In the United States we live by an important principle of due process. The 5th and the 14th Amendment to the Constitution contain the following phrase, … “[N]or shall any person . . . be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.”
One reason for the strength of the US judicial system is the presumption that a person is innocent of any crime until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt by a jury of his or her peers. If, for example, someone murders others in full view of dozens of witnesses, that person will still be given legal representation and be entitled to a trial by jury. Thankfully, we do not tolerate mob rule.
Based on a strong belief in this principle, especially a belief in the universal application of this principle, President Obama declared four years ago that he would eliminate the detentions of non-US nationals at Guantanamo Bay. Obama tried, but failed in this attempt. Guantanamo detentions continue four years later.
Perhaps even more concerning is the continuing use of unmanned drone airplanes to attack and kill suspected terrorists in other countries. I don’t know what the correct statistics are, but internet reports suggest that hundreds or thousands of foreign nationals have been killed by these drone attacks, many of them innocent civilians.
Clearly, none of these victims have been given the privilege of a trial. Instead, the targets have been found guilty by US intelligence specialists. None have been given the right to representation. And many have been innocent bystanders who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
The justification is that these are enemy combatants, … and yet these are not easily identified combatants as when armies face off against each other in great battles. The potential for error must be significantly higher than identifying traditional foreign combatants. And still both of these programs continue under a President who has explained that these actions are wrong.
Why does the President tolerate these actions? Has he changed his mind about the universal application of due process? Why?
Steve Suranovic is an Economics Professor at the George Washington University in Washington DC where he introduces students to the principles of microeconomics and international economics. His recent book is titled “A Moderate Compromise: Economic Policy Choice in an Era of Globalization” published by Palgrave-Macmillan.