In a most serious indictment of the Bush adminsitration, the US Supreme Court today blocked the trial of Guantanamo Bay prisoners in special military courts, ruling that the process drawn up by the Bush Administration broke both American law and the Geneva Conventions.
This judgement may expose the Bush administration to the charges of “war crimes”. The US Supreme Court has merely confirmed what many others the world over have been saying for months regarding the blatant violation of national and international laws in the garb of “war against terrorism”.
Says The Times of London: “In a blow to the executive powers of President Bush, America’s highest court decided that the first 10 military tribunals of Guantanamo detainees – originally scheduled for later this year – will not go ahead.”
The court’s ruling says nothing about whether the prison should be shut, dealing solely with the proposed trials.
The “structure and procedures” of the proposed military commission violated international laws governing the treatment of prisoners of war, it said, essentially, that prisoners should not be tried by their military adversaries.
“Trial by military commission raises separation-of-powers concerns of the highest order,” wrote Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens in the majority decision. The court ruled against the White House by a narrow margin of 5-3.
The ruling raises major questions about the legal status of the approximately 450 men still being held at the US military prison in Cuba and exactly how, when and where the administration might pursue the charges against them.
It also seems likely to further fuel international criticism of the administration, including by many US allies, for its treatment of detainees at Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib in Iraq and elsewhere.
The Globe and Mail states: “Civil liberties groups that have said the military tribunals were wrong and demanded the closing of Guantanamo, hailed the 5-3 ruling by the Supreme Court.
“Today’s decision is a victory for the rule of law in the United States,” said American Civil Liberties Union Executive Director Anthony D. Romero.
“The prison at Guantanamo Bay, first established in the months after the Sept. 11, 2001, suicide hijackings that destroyed New York’s twin towers and damaged the Pentagon, has been a flash point for international criticism.
“Hundreds of people suspected of ties to al-Qaeda and the Taliban – including some teenagers – have been swept up by the U.S. military and secretly shipped there since 2002.”
Swaraaj Chauhan describes his two-decade-long stint as a full-time journalist as eventful, purposeful, and full of joy and excitement. In 1993 he could foresee a different work culture appearing on the horizon, and decided to devote full time to teaching journalism (also, partly, with a desire to give back to the community from where he had enriched himself so much.)
Alongside, he worked for about a year in 1993 for the US State Department’s SPAN magazine, a nearly five-decade-old art and culture monthly magazine promoting US-India relations. It gave him an excellent opportunity to learn about things American, plus the pleasure of playing tennis in the lavish American embassy compound in the heart of New Delhi.
In !995 he joined WWF-India as a full-time media and environment education consultant and worked there for five years travelling a great deal, including to Husum in Germany as a part of the international team to formulate WWF’s Eco-tourism policy.
He taught journalism to honors students in a college affiliated to the University of Delhi, as also at the prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication where he lectured on “Development Journalism” to mid-career journalists/Information officers from the SAARC, African, East European and Latin American countries, for eight years.
In 2004 the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST) selected him as a Trainer/Mentor for India under a European Union project. In 2008/09 He completed another European Union-funded project for the BBC WST related to Disaster Management and media coverage in two eastern States in India — West Bengal and Orissa.
Last year, he spent a couple of months in Australia and enjoyed trekking, and also taught for a while at the University of South Australia.
Recently, he was appointed as a Member of the Board of Studies at Chitkara University in Chandigarh, a beautiful city in North India designed by the famous Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier. He also teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students there.
He loves trekking, especially in the hills, and never misses an opportunity to play a game of tennis. The Western and Indian classical music are always within his reach for instant relaxation.
And last, but not least, is his firm belief in the power of the positive thought to heal oneself and others.