by TChris

Don't fret about military tribunals for foreigners accused of aiding and abetting terrorism. Sure, there's no appeal from a tribunal's verdict, and the government gets to listen in when the suspects are eventually given access to lawyers, but not to worry. Foreigners facing the death penalty don't need a full panoply of rights (or any at all, really) because the USA is always fair.

Right. Why should we believe this? Because Donald Rumsfeld says so.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Thursday dismissed criticism of Pentagon's rules for planned trials of foreign terrorism suspects before U.S. military tribunals and said the proceedings will not be "a kangaroo court."

On the other hand, Rumsfeld thinks that it is "appropriate for the United States to hold foreign terrorism suspects at Guantanamo without charges or legal represenation." That sentiment tells us something about the Defense Secretary's understanding of due process.

Detainees from Yemen and Sudan, charged with conspiracy to commit war crimes, will be the first Guantanamo prisoners to be tried before a military tribunal. It isn't clear when the last of the 640 prisoners will be tried, but Rumsfeld acknowledged that some may remain locked up for years.

While Rumsfeld considers it "irresponsible" to suggest that military tribunals are "kangaroo courts," critics say "the rules are rigged to produce convictions, compel guilty pleas, and make it as easy as possible to win the death penalty."

Critics say hearsay evidence and coerced confessions could be admissible under the rules. Even the military lawyers assigned by the Pentagon to represent Guantanamo prisoners during the trials have called the rules fundamentally unfair and hopelessly antiquated, ignoring decades of legal advances since World War II.