Miami Herald

Losing the moral high ground in terror war

Our opinion: lack of transparency hurts U.S. goals, image

The Pentagon’s latest move to close status-review hearings of ‘‘enemy combatants’’ is in keeping with its make-it-up-as-you-go approach to handling detainees at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. Such callous maneuvers are flawed, and they have been so from the beginning.

The hearings that started Friday are supposed to determine if 14 high-profile terror suspects are ‘‘enemy combatants.’’ The Pentagon says that secrecy is necessary to protect classified information, and so it is reversing previous policy to allow some aspects of the hearings public. This is a mistake. Conducting the hearings entirely in secret undermines their credibility at a time when America’s actions are viewed with suspicion and disbelief around the world.

Only a censored transcript?

The hearings were created after the U.S. Supreme Court said that ‘‘enemy combatants’’ should have a chance to challenge their indefinite detention. When the tribunals began in 2004, the Pentagon invited reporters and bragged about the transparency of the process.

Now that Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, and other ‘‘high-value’’ captives are to face the same process, the Pentagon has changed the rules to exclude the public, citing national-security concerns. It will release only a censored transcript. But the change only increases suspicion. These are cases where transparency would demonstrate America’s ability to live up to its rhetoric and ideals.

Moreover, information about who organized the 9/11 attacks should not be withheld from Americans who, after all, were greatly affected by the 9/11 terror strikes. Citizens expect an open process. They should be able to consider the merits of the ‘‘enemy combatant’’ designation.

There are other shortcomings of the tribunals. A three-officer panel decides if the prisoner is an ‘‘enemy combatant’’ under extremely broad criteria. The panel considers secret evidence that neither the captive nor the media is allowed to see. Moreover, no lawyer is present to speak for the prisoner, and the panel’s rulings are secret, too.

Critics say that it isn’t the release of classified information, but evidence that the suspects have been tortured and mistreated, including use of water-boarding, that the government fears. Why not use procedures similar to those already established for handling classified information in U.S. courts?

How can a hearing be fair if the accused doesn’t have a lawyer, isn’t allowed to see the evidence against him and is being judged by his own jailers, the U.S. military? How reliable is evidence if it is obtained through torture or coercion? How transparent are procedures when there is no public scrutiny?

The manner in which the Guantánamo tribunals are being conducted would be unbelievable, if they weren’t actually happening. Yet the stakes are too high and the cost too great to ignore the tribunals. Even so, the U.S. government disregards international laws and American values. Actions like these have alienated U.S. allies and eroded our moral standing. This is the way to lose the moral high ground in the war on terror.

Reproduced courtesy of the Miami Herald.
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