Early in the war on terror, George W. President Bush angered many civil rights groups by declaring that the prisoners taken and detained in Guantanamo Bay were “enemy combatants” and therefore not entitled to the rights afforded to official prisoners of war. As a result, hundreds of individuals were incarcerated, some going on three years, without being formally charged with a crime or allowed access to an attorney to aid in their defense.
According to The Washington Post, however, that may change soon since “U.S. District Judge James Robertson found that the detainees at the Navy Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, may be prisoners of war under the Geneva Conventions, and therefore entitled to the protections of international and military law-which the government has declined to give them.”
While this is a powerful blow against the government’s policies of secretly detaining suspects under the guise of national security, the ruling of Judge Robertson has already come under attack by the Bush administration, which “denounced the ruling as giving special rights to terrorists and announced that it will ask a higher court for an emergency stay and reversal of Robertson’s decision,” again according to the Post.
Following the scandal that arose from the abuse that was revealed in the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq this past spring and summer, you’d think that the Bush administration would be willing to accept the possibility that it had implemented poor policies concerning detainees and not argue the matter.
Perhaps allowing the detainees some of the fundamental rights of prisoners of war would help to salvage what little respect America has left in the international community. Sadly this is not the case, as the President said at many points during his bid for re-election. The public is aware of where he stands, and apparently he stands by his bad decisions.
This announcement coming so soon after winning re-election does not bode well for the next four years of Bush’s leadership. One of the marks of a good leader is a willingness to accept criticism and when necessary, admit when one is wrong. Bush is willing to do neither, and as a result America will continue to suffer in the eyes of the international community.
With no need to worry about re-election or offending his conservative base in another four years, the prudent thing for the President to do would have been to allow the ruling to stand, but instead he has decided to show just how little respect he has for the rule of law by running to another court to block a decision with which he doesn’t agree.
The “special rights” the Bush administration claims would be afforded to terrorists are no more special than the rights afforded to those accused of crimes in the United States, such as the right to know what the charges are and to have legal aid in preparing a defense. Perhaps the real fear of allowing the detainees access to such “special rights” stems from the knowledge that the evidence to back up whatever charges the government could bring is spurious at best.
I am not saying that the prisoners shouldn’t face any sort of trial; however, it is to the benefit of everyone if they are given a fair chance to defend themselves as they won’t be the only ones on trial. America will also be on trial, in the court of public opinion, and demonstrating that we give our enemies a fair trial will do much to help win back some of the positive feelings that were lost over the past four years.