International Human RightsExam 3Three Primary Questions for the War Against Terrorism?• What is the appropriate venue for trying terrorists?o Should it be international?o A criminal tribunal?o An American venue?• Which laws apply? Especially when we have a foreign national?o At one point, they had people from about 30 different countries• What rights do those accused terrorists have?o They do not have the same rights as a typical American criminal The Geneva Conventions ‘49• Came out of the second world war• Classic laws of war• Humanitarian Laws are the names for the laws of war • These have been universally accepted internationally• Four Geneva Conventionso The treatment of the military on land What rights do soldiers haveo Rights of the military on the high seas What rights to the navy haveo Rights of POWs o Rights of civilians• Common Article 3 – each one of these conventions have it o Lays down the basic human right protection for all four groups of peopleo The main things are: No torture No inhumane or degrading treatment o This has been at the heart of many of the debates with what to do with the suspected terrorists • Other basic mandates: what can you demand of a POW?o Their nameo Ranko Serial number o (they only have to give their identity and in fact show that they are soldiers, in other words combatant status)o How ever when we detain suspected terrorist, don’t we need to acquire more information?Global War Against Terrorism• This is a very new kind of war• Engaged against people who have no sense or respect for the laws of warPage 1 of 16International Human RightsExam 3• 2002 – invade Afghanistan • Once we encounter these suspected terrorist? What do we do with them?Guantanamo Bay – 1898o Teddy Ro. Sign an indefinite lease with Cuban to rent Guantanamo Bay ($4000)o It can only be terminated if both parties agreeo People kept there do not get the protection of the criminal law o They are not on US soil so they do not get the traditional criminal safe guards o LEGAL LIMBO --- CONTROL BUT NOT ACCOUNTABILITY (gap in the law)o Bush created a new term for the people being held there: an unlawful enemy combatant They aren’t soldiers and they aren’t really civilianso Unlawful enemy combatant are not covered by the Geneva Convention o What they could do in GB to an unlawful enemy combatant? Detain them indefinitely Interrogated endlessly Did not need to charge them with any kind of crime No legal rights to challenge their detention• This implicates habeus corpus – considered the most fundamental human righto The right to challenge you detention when a government detains youo “The Great Write” (British and American)• they are not even legally allowed to go into court and object to their detentiono 2002 – 500 people in GB, most were bad apple but there were also people who had been captured This included 14 and 15 year olds Sometimes they would give rewards for tribes to turn in terrorist from other tribes – so sometimes people would use this for their vendettas Some people were completely innocent and some were clearly terrorists• Rasul (2004)o 10 foreigners, 8 from Kuwait, 2 from Australiao They claimed they were being illegally held o First time they look at the GB policyo Court says: For all practical purposes, GB is US property President does have the right to detain suspected terrorists But even foreigners have the right to claim habeus corpus (cannot just be put into this legal limbo)• Hamdi (2004)o Saudi,o Detained on a battlefield o Sent to GB and they find out that he is a US citizeno He is charged as an unlawful combatanto They sent him to a navy brige in Colombia, SC (along with Jose Padi)o What rights does a US citizen have if they are accused of thiso What the court says: The president has the right to even detain a US citizenPage 2 of 16International Human RightsExam 3 But the citizen has the right to habeus corpus You cannot detain someone (us citizen) indefinitely to interrogate them A state of war is not a blank check for the president when it comes to the rights of US citizens• Hamdan (2006)o He was the body guard and personal driver for Osama Bin Laden o He raises a claim that he is protected by the Geneva Conventiono Court says: The Geneva convention does apply to someone who is part of Al-Qaida if they are encountered in a war zone• Since 2006 o We have slowly been getting rid of peopleo Obama ordered for GB to be closedo Senate said GB must remain open o There are still 60 of them … they are the really bad apple … nobody wants to take the final 60 Refugee Law• Two laws that emergedo Human Rights Lawo Refugee Law Refugee Law• Millions of displaced people after the second world war • 1948, the state of Israel was founded • The world itself caused a lot of the casualties by not protecting the people who were trying to fleeo Example: Voyage of the Damned (St. Louis) 900 German Jewish refugees They all had visas that had been accepted by Cuba • During this voyage, the Cuban government changed and they would not allow them into their country They then went to Miami and they were turned away too FDR thought that if we admitted these 900 that more would pour into our shores • Tried in various ports of the US They went back to Europe to places like Holland, France These were places that were ultimately taken over by Hitler and most of them were killed in concentration camps• What are the obligations of the world for these refugees What Lead to Refugee LawPage 3 of 16International Human RightsExam 3• Holocaust• Berlin Wallo Iron Curtain – the line that divided free countries in the west from communist countries in the east West: France, Italy, West Germany East: Poland, Romania, East Germany• They lived without democracy until 1989 • Thousands of them were killed trying to escape to the west o The international community realized that they needed to do something o They realized: the world must protect refugees1951 Refugee Convention• A convention is binding international law• Countries that signed this:o Pledged to not return refugees to a country where their lives or liberty would not be at risk Nonrefoulement -- called the corner stone of refugee law • Offers a definition of what Refugee is• Refugee – a person who is outside of their home country and who fears
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