UNIVERSITY of LIMERICK IRELAND
LLM in European &
Comparative Law LLM/MA
in Human Rights in Criminal Justice
LLM
in International Commercial Law
Structured Phd in Criminal Justice
School of LawUniversity of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland
T: + 353 61 202344 E:
lawinfo@ul.ie http://www.law.ul.ie/
Court Watch
mined that Iraq’s criminalization of terrorist and in- surgent activities does not prevent other countries from utilize the Fourth Geneva Convention and federal law to criminalize those same acts.
Only a few other foreign nationals have been pros- ecuted in the United States for alleged terrorism offenses in a territory occupied by the US during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Congress has imposed restrictions that bar the transfer of Guan- tanamo Bay detainees to the United States. The issue of whether or not these alleged terrorists should be tried in U.S. civilian courts has gener- ated much controversy. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has strongly advocated for prosecuting ter- ror suspects in federal civilian courts. In his speech at the American Constitution Society’s national convention, he declared that “our most effective terror fighting weapon is our Article III court sys- tem.” However, Holder is not supported by many members of Congress.
Senate Minority Leader, Mitch McConnell of Ken- tucky, argues that trying terror suspects in civilian courts harms national security. Senator McConnell and others argue that Alwan and Hammadi should be moved from Kentucky to the Guantanamo Bay military detention facility and tried in military court, not federal court, because these terror suspects do not deserve Bill of Rights protections granted to civilian defendants. McConnell fears for national security because if these terror suspects are not found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, he be- lieves they will plot attacks against Americans here and abroad.
There is great international pressure on the United States to try alleged terrorists in civilian courts in- stead of military tribunals. Martin Scheinin, the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protec- tion of human rights while countering terrorism at the time, urged the Obama administration to try suspected terrorists in civilian courts because the “military commissions system is fatally flawed and cannot be reformed.”
ILSA Quarterly » volume 20 » issue 2 » December 2011
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