Stone Cold Pimpin'

The illegal detention of prisoners at Camp X-Ray is an international shame and makes the U.S. look like a rogue state. Can any other country do anything about this? And why not?

Chicago Tribune: A chilling double standard turns U.S. into its own enemy
By Doug Cassel. Doug Cassel is director of the Center for International Human Rights of the Northwestern University School of Law
Published August 17, 2003

We would howl -- and rightly so.
Suppose the following American commandos are captured in North Korea. For 18 months they are held in small cages with no access to lawyers or courts, no charges, and denied prisoner-of-war status. Imagine our reaction when, at long last, North Korea announces that they may be put on 'trial' under the following conditions:
They will be tried by panels of North Korean military officers, hand-picked by Kim Jong Il's minister of defense, on whom their careers depend. Only one need be a lawyer.
Their trials may be closed on grounds of North Korean national security.
They will be defended by North Korean military lawyers.
They may request civilian lawyers, but only North Koreans, who must first be granted security clearances by the government.
They cannot be assured of private communications with their civilian lawyers; North Korea's military reserves the right to eavesdrop on their conversations.
Their civilian lawyers may be denied access to secret evidence against them and excluded from closed hearings.
Their civilian lawyers may not make any public statements about the case without military approval.
Their civilian lawyers may not discuss the case with other lawyers or outside consultants, may not leave the base without military permission, and may not request any delay to attend to other professional commitments.
They may be convicted and sentenced to death on the basis of evidence that would not be admitted in a court of law.
They may not ask any court to review the lawfulness of their detention or trial.
If convicted, they may not appeal to any court. They can appeal findings of fact against them only to Kim Jong Il or his minister of defense. They can appeal questions of law only to a second panel of military officers (only one of whom need have experience as a judge), and then, again, to Kim or his minister.
Even if they are found not guilty, North Korea reserves the right to imprison them indefinitely, until it deems America no longer a threat.
None of us would stand for such an outrage. Our State Department would denounce North Korea for violating human rights and minimum international standards for fair trials and due process of law.

Of all the evil to come out of the Bush Junta, this is the worst, but because prisoners on the whole are hard to care about (it requires a large shift in thinking), it goes pretty much without comment. It's easy to hold up a "Bring the Troops Home" sign, but how hard would it be to protest with "Give the Guatanamo Prisoners a Fair Trial" on a placard? Good luck.