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News :: Miscellaneous |
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by Joe Futrelle
(No verified email address) |
20 Apr 2002
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The U.S. is considering revising military tribunal rules so that suspected terrorists could be tried even if no evidence links them to war crimes. They could be charged simply with belonging to an organization accused of committing war crimes.
This is a horrific precedent, reminiscent of the McCarthy era. |
The U.S. is considering revising military tribunal rules so that suspected terrorists could be tried even if no evidence links them to war crimes. They could be charged simply with belonging to an organization accused of committing war crimes.
This is a horrific precedent, reminiscent of the McCarthy era.
The presumption of innocence is not simply an inconvenient barrier towards achieving political ends. It is a principle that ensures that justice is done in such a way as to withstand criticisms that it is politically motivated, unfair, and rigged. By discarding the presumption of innocence, we undermine the moral authority from which we claim to mete out justice, and threaten the freedom of all whose leaders look to us to set precedents. |
See also:
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/21/national/21TRIB.html
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