by Anna Karamanou (PSE) to the
Commission
(24 April
2002)
|
Subject: Call for
rescission of the Bush Administration's Military Order |
|
According to Amnesty
International, the operating guidelines for the special military commissions
recently issued by the US Defense Secretary have highlighted the serious
defects of the Military Order signed by President Bush on 13 November 2001,
as a result of which any trial before these commissions would violate the
USA's international obligations. The provisions of the
Military Order allow: - discrimination
against foreign nationals in violation of international law, which prohibits
discrimination based on nationality, - minimum standards of
evidence, not expressly excluding the extraction of statements by torture, - no right of appeal
to an independent and impartial court established by law, - no independence of
the military commissions from the executive, etc. Will the Commission
exert pressure on the US Administration to rescind the Military Order and
honour its international commitments concerning respect for human rights? |