October 19 Commission Session #9: Statement by Defense Attorneys

PRESIDENT OBAMA RESTATES DESIRE TO CLOSE GUANTANAMO--FIRST WEEK OF HEARINGS IN 9/11 CASES HIGHLIGHTS GRAVE SHORTCOMINGS OF MILITARY COMMISSIONS Guantanamo Bay, Cuba - Last night on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, President Obama restated his desire to close Guantanamo Bay as a detention facility. David Nevin, counsel to Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, reacted to the President's comments, "The President knows America can do better than these show trials. They are unfair, unsettled, unknown, unbounded, unnecessary, and un-American." The first week of hearings in the 9/11 hearings addressed several judicial ambiguities and disparities of the Military Commission system established for Guantanamo detainees.   These proceedings represent a drastic break from rule of law standards that govern both the Military and American system of law. Nevin explained, "This week's hearings highlighted just a few of the extreme problems the U.S. Government has created, which make it impossible for Americans, and the world, to view these new and untested tribunals as legitimate." The defense argued motions asking the court to: *       Ensure the Constitution applies to the proceedings, a fact disputed by the prosecution, which said in court, "there should not be a generalized pronouncement" that the Constitution applies in Guantanamo. *       Create a level playing field for access to witnesses and experts, where the defendant does not have to reveal their case to the prosecution in order to have a witness or expert provided. *       Remedy a government policy of "presumptive classification" that prohibits attorney-client communications and stands in the way of a transparent and open trial. *       Compel the government to clean hazardous and dangerous office space filled with mold, rodents and rat feces, causing ongoing illness of service members assigned to defend these cases.