The United States military said it would bring death penalty charges against Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and five others it claims were suspected of being involved in planning the 9/11 attacks on the United States. The trials will take place at Guantanamo Bay and be a military tribunal whose proceedings are only partially under the jurisdiction of civilian courts. there is speculation trials conducted under such conditions will lead to widespread outrage throughout the Muslim world. Some critics note the decision comes as America is preparing for a presidential election in which Senator John McCain is arguing about his fight against terrorism and by some strange coincidence trials involving terrorists will be taking place.
Vincent Warren of the Center for Constitutional Rights notes: “What we are looking at is a seeries of show trials by the Bush administrationthat are really devoid of any due process considerations. Rather than playing politics, the Bush administration should be seeking speedy and fair trials. these are trials that are going to be based on torture as confessions as well as secret evidence. There is no way this can be said to be fair especially as the death sentence could be an outcome.”
There is most probably sufficient evidence obtained by legal means to convict either one or all of these men for crimes, but the Bush administration, as always, must take the road of hypocrisy and illegality in order to achieve their end goals. Nations of the world which oppose the death penalty will be angered if such a verdict concludes the trials. If any evidence is admitted that was obtained due to use of torture, the entire Muslim world will only conclude the men were innocent and are being denied their rights to a fair trial.
