Also in Politics & Social Justice

Guantánamo

What the World Should Know

by Michael Ratner, Ellen Ray

Including "A President Beyond the Law" by Anthony Lewis

Excerpt

“The Supreme Court is now considering whether the prisoners can use American courts to challenge their designation as unlawful. The administration’s brief could not be blunter in its argument that the president is the law on this issue: “The president, in his capacity as commander in chief, has conclusively determined that the Guantánamo detainees . . . are not entitled to prisoner-of-war status under the Geneva Convention.”

The violation of the Geneva Convention and that refusal to let the courts consider the issue have cost the United States dearly in the world legal community--the judges and lawyers in societies that, historically, have looked to the United States as the exemplar of a country committed to law. Lord Steyn, a judge on Britain’s highest court, condemned the administration’s position on Guantánamo in an address last fall--pointing out that American courts would refuse even to hear claims of torture from prisoners. At the time, the idea of torture at Guantánamo seemed far-fetched to me. After the disclosures of the last 10 days, can we be sure?”