This is a duplication of AMR 51/175/2002. It was necessary to produce it as
a separate document for the purpose of adding it to the web.
PUBLIC
AI Index: AMR 51/172/2001
UA 297/01
Fear of unfair trials / Death penalty
27 November 2001
USA (Federal)
Zacarias Moussaoui, aged 33, French national
and/or others, numbers and identities as yet unknown
President George W. Bush signed a Military Order on 13 November which allows
for non-US citizens suspected of involvement in “international terrorism” to
be tried by special military commissions. These could operate in secret, would
have the power to pass death sentences, and their decisions could not be appealed
to any other court. Amnesty International has called for the Order to be revoked,
but fears that special military commissions may be set up at any time.
The Military Order casts a wide net, covering any foreign national whom the
President determines is or has been a member of Al-Qa’ida, the network headed
by Osama bin Laden, or any foreign national who has “engaged in, aided or abetted,
or conspired to commit, acts of international terrorism” detrimental to the
USA, or “knowingly harbored” such an individual. The Order flouts the principle
that the powers of the executive should be separate from those of the judiciary:
it gives unfettered and unchallengeable discretionary power to President Bush
and other members of the executive to decide who will be prosecuted, and to
determine the rules of evidence and proof that will apply.
The Military Order expressly bypasses established principles of law and evidence
applied in the trials of people charged with criminal offences in US Courts.
It also circumvents the fair trial protections that operate in US military
courts under the USA’s Uniform Code of Military Justice. Under the Military
Order, conviction and sentence will be determined by a two-thirds majority
of the members of the special military commission. President Bush will review
the commission’s decision, and will make the final decision on each case; he
may designate the Secretary of Defense to do this in his place. In violation
of international law, the commissions’ decisions cannot be appealed to a higher
court, and the people they try cannot seek redress in any court anywhere in
the world for any human rights violations they suffer during arrest, detention
or prosecution.
On 22 November it was reported that some US government officials had recommended
that Zacarias Moussaoui be tried before a special military commission.
Moussaoui, a French national of Moroccan origin, was arrested in Minneapolis
on 17 August and has been held since without charge as a “material witness”
in the investigations into the 11 September attacks on New York and Washington,
in which at least 2,900 people died.
Any foreign nationals taken into custody in the USA as suspects in the post-11
September investigations could be tried before such a tribunal. So too could
any alleged Al-Qa’ida members captured by US forces or their allies in the
current conflict in Afghanistan. According to the Military Order, the military
commissions can “sit at any time and any place” as determined by the Secretary
of Defense.
On 22 November, the Washington Post reported that some 360 suspects with alleged
connections to Al-Qa’ida had been arrested in 50 countries at the behest of
the US authorities. According to the report, the detainees include “more than
100 in Europe, more than 100 in the Near East, 30 in Latin America and 20 in
Africa”. On 23 November, it was reported that Spain would refuse to extradite
eight alleged Al-Qa’ida members to the USA while there was a risk that they
would face the death penalty or be tried by the special military commissions
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proposed by President Bush. Amnesty International fears that not all governments
will adopt such a principled position if the USA seeks custody of people detained
abroad.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Amnesty International has condemned the atrocities perpetrated in New York
and Washington on 11 September, and has called for anyone involved to be brought
to justice in accordance with internationally recognized standards for fair
trial and without recourse to the death penalty. In bypassing international
fair trial standards, the Military Order contravenes US obligations under
international law, specifically the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights, ratified by the USA in 1992. Certain fundamental principles
must be respected at all times, even in time of emergency, including the right
of appeal.
Amnesty International calls for suspects in US custody to be given a fair and
public trial, before an impartial court, without recourse to the death penalty.
Amnesty International would oppose any person being tried before the special
military commissions proposed in the Military Order of 13 November, and would
oppose the sending by any other country of anyone to face the death penalty
or trial before such tribunals (see USA: Presidential order on military
tribunals threatens fundamental principles of justice, AMR 51/165/2001, 15
November).
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in
your own words, in English or your own language. (You may raise the case of
Zacarias Moussaoui as part of your concern):
- condemning the 11 September atrocities, and urging that anyone in US custody
alleged to have been involved in these crimes be tried in accordance with
international standards for a fair trial and without recourse to the death
penalty;
- calling for the Military Order of 13 November to be revoked, on the grounds
that it bypasses fundamental principles of justice, including the right of
appeal to a higher court, a right which cannot be suspended even in time of
emergency;
- urging that no-one be brought before the special military commissions;
- stating that the Military Order erodes international cooperative efforts,
citing Spain’s reported refusal to send any suspects to face such trials;
- arguing that any such trial would undermine confidence in the search for
justice for the victims of the 11 September attacks and their families.
APPEALS TO:
George W. Bush, The President
The White House, Office of the President
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington DC 20500, USA
Fax:
+1 202 456 2461
Salutation: Dear Mr President
COPIES TO:
The Honourable Colin Powell, Secretary of State
2201 C Street, N.W., Washington DC 20520, USA
Fax:
+1 202 261 8577
The Honourable Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense,
The White House, Washington DC 20310, USA
Fax:
+1 703 697 9080
The Honourable John Ashcroft, Attorney General, Department of Justice,
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington DC 20530, USA
Fax:
+1 202 307 6777
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and to diplomatic representatives of the USA accredited to your country.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat,
or your section office, if sending appeals after 15 January 2002.