolutely no legal protection.

[Marie26]

43. Sickening

So "enemy combatants" can be executed too? Those same "enemy combatants" that we can hold indefinately w/o trial, and deny the right to an attorney? We've basically just approved executions without trial.

[wordpix2]

50. "Under the regs, only the pres has the power," with sec of army approving

the location. God, this is awful, what has our nation come to?

snip:

Under the regulations, only the president has the power to approve and order an execution.

The secretary of the army then approves the location for the execution. The secretary must set a date for it within 60 days of the president's order.

If there is a stay of execution, it would be conducted 14 to 30 days after the stay is lifted.

The regulations stipulate that executions must be carried out by lethal injection administered by medical personnel or other persons who are qualified to administer intravenous injections.

Media interviews with the condemned prisoner are forbidden.

[soothsayer]

24. Super---no charges, no lawyers, just a kangaroo death court

Nice.

[wordpix2]

41. our Constitution and Geneva Convention don't apply because

Chimp in Chief King George II and his cronies say it's so

[Judi Lynn]

25. Kick!

:kick: :kick: :kick:

[Clara T]

26. New US Army code hints executions at Guantanamo

New US Army code hints executions at Guantanamo
www.chinaview.cn 2006-01-25 04:19:00


    WASHINGTON, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Convicted detainees in "war on terror" could be executed at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo, Cuba, according to a new code adopted by the U.S. Army, the U.S. military suggested Tuesday.

    The new rules authorize the army to set the location for executions "imposed by military courts-martial or military tribunals and authorized by the president of the United States," according to Sheldon Smith, a U.S. Army spokesman.

    "Enemy combatants could be affected by this regulation," he said.
    The new regulations were announced in an order signed by U.S. Army Chief of Staff Peter Schoomaker on Jan. 17, which allow military executions to be conducted at locations other than Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, previously the only authorized site for such executions.

<snip>

    U.S. analysts said they do not see any imminent military executions, and the new regulations are probably aimed to facilitate capital punishment ruled by the military tribunals in Guantanamo. Enditem

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-01/25/content_4095623.htm
 

[LynnTheDem]

27. Whatcha call it when a MILITARY tries and EXECUTES CIVILIANS?

Hint: It ain't a democracy.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

28. Will the families of the executed even know they have been killed?

Will they have a chance to claim the bodies? Would the US stand for any country to do this to our citizens?

[Mnemosyne]

32. They don't even have to tell

anyone they have taken us now. They don't have to show us their *evidence*. They don't have to give us a trial.

No one will know unless someone speaks up. And we know how whistle blowers are being treated.

This is not good in any way, in any dimension.

In peace,
V

[wordpix2]

42. Chimpy won't release the docs re: Katrina, why would he release info about

the U.S. killling "enemy combatants," a.k.a. prisoners of war.

[cornermouse]

29. Numb. I think I'm finally numb.

[mike_c]

30. let's just wipe our asses with the Geneva Conventions, huh...?

The Bush admin uses the "time of war" argument when it's convenient, but if this is a "war" that can justify, say, electronic surveillance of Americans, then why aren't the "detainees" POWs?

Article 87

Prisoners of war may not be sentenced by the military authorities and courts of the Detaining Power to any penalties except those provided for in respect of members of the armed forces of the said Power who have committed the same acts.

When fixing the penalty, the courts or authorities of the Detaining Power shall take into consideration, to the widest extent possible, the fact that the accused, not being a national of the Detaining Power, is not bound to it by any duty of allegiance, and that he is in its power as the result of circumstances independent of his own will. The said courts or authorities shall be at liberty to reduce the penalty provided for the violation of which the prisoner of war is accused, and shall therefore not be bound to apply the minimum penalty prescribed.

Collective punishment for individual acts, corporal punishments, imprisonment in premises without daylight and, in general, any form of torture or cruelty, are forbidden.

No prisoner of war may be deprived of his rank by the Detaining Power, or prevented from wearing his badges.

Article 88

Officers, non-commissioned officers and men who are prisoners of war undergoing a disciplinary or judicial punishment, shall not be subjected to more severe treatment than that applied in respect of the same punishment to members of the armed forces of the Detaining Power of equivalent rank.

A woman prisoner of war shall not be awarded or sentenced to a punishment more severe, or treated whilst undergoing punishment more severely, than a woman member of the armed forces of the Detaining Power dealt with for a similar offence.

In no case may a woman prisoner of war be awarded or sentenced to a punishment more severe, or treated whilst undergoing punishment more severely, than a male member of the armed forces of the Detaining Power dealt with for a similar offence.

Prisoners of war who have served disciplinary or judicial sentences may not be treated differently from other prisoners of war.

<snip>

Article 99

No prisoner of war may be tried or sentenced for an act which is not forbidden by the law of the Detaining Power or by international law, in force at the time the said act was committed.

No moral or physical coercion may be exerted on a prisoner of war in order to induce him to admit himself guilty of the act of which he is accused.

No prisoner of war may be convicted without having had an opportunity to present his defence and the assistance of a qualified advocate or counsel.

Article 100

Prisoners of war and the Protecting Powers shall be informed as soon as possible of the offences which are punishable by the death sentence under the laws of the Detaining Power.

Other offences shall not thereafter be made punishable by the death penalty without the concurrence of the Power upon which the prisoners of war depend.

The death sentence cannot be pronounced on a prisoner of war unless the attention of the court has, in accordance with Article 87, second paragraph, been particularly called to the fact that since the accused is not a national of the Detaining Power, he is not bound to it by any duty of allegiance, and that he is in its power as the result of circumstances independent of his own will.

Article 101

If the death penalty is pronounced on a prisoner of war, the sentence shall not be executed before the expiration of a period of at least six months from the date when the Protecting Power receives, at an indicated address, the detailed communication provided for in Article 107.

Article 102

A prisoner of war can be validly sentenced only if the sentence has been pronounced by the same courts according to the same procedure as in the case of members of the armed forces of the Detaining Power, and if, furthermore, the provisions of the present Chapter have been observed.

Article 103

Judicial investigations relating to a prisoner of war shall be conducted as rapidly as circumstances permit and so that his trial shall take place as soon as possible. A prisoner of war shall not be confined while awaiting trial unless a member of the armed forces of the Detaining Power would be so confined if he were accused of a similar offence, or if it is essential to do so in the interests of national security. In no circumstances shall this confinement exceed three months.

Any period spent by a prisoner of war in confinement awaiting trial shall be deducted from any sentence of imprisonment passed upon him and taken into account in fixing any penalty.

The provisions of Articles 97 and 98 of this Chapter shall apply to a prisoner of war whilst in confinement awaiting trial.

Quaint, huh?

[wordpix2]

44. wipe it with the Constitution, too

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

31. This means it has already happened

I bet.

[wordpix2]

46. order signed 1/17/06, supposedly not imminent--but my trust is low level

snip:
The order signed on January 17 by General Peter Schoomaker, the army chief of staff, said the changes were a "major revision" of the regulations, which applied to all the services, not just the army.

The regulations were last revised in 1999.

The last time the military executed a prisoner was April 19, 1961, when it put to death one John A. Bennet for rape and attempted murder.

Death penalty opponents said the measure appeared to be a "technical adjustment".

"I don't think there is anything imminent but eventually there might be," Richard Deiter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Centre in Washington, said.

[alfredo]

35. A few years ago, didn't they award a contract to build a

death chamber at Gitmo?

[Lars39]

38. I know they were talking about wanting a crematorium built.

frickin' nazis.

[wordpix2]

47. Do you have a link? Who floated THAT trial balloon?

[Lars39]

60. It was in a mainstream article several years ago.

I'll try to find it in my DU bookmarks.

[alfredo]

57. Nice lampshade.

[Marie26]

55. Let me guess.... Halliburton? n/t

[Marie26]

40. What about the secret CIA prisons no one talks about?

Are military executions permitted there? Would we even know if they were? Think about it for a second. People (rightly) condemn the Germans during WWII for ignoring the concentration camps. But right now, our government is operating secret prisons in Europe, w/o any legal oversight or international observors. People could be executed there, and nobody would ever know. How different are we, really?

[wordpix2]

48. that is bad, very bad, too. We just HAVE to IMPEACH them SOON

[Marie26]

49. We really really do

I'm starting to panic a little now. They're getting more brazen & reckless every day. It's almost like Bush & Co. are deliberately pushing the boundaries to see how far they can go.

[wordpix2]

51. KICK FOR IMPEACHMENT!!

We MUST to save the nation, the world and ourselves. I know that sounds alarmist but I am ALARMED. :scared:

[Placebo]

56. Kill them before they can be released and talk.

I'm sure Bush would like to execute some members of congress too. Oh wait, he already has. *cough*PaulWellstone*cough*

[The Stranger]

62. Murder.

No other word for it -- the extrajudicial, premeditated killing of an innocent human being.

[Canuckistanian]

63. "war on terror detainees"? That's a new one.

Whatever happened to the "unlawful combatants"?

I need a program to keep track of all these evildoer categories.

[Marie26]

64. They decided that term wasn't scary enough.

I think they should just go ahead and officially label detainees "evildoers" - that's basically what they're doing anyway.

[bleedingheart]

65. I predicted that it would come to this...

I told my coworker that when the US started to torture people and detain them, that if the truly unspeakable acts that we suspect were happening were actually happening...that the US would soon legalize the murder of all detainees.

There was no way they would let out of prison innocent people who they tortured...those individuals would want revenge...and now they are doing what I said they would....they are going to guarantee that very few if any are ever released.

We are becoming the Nazis...it is very frightening.

[Marie26]

66. kick

:kick:

[Supersedeas]

67. rules do not apply to this Administration