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Pentagon releases military commissions manual

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] The US Department of Defense (DOD) on Tuesday released a manual for military commission procedures under the Military Commissions Act of 2009. The manual establishes the rules of evidence and procedure for the commissions, allowing for the admission of certain hearsay evidence and defining "material support" for terrorism. The manual's release came one day before a hearing in the case of Canadian Guantanamo Bay detainee Omar Khadr on whether his alleged confessions may be used as evidence. The hearing was postponed briefly Wednesday morning to allow Khadr's lawyers time to review the new manual and was set to resume Wednesday afternoon. Khadr's military commission trial, set to begin in July, will be the first under the Obama administration, which suspended military commissions shortly after the January 2009 inauguration. In February, Khadr's lawyers filed an emergency motion in the Federal Court of Canada challenging the decision of the Canadian government not to seek his repatriation from the US. The Supreme Court of Canada ruled in January that the government was not obligated to seek Khadr's return to Canada despite having violated his rights under section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Khadr has allegedly admitted to throwing a hand grenade that killed a US soldier in Afghanistan, and was charged in April 2007 with murder, attempted murder, conspiracy, providing material support for terrorism, and spying.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on April 28, 2010 (boomark / email).