AMNESTY International members in Swindon are this week speaking out against the show trials of Guantanamo detainees, due to start with the arraignment of Australian David Hicks.
The US Military Commissions are a complete travesty of justice. They lack any independence from the US Department of Defence and are clearly discriminatory, applying only to non-Americans. What's more, they will allow evidence to be heard that has been extracted under duress from illegal secret detention centres around the world.
Even if people are found not guilty by the commissions, they can still be held indefinitely as enemy combatants.
Amnesty's position has always been straightforward on this - if someone is suspected of committing a crime they should be given a fair trial. If they are found guilty, they should be punished.
Locking people up in island prison camps for five years, then putting them before unfair military trials is not justice. And is not the way to protect our society against terrorism.
E BUSHELL.
Swindon and Marlborough Amnesty International Group.
Swindon
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