Judge: Detainee Can't Speak to Attorney

[cal04]

A suspected terrorist who spent years in a secret CIA prison is not allowed to speak to a civilian attorney until an appeals court decides what rights military detainees have, a federal judge said Friday.

The Justice Department argues that under a new anti-terrorism law, detainees have no right to challenge their imprisonment in civilian courts. Human rights groups argue that's unconstitutional.

Until the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia settles the question, legal challenges brought by hundreds of detainees remain in limbo.

(snip)
Attorneys who filed documents on his behalf said Khan needs access to a lawyer because he may have been tortured. The Justice Department objected, saying Khan could reveal details of the CIA program including interrogation techniques.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6222017,00.html

[aquart]

1. "Reveal details"...You mean tell how he was tortured?

But I thought it was all okay and legal....and, gosh, don't we want those pesky arabs to be scared of us?

[indepat]

2. The new Amurikkka mocking the land of the free and home of the brave

[Deep13]

3. What the hell is a detainee?

That term implies a very temporary detention for investigative purposes. It is also a criminal law concerpt, not a military one. People captured in war are prisoners of war, not detainees. Now that he mission is accomplished, they need to be exchanged or paroled.

[enough]

6. I think you are right to focus on the constant use of that word.

There's something about it that suggests the removal of the person from the usual structures and systems, yet it has no definite legal meaning. It prevalence of this word in our discourse is an example of how the entire society has been led to accept something without even thinking about it.

[nealmhughes]

4. They had a term for this in Ancien Regime France: lettre de cachet.

I thought that our shared Anglo-American common law and statute had done away with this sort of travesty.

[sinkingfeeling]

5. Guess they should have 'questioned' him some more...like until dead if they

don't want their 'interrogation techniques' outted.