RYAN REILLY
HELD
AT BAY
opposed to federal courts.
“There are narrow but important differences, and this often
gets lost when I talk about federal
courts, because someone will say,
‘Hey, he should try to just mimic
federal courts, why do you need
[military commissions]?’” Martins said, sitting in a bare-bones
office in the old court building at
the top of the hill overlooking the
new courthouse. “This just fuels
the argument about how, why are
they necessary? The differences
are important.”
HUFFINGTON
03.03.13
Miranda rights don’t apply in
military commissions — statements just need to be determined
to be voluntary in order to be
included as evidence. There are
also looser rules on hearsay statements. Martins said the distinctions between U.S. courts and the
military commissions could be
“decisive in certain cases.”
The reformed military commissions are designed to address some
of the concerns of both the U.S.
government and human rights advocates. Any statements obtained
as a result of torture or cruel or
degrading treatment are prohibited. Detainees have greater ac-
Defense
attorneys
speak with
members of
the media
in the old
airplane
hangar,
repurposed
as a work
space for
journalists
and human
rights
observers.