Fears as US special courts plan widened - World - theage.com.au

Fellow Americans, wake up, or we will be of no use to ourselves or anyone else.

Fears as US special courts plan widened - World - theage.com.au:

A DRAFT Bush Administration plan for special military courts seeks to expand the authority of such commissions to people who are not members of al-Qaeda or the Taliban and are not directly involved in acts of international terrorism.

The plan, which would replace a military trial system ruled illegal by the US Supreme Court in June, allows the defence secretary to add crimes at will to those under the military courts' jurisdiction.

The proposed legislation, being discussed at Senate hearings this week, is controversial because defendants would be denied many protections guaranteed by the civilian and military criminal justice systems.

Defendants would lack rights to confront accusers, exclude hearsay accusations or bar evidence obtained through coercive interrogations. They would not be guaranteed a public or speedy trial and would lack the right to choose their military counsel, who in turn would not be guaranteed equal access to evidence held by prosecutors.