Chinese Muslim languishes in Gitmo legal limbo

Note: This is an article than ran in the Sept. 29 edition of the Chicago Tribune.
WASHINGTON — The United States held him for seven years and then, ultimately, decided that he poses no threat to national security. But he’s still sitting in prison at Guantanamo Bay because no other country will take him. Nor will [...]

Hamdan receives light sentence; could force enemy combatant test

A military jury in Guantanamo Thursday gave Salim Hamdan a surprisingly light sentence of 5 1/2 years. And since Hamdan has already been imprisoned at the Navy base for five years, his sentence would be completed sometime next year.
Hamdan was convicted Wednesday of providing material support to terrorists, but was acquitted of the more serious [...]

The road ahead for military commissions

Here is my story from today’s Chicago Tribune:
WASHINGTON—The government has been trying to prosecute and convict Salim Ahmed Hamdan for war crimes for five years. On Wednesday, a Guantanamo Bay military jury found Hamdan guilty of supporting terrorism, and he now faces life in prison.
So, mission accomplished?
Hardly.
The conviction of Osama bin Laden’s former driver may [...]

Hamdan: Pentagon statement

The Department of Defense has released this statement on Hamdan’s conviction:
            A military panel announced today that Salim Ahmed Hamdan of Yemen was found guilty of providing material support to terrorism by a military commission under the Military Commissions Act of 2006.   Hamdan was found guilty on five of eight specifications of [...]

Hamdan: Amnesty International statement

[Washington, DC]—Larry Cox, executive director of Amnesty International USA, issued the following statement in response to today’s verdict in the first military commissions trial at Guantanamo Bay in the case of Salim Ahmed Hamdan:
“Regardless of today’s verdict, Hamdan’s trial revealed what is common knowledge – the military commissions are fatally [...]

Hamdan: John McCain statement

ARLINGTON, VA — U.S. Senator John McCain issued the following statement on today’s verdict in the case of Salim Ahmed Hamdan:
 ”I welcome today’s guilty verdict in the first trial held under the Military Commissions Act (MCA). This process of bringing terrorists to justice has been too long delayed, but I’m [...]

Hamdan: CCR statement

Here is a statement from the Center for Constitutional Rights on the Hamdan conviction:

August 5, 2008, New York – In response to the hand-picked military jury’s decision in the Military Commission against Salim Ahmed Hamdan, Shayana Kadidal, Senior Managing Attorney of the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) Guantánamo Global Justice Initiative, [...]

Hamdan: What’s next?

Salim Hamdan can appeal his conviction to the newly established Court of Military Commission Review, and from there up to the federal appeals court in Washington and then finally the Supreme Court. There should be no shortage of appealable issues, especially with regard to evidence and access to witnesses.
Also, Tuesday, the military judge in the [...]

Hamdan convicted of war crimes

A flash from the Miami Herald’s Carol Rosenberg:

Bin Laden’s driver found guilty of war crimes
BY CAROL ROSENBERG
GUANTANAMO BAY NAVY BASE, Cuba — A U.S. military jury Wednesday convicted Osama bin Laden’s driver of war crimes — making him the first war-on-terror captive convicted by contested tribunal at the U.S. Navy base at [...]

Hamdan not going anywhere soon

Even if the military jury deliberating his case finds Salim Hamdan innocent of charges of supporting terrorism and conspiracy, he won’t be leaving Guantanamo anytime soon.
As reported by my Tribune colleague Aamer Madhani on The Swamp, the Pentagon said today that Hamdan would be kept as an enemy combatant if he is found not guilty.
“Even [...]