Lawyers Seek Due Process for American Citizen Detained in Iraq
by TChris
Shawqi Ahmad Omar, an American citizen, has been detained in Iraq for more than a year. No charges have been filed, and he's had no access to a lawyer. His wife says he traveled to Iraq to seek construction contracts, while the military insists that Omar was harboring insurgents and plotting against the interests of the United States.
If Omar is placed on trial for treason, with counsel and an opportunity to confront his accusers, the truth might come out. The Bush administration has an aversion to the truth, and to due process; it prefers to hold Omar without being bothered to prove that he assisted insurgents.
Lawyers assisting Omar's wife have asked a federal court to protect Omar's rights, but the Justice Department argues that Omar has no rights. Besides, the Department contends, Omar isn't in American military custody. Rather, he's being held by the "Multi-National Force" -- the infamous "coalition of the willing." Omar's lawyers argue that the U.S. military is playing a shell game to thwart federal court jurisdiction.
While there are, in fact, other nations represented in the military coalition in Iraq, the detention system run by the military in Baghdad is widely regarded as an essentially American-led system. General Gardner has been described regularly in news reports as commander of the American-managed detention system in Iraq.
Omar's lawyers worry that the military will carry out its plan to hand Omar over to the Iraqi government (such as it is) to deprive American courts of jurisdiction. They've asked Judge Ricardo Urbina to block Omar's transfer to Iraqi custody.
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