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Changes to Military Tribunal Rules: Window Dressing

By Jeralyn, Section Terror Detainees
Posted on Wed Aug 31, 2005 at 08:47:35 PM EST
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The Administration announced insignificant changes Wednesday to the rules for military tribunals at Guantanamo. The two changes being touted:

...the presiding officer, a military lawyer, will now decide questions of law. The other members, who will no longer play a role in most such decisions, will decide questions of fact including guilt or innocence; the presiding officer will no longer have a vote in these matters.

Among other changes is one altering the wording of a rule that during the proceedings, defendants "may be present to the extent consistent with the need to protect classified information." The new wording says defendants "shall be present to the extent consistent ... ."

The changes that were needed but not made include:

Evidence that might have been obtained by coercion or even torture can still be admitted at the discretion of the presiding officer, who may also allow other evidence that would normally be excluded from civilian courts, including hearsay, if he believes it tends to prove a particular position.

Also, the Administration continues to prevent judicial review of the tribunal decisions.

As critics of the changes told Reuters, they are just window dressing.

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