Guantánamo spells indefinite detention under Pentagon rules

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From an article by William Glaberson in today's NYT:

The military system of determining whether detainees are properly held at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, includes an unusual practice: If Pentagon officials disagree with the result of a hearing, they order a second one, or even a third, until they approve of the finding. [snip]

This month, Susan Baker Manning, a lawyer for seven detainees involved in the current appeals court case, received a package of information from the government about the combatant status hearing of one of the seven. At the bottom of a Pentagon memorandum dated Jan. 14, 2005, there was a note that said her client had first been determined not to be an enemy combatant. But later, the notation continued, it was “ultimately determined that the detainee is an enemy combatant.”

Ms. Manning’s client, Hammad Memet, now 29, has been at Guantánamo for more than five years.

This administration has no respect for the rule of law. They do what they want to do, and let others be damned.

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