Churches’ body welcomes new Guantanamo ruling
-30/06/06
The National Council of Churc
Churches’ body welcomes new Guantanamo ruling
-30/06/06
The National Council of Churches USA has described yesterday’s Supreme Court’s 5-3 majority ruling preventing the Bush administration from using military tribunals to prosecute prisoners in the Guant·namo Bay detention centre as “a reasoned affirmation of what people of faith have been trying to communicate to the White House for years.”
“Any effort to deny the rule of law to accused individuals, no matter how grievous the charges, is a denial of the most fundamental expression of American democratic ideals,” the NCC statement said.
At issue was Salim Ahmed Hamdan, who was al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden’s driver and bodyguard, who is imprisoned at Guant·namo.
Justice John Paul Stevens, writing for the majority, said, “The military commission at issue is not expressly authorized by any congressional act.” The tribunals, he said, “must be understood to incorporate at least the barest of those trial protections that have been recognized by customary international law.”
“In undertaking to try Hamdan and subject him to criminal punishment, the executive (President Bush) is bound to comply with the rule of law that prevails in this jurisdiction,” Stevens declared.
The National Council of Churches, which brings together denominations with a combined membership of 45 million Christians, noted that well-meaning presidents have historically attempted to bypass the Constitution to protect the nation in wartime, including Abraham Lincoln and Franklin D. Roosevelt.
But such actions have not “been upheld by the verdict of history or by the US Constitution”, the ecumenical body points out.
The NCC and Christian campaigners have long argued that detention without trial and the mistreatment of prisoners stands directly at odds with the Jesus who, according to St Matthew, said that to love and recognise God is to see him in the imprisoned, the hungry, the homeless and the abandoned.
The complete text of the National Council of Churches statement is as follows:
“The Supreme Court’s decision is a reasoned affirmation of what people of faith have been trying to communicate to the White House for years. Any effort to deny the rule of law to accused individuals, no matter how grievous the charges, is a denial of the most fundamental expression of American democratic ideals. It is our conviction that due process is in line with Christian principles and our belief in justice and human dignity and worth.
“In our history, well-meaning presidents – even our most revered presidents – have unwisely turned their backs on these ideals to protect the nation. President Lincoln suspended habeas corpus and allowed suspected subversives to languish in jail without charge. President Franklin Roosevelt signed executive order 9066 creating unconstitutional detention camps for innocent Americans of Japanese ancestry. Neither action has been upheld by the verdict of history or by the US Constitution, and neither will be the Bush administration’s unconstitutional decisions in Guant·namo.
“Now that the highest court in the land has ruled, we call on the Bush administration to take prompt action to restore the rule of law to Guant·namo and everywhere else it has been undermined in the often dubious justification of fighting terrorism.
“As our nation approaches its 230th birthday next Tuesday, it is important for Americans of faith or no faith remember that a country built on the concept of equal treatment before the law does not promote its way of life to others by abandoning it in a moment of crisis.”
[Also on Ekklesia: US church leaders renew Guantanamo Bay closure call; Government minister joins Christians in calling for Guantanamo closure; Christians face jail after President’s call to visit Guant·namo Bay; Children being held at Guantanamo Bay; Archbishop compares Bush to Ugandan dictator; Evangelicals join US faith leaders in opposition to torture]
Churches’ body welcomes new Guantanamo ruling
-30/06/06
The National Council of Churches USA has described yesterday’s Supreme Court’s 5-3 majority ruling preventing the Bush administration from using military tribunals to prosecute prisoners in the Guant·namo Bay detention centre as “a reasoned affirmation of what people of faith have been trying to communicate to the White House for years.”
“Any effort to deny the rule of law to accused individuals, no matter how grievous the charges, is a denial of the most fundamental expression of American democratic ideals,” the NCC statement said.
At issue was Salim Ahmed Hamdan, who was al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden’s driver and bodyguard, who is imprisoned at Guant·namo.
Justice John Paul Stevens, writing for the majority, said, “The military commission at issue is not expressly authorized by any congressional act.” The tribunals, he said, “must be understood to incorporate at least the barest of those trial protections that have been recognized by customary international law.”
“In undertaking to try Hamdan and subject him to criminal punishment, the executive (President Bush) is bound to comply with the rule of law that prevails in this jurisdiction,” Stevens declared.
The National Council of Churches, which brings together denominations with a combined membership of 45 million Christians, noted that well-meaning presidents have historically attempted to bypass the Constitution to protect the nation in wartime, including Abraham Lincoln and Franklin D. Roosevelt.
But such actions have not “been upheld by the verdict of history or by the US Constitution”, the ecumenical body points out.
The NCC and Christian campaigners have long argued that detention without trial and the mistreatment of prisoners stands directly at odds with the Jesus who, according to St Matthew, said that to love and recognise God is to see him in the imprisoned, the hungry, the homeless and the abandoned.
The complete text of the National Council of Churches statement is as follows:
“The Supreme Court’s decision is a reasoned affirmation of what people of faith have been trying to communicate to the White House for years. Any effort to deny the rule of law to accused individuals, no matter how grievous the charges, is a denial of the most fundamental expression of American democratic ideals. It is our conviction that due process is in line with Christian principles and our belief in justice and human dignity and worth.
“In our history, well-meaning presidents – even our most revered presidents – have unwisely turned their backs on these ideals to protect the nation. President Lincoln suspended habeas corpus and allowed suspected subversives to languish in jail without charge. President Franklin Roosevelt signed executive order 9066 creating unconstitutional detention camps for innocent Americans of Japanese ancestry. Neither action has been upheld by the verdict of history or by the US Constitution, and neither will be the Bush administration’s unconstitutional decisions in Guant·namo.
“Now that the highest court in the land has ruled, we call on the Bush administration to take prompt action to restore the rule of law to Guant·namo and everywhere else it has been undermined in the often dubious justification of fighting terrorism.
“As our nation approaches its 230th birthday next Tuesday, it is important for Americans of faith or no faith remember that a country built on the concept of equal treatment before the law does not promote its way of life to others by abandoning it in a moment of crisis.”
[Also on Ekklesia: US church leaders renew Guantanamo Bay closure call; Government minister joins Christians in calling for Guantanamo closure; Christians face jail after President’s call to visit Guant·namo Bay; Children being held at Guantanamo Bay; Archbishop compares Bush to Ugandan dictator; Evangelicals join US faith leaders in opposition to torture]