WASHINGTON, Nov 15: The United States suspended its controversial military trials for ‘war on terror’ detainees on Tuesday after a ruling by a federal judge. Following the judge’s action on Monday, the Defence Department said it had postponed the first trial hearing of accused ‘Australian Taliban’ David Hicks, that was scheduled to start on Friday at the Guantanamo Bay naval base in Cuba.
Bryan Whitman, a Pentagon spokesman, said the trial would not begin, but the government has not decided whether to appeal the ruling by US District Judge Colleen Kollar Kotelly.
“This is something that happened last night. The government will obviously review the rulings of the court and make its decision from there,” he said.
Colleen Kotelly ruled that the Hicks trial be suspended ahead of an anticipated ruling by the US Supreme Court on the legality of the special military tribunals set up after the Sept 11, 2001, attacks.
Mr Whitman stressed that the ruling applied only to Mr Hicks, but no dates have been set for any other trials to start.
Ms Kotelly said the suspension would remain in effect ‘pending the issuance of a final and ultimate decision by the Supreme Court in that case’.
The Supreme Court has said it would give a ruling next year on the military trials, which have faced criticism at home and abroad.
Mr Hicks, 30, was the first of nine detainees to face trial by the special military commissions, which have been condemned by civil legal groups and even many of the military lawyers defending the detainees.
A convert to Islam who was captured in Afghanistan in late 2001, David Hicks faces charges of conspiracy to commit war crimes, attempted murder by an unprivileged belligerent and aiding the enemy. He has denied the charges.
Despite the Supreme Court intervention, the Pentagon had wanted Mr Hicks’ trial to proceed, while officials said they were aware that a court could order a suspension.
The Supreme Court said last week it would rule next year on the legality of the military commissions in response to a challenge by lawyers for another detainee, Saleh Ahmed Hamdan, a Yemeni.
There has been a series of court challenges to the tribunals.
A federal appeals court in July reaffirmed President George Bush’s authority to order trials of ‘war on terror’ detainees by the commissions in Mr Hamdan’s case.
Mr Hicks’ lawyers filed a petition in federal court last week seeking a stay of his trial pending the Supreme Court ruling.
The Pentagon brought war crimes charges against five more detainees a week ago, bringing to nine the number who face trial by military commission, on the same day that the Supreme Court said it would rule on the legality of the process.
Nearly 500 other detainees are being held without charge at the military-run prison at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba.
Most of the inmates were captured in Afghanistan and Pakistan after a US-led offensive toppled the Taliban government in Kabul in late 2001.
The United States has declared the detainees illegal enemy combatants who are not protected by the Geneva Conventions. —AFP
