Bring David Hicks home (from Guantanamo) before Christmas!

Last Update: Wednesday, January 24, 2007. 0:05am (AEDT)


Govt plea for Hicks is hollow: Opposition

The federal Opposition says the Prime Minister has issued a hollow ultimatum to the United States over the future of Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks.....

.......shadow attorney-general Kelvin Thomson says John Howard's time line is meaningless.

"It's a hollow ultimatum, the Howard Government continues to be in denial about the prospect of more legal challenges to an unfair process and the prospect that David Hicks will languish in Guantanamo bay indefinitely," he said.

"I think effectively he is calling for something which he believes that the US authorities intend to do in any event, I think that the Australian Government may well have had a nod and a wink from the Americans concerning their timing."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200701/s1832408.htm

Documents suggest Hicks in 'nightmarish' isolation
January 27, 2007 - 4:55PM/the AGE

David Hicks is spending 22 hours a day in "nightmarish" isolation in conditions described by Guantanamo Bay inmates as "a dungeon above the ground", court documents suggest.

Fresh evidence about the treatment of prisoners in the US military base has been revealed amid deepening concerns about the Australian terrorist suspect's mental state, and just days before Hicks receives a visit from his Australian lawyer.

Conditions inside Hicks' cell block at the naval base in Cuba are so bad that detainees are suffering mental health problems ranging from "crushing loneliness" to hearing "voices", the documents say.

Life inside Guantanamo Bay's Camp 6, where Hicks was transferred in early December from another section of the prison, has been detailed in declarations filed in a case in the US District Court.

Lawyers are trying to expedite hearings for five terrorist suspects who are Uighur Muslims from the Xinjiang region of northern China that borders Central Asia.

The documents say the impact of Camp 6 conditions on the inmates has been "profound", and all five Uighurs are struggling to pass the days of "infinite tedium and loneliness".

"All describe a feeling of despair, crushing loneliness and abandonment by the world," a statutory declaration by the men's lawyer, Sabin Willett, said.

"One felt he was in the 'dungeon above the ground'; another said 'it feels like we are in tunnels'.

"All expressed a desperate desire for sunlight, fresh air and someone to speak to."

The tiny cells in camp 6 are constructed of solid metal and receive no natural air or sunlight.

There are no windows except for small glass strips which provide a view of the corridor, a clock and the military police guarding them.

They eat and pray alone and have no reading material other than the Koran.

Each inmate is allowed two hours "rec time" every 24 hours, but this is frequently only called late at night or in the early hours of the morning.

Recreation time is spent in a confined area measuring three metres by four metres and surrounded by concrete walls two storeys high, giving prisoners little chance of seeing the sun.

The US military had imposed on the men "a regimen of isolation and cruelty unheard of in penal or military law and unknown to civilised people", said Willett, who visited Guantanamo Bay on January 15 to 18.

Hicks', who is waiting for fresh charges to be laid against him, has been held at Guantanamo Bay without trial for five years and has been in continuous isolation since March last year.

His American military lawyer, Marine Corps Major Michael Mori, said he was disturbed by the reported conditions inside Camp 6.

"It's worse than even our supermax prisons in the United States," he told AAP.

"They've got TV, they've got books. These people don't have anything."

Hicks' Australian lawyer David McLeod left for Cuba yesterday and is due to visit Guantanamo on Monday, but has said there is no guarantee his Adelaide-born client will agree to see him. .....

http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/hicks-in-nightmarish-isolation/2007/01/27/1169788735962.html

Hicks' men Cuba-bound but lack belief they will be seen
January 26, 2007/the AGE


David Hicks' Australian lawyer, David McLeod, with a card from the Hicks family provided by Terry Hicks.

DAVID Hicks' Australian and American lawyers will fly to Cuba on Sunday, hoping the Australian Guantanamo Bay detainee will be well enough to see them.

Adelaide lawyer, David McLeod, who visited Hicks at Guantanamo Bay in June 2005, said there was some uncertainty about whether Hicks would accept a visit, after he refused a family phone call just before Christmas and sat mute during a recent consular visit.

"We are not confident at all. We are hoping that he will wish to see us," Mr McLeod said.

"Bearing in mind the comments we have heard about his very fragile emotional state, we can only assume that perhaps, of all the people he might want to see, it will be his lawyers."

Describing the trip as something of a welfare visit, Mr McLeod, who will travel to Cuba with NSW solicitor Michael Griffin, US civil rights lawyer Joshua Draytel and Hicks' US military lawyer Major Michael Mori, will take with him a card bearing family photographs compiled and printed by David's father, Terry Hicks.

Personally signed by Hicks' extended paternal family and support group and bearing messages of encouragement including a note saying: "All Aussies are with you" and a central message to "Stay Strong", the card was put together by Terry Hicks as a way of family communication following the failed phone call.

Mr Hicks also wrote a separate personal letter, which he emailed to Major Mori, who must submit it for US military clearance before it will reach Hicks.

Mr Hicks said yesterday he was worried what state of mind his son was in and feared he could refuse to see his legal team. "He may be in the situation where he can't be bothered with anyone," Mr Hicks said.

He said Hicks' refusal to take the family phone call was a sign of his deteriorating mental state.Mr Hicks said he regretted being unable to send the latest novel by Tasmanian author Richard Flanagan, which was dedicated to Hicks and came with a handwritten note from Flanagan to Hicks to "Hang in there, mate". Mr Hicks said the book, The Unknown Terrorist, would never get security clearance.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/hicks-men-cubabound-but-lack-belief-they-will-be-seen/2007/01/25/1169594432342.html

So much has has been published in the Australian press since His lawyers have visited David Hicks. But unfortunately I haven't been able to post here during that time. I'm not certain that this post will get through. Let's see if it does:

Hicks charges false, lawyer claims
Penelope Debelle, Adelaide
February 1, 2007/the AGE

PROSECUTORS were trying to create the false impression David Hicks would soon be charged to meet the deadline set by Prime Minister John Howard, Hicks' US military lawyer claimed last night.



Colonel Davis said yesterday new charges against Hicks were in the final stages of being prepared and could be laid as early as tomorrow. "I'm confident that by Friday we'll have everything in order and be ready to swear the charges," he said.

But Major Mori said the swearing of charges represented prosecution allegations and did not mean the charges were approved by the convening authority or that they would even proceed to trial. "It appears the prosecution is worried that there will be no official decision in time for Howard's deadline."

Following reports of Hicks' alleged deteriorating physical and mental health from his lawyers at Guantanamo Bay, the consul tried to meet Hicks on Tuesday to report back to Foreign Minister Alexander Downer on his wellbeing.

Hicks' Adelaide lawyer, David McLeod, from Guantanamo Bay accused the consul of forcibly interrogating Hicks in an attempt at political damage control.

Mr McLeod said the consul arrived unannounced in Hicks' cell on Tuesday morning and tried to see him later in an interview room with his lawyers present. However, Hicks refused to see him and Major Mori handed the consul a letter dated January 30, 2007, written by Hicks. In it, Hicks tells the consul he does not wish to see him, is afraid to talk to him and in the past has been punished for doing so.

"You are not here for me but on behalf of the Australian Govt (sic) who are leaving me here," Hicks writes. "If you want to do something for me, then get me out of here."

Prime Minister John Howard said Hicks was making it harder for himself by refusing to see consular officials.

Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd accused Mr Howard of negligence in aiding Hicks.

The Federal Government said a camp psychiatrist had seen Hicks on January 29, assessing his state as "good".

"His mental health was assessed as good, although he was 'frustrated'," Mr Downer said.

Hicks' father, Terry, said yesterday his son was mentally unwell.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/hicks-charges-false-lawyer/2007/01/31/1169919403514.html

Last Update: Thursday, February 1, 2007. 4:13pm (AEDT)

Labor MPs urge US Speaker to help Hicks


David Hicks has been held at Guantanamo Bay since 2002. (file photo)

Canberra's three federal Labor politicians are sending a letter to the Speaker of the United States Congress asking her to assist Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks.

Labor MPs Annette Ellis, Bob McMullan and Kate Lundy say they have become more concerned about the plight of Mr Hicks after reports of his deteriorating mental state.

Ms Ellis says their letter will ask Speaker Nancy Pelosi to encourage Congress to support calls for Mr Hicks to either be charged or brought home to Australia.

"We are very strongly of the view that they either charge him and get on with an appropriate trial or they expatriate him to Australia and we take him into our own legal system should there be appropriate charges laid," she said.

Ms Ellis says a number of US Congress members are concerned about the military commission Mr Hicks may be tried under.

"We thought a very appropriate thing at this point in time would be to contact Speaker Representative Pelosi and encourage her and her colleagues to do all they can to assist us in somehow attending to the call for fair and proper treatment of David Hicks," she said. .. cont>

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200702/s1838334.htm

Opposition MPs in plea to Pelosi
February 1, 2007 - 9:02PM/Sydney Morning Herald

Labor and Greens MPs have united to pen a letter to Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic Party speaker of the US Congress, asking for help in bringing home accused Australian terrorist David Hicks.

The letter, authored by Democrats leader Senator Lyn Allison has been signed by all Democrats, Greens and almost all members of the Labor party.

The letter complains that the US military commission process set up to trial Hicks and other Guantanamo Bay prisoners runs against basic American values.

"As members of the Australian Parliament, we ask that members of the US Congress take steps to bring about to the return to Australia of Australian citizen David Hicks, - a detainee held at Guantanamo Bay for more than five years - for prosecution here," the letter says.

"We believe that the denial of justice in David Hicks' case erodes values and principals shared by Australia and the US.

"We are also concerned that the ongoing absence of justice in David Hicks' case is serving to undermine international efforts to combat terrorism."

Hicks' lawyers claimed today that the Australian was shown a photo of Saddam Hussein hanging from a rope after his execution.

Photos of the former Iraqi leader's trial also were shown to Hicks and other inmates held at the US military's Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba.

Showing the photos and articles breached the Geneva Conventions designed to protect prisoners of war, his lawyers said.

Greens leader Bob Brown said the showing of the pictures was "premeditated torture".

"The Hicks saga goes from bad to worse," Senator Brown said in a statement.

"The Guantanamo Bay horror is based on unlawful behaviour and sadistic practice by the jailers."

Senator Brown said US Vice-President Dick Cheney would have a lot to answer for when he visited Australia this month.

"The Howard government is not an innocent bystander, it is equally responsible," Senator Brown said.


http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/mps-plea-to-pelosi-help-bring-hicks-home/2007/02/01/1169919470682.html

Well, here we go! The US has obliged John Howard by finally charging David Hicks in time for his (Mid February) deadline. AND just in the nick of time, before federal parliament resumes this week. Takes the heat of JH in question time, very nicely. But, of course, the fact that the charges have been laid doesn't mean that we'll be seeing a trial any time soon! They're counting on those anticipated legal appeals, I'm sure, for lots of breathing space!:

Hicks charged with terrorism
Agencies
February 03, 2007/the AUSTRALIAN

GUANTANAMO BAY prisoner David Hicks has been charged with terrorism-related offences -- five years after being detained.
Two charges have been laid including providing material support for terrorism and attempted murder in violation of the law of war.

Chief prosecutor in the Guantanamo war crimes trials, air force Colonel Morris Davis announced the new charges agains the Adelaide-born Hick and two others -- a Canadian and a Yemeni. "We're going to start with three and add on from there," he said. Under new rules for military commissions the prosecutors were alleging a new crime - providing material support for terrorism.

The charges are a key step toward resuming the military tribunals for terrorism suspects that were halted by the US Supreme Court last year.

The next step is for a supervisor of the military commissions process -- the Convening Authority -- to decide whether trials should be held.

Hicks' father, Terry Hicks, said he did not understand the charges. "The Americans have already said they can't prove whether David fired a shot at anyone," he said.

"So what's attempted murder in violation of the laws of war?"

"And providing material support for terrorism, I don't know what the hell that means."

Mr Hicks, who spoke with his son's legal team in the United States this morning, also said he believed this was merely the first step in a drawn out legal process. "I'm pleased something has happened, but I still believe this should have been happening here not over there," he said.
Mr Hicks said the US military justice system was stacked against his son and predicted that legal appeals could delay his trial for two years.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21163719-601,00.html

Of course he's pleased the US has temporarily taken the heat of him. And made it appear that he has some authority & influence in this matter. But check out JH's statement below on the "very serious charges" against David Hicks. For this Hicks has spent 5 years locked up in Guantanamo Bay without a trial?!:

PM welcomes fresh Hicks charges
February 03, 2007/the Australian

....."I'm glad that the charges are being laid and that the deadline I set has been met," Mr Howard said.

"They are very serious charges and that is why they should be dealt with as soon as possible.

"They allege that in the full knowledge of what happened on the 11th of September he rejoined the Taliban, who were of course involved through al Qaeda ... in the attack on the 11th of September," he said.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21163796-1702,00.html

This article, published yesterday & written by arguably Australia's most respected political commentator (though a tad conservative, IMO) gives some indication of the pressure the Australian federal government has been under in regard to the David Hicks "issue". John Howard has been losing the public battle for Australian hearts and minds to David Hicks' lawyers. (He will be hoping, following the charges being laid today, to regain some lost ground. Particularly since parliament resumes this week.) The article also demonstrates what a political football David Hicks' fate has become. This is all about politics for the Australian government (in an election year). Any "concern" that that's been expressed by John Howard & other Liberal ministers very recently (after 5 years!) is simply in response to what the political pollsters are now telling them: The public cares & is dissatisfied with how the government has handled the Hicks issue to date.:

Hicks case backfires for Howard
February 2, 2007/the AGE

In principle and in propaganda, David Hicks' lawyers are making the Government's position untenable, Michelle Grattan.

...........The Government is both anxious about the public backlash and beside itself over its impotence. It's been at the mercy of the Americans' timing (last week Howard said he'd given them a mid-February deadline for charges). And it has lost its ability to effectively counter the lawyers on a propaganda level. ..............

......... The Government's state of mind came through in comments by Foreign Minister Alexander Downer. Asked whether he was satisfied with Hicks' conditions, Downer said "you've just got to be so careful what you say here because there are so many hysterical claims made on the back of anything you say". Quizzed about Labor assertions and whether the Government had specifically asked what techniques had been used on Hicks, Downer replied, "You just ambushed me with that, I'd have to get that checked." ........





Once there are charges, Howard and Hicks' lawyers are substantially at the mercy of what happens in the military commission. Hicks' lawyers will have to deal with the evidence against him. And it will be too late, until the trial is over, for Howard to get himself out of his present hole by saying to the Americans "just send him home". ......

http://www.theage.com.au/news/opinion/hicks-case-backfires-for-howard/2007/02/01/1169919469186.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1

'No shot' Hicks faces murder, terror charges
Penelope Debelle, Jane Holroyd
February 4, 2007/Sunday AGE

DAVID HICKS is expected to plead not guilty to supporting terrorism and attempted murder after the long-awaited charges were filed in Washington.

Hicks' military lawyer, US marine Major Michael Mori, who left Guantanamo Bay a day before the charges were announced, said he had not spoken to Hicks but anticipated he would deny the charges.

...........
The charges carry a life sentence but the prosecution said yesterday it would not press for the full life term.

Prime Minister John Howard welcomed the charges being laid after setting a mid-February deadline for progress in the case. He said the charges were very serious and should be dealt with as soon as possible.

"They allege that in the full knowledge of what happened on the 11th of September, he rejoined the Taliban who were, of course, involved through al-Qaeda … on the attacks on the 11th of September," Mr Howard said.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer and Attorney-General Philip Ruddock said they wanted the case dealt with "expeditiously and fairly" and would maintain pressure on the Americans.

But Labor legal affairs spokesman Kelvin Thomson denied the US had met the deadline because Hicks had not been formally charged, the convening authority was not in place and there was a prospect of extensive legal challenges.

The chief prosecutor in the US Office of Military Commissions, Colonel Morris Davis, will allege that Hicks had trained to kill and had avoided killing US soldiers in Afghanistan only through lack of opportunity.

"Our theory is that Hicks has attended a number of terrorism training courses where he has perfected his skills in killing," Colonel Davis said.

The prosecution will allege that Hicks had reported to senior al-Qaeda leaders in Afghanistan, was issued a rifle and grenades, and positioned himself where he thought US and allied forces would be present. "We believe the evidence will show that he did everything humanly possibly to engage against US forces and to kill US forces and it was lack of opportunity that kept him from achieving his objective," Colonel Davis said.

Major Mori questioned the attempted murder charge given Colonel Davis' admission that there was no evidence Hicks shot at anyone while in Afghanistan.

"The old charge of attempted murder has reappeared even after the chief prosecutor has admitted to the ABC that there is no evidence that David shot at anyone in Afghanistan," Major Mori said.

Hicks' father, Terry Hicks, also queried the attempted murder charge. "The Americans say they can't prove he fired a shot or anything," Mr Hicks said. "I think they are saying that just by being there he was going to commit a murder."

http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/hicks-finally-faces-charges/2007/02/03/1169919582351.html

Labor turns up heat over Hicks
February 4, 2007 - 11:20AM/Sunday AGE

Labor says Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks has been charged retrospectively under American law and wants Australian Attorney-General Phillip Ruddock to explain the government's response.

Mr Ruddock has long held that Hicks, who has been detained for five years at the US base in Cuba before charges were laid yesterday, could not be charged in Australia because anti-terror laws were not in place at the time of his arrest and couldn't be used retrospectively.

"Philip Ruddock has said he is averse to retrospective law being passed in Australia to deal with David Hicks," Labor's attorney-general spokesman Kelvin Thomson said in a statement.

"But yesterday his name was on a press statement welcoming the move by the United States to charge David Hicks, when one of the proposed charges - material support for terrorism - was not an offence until the US Military Commissions Act of 2006 made it one."

Mr Thomson asked if this meant Mr Ruddock would raise with the US its plan to try David Hicks under a retrospective law.

"Or does he believe it is not OK to charge David Hicks in Australia under retrospective Australian law, but it is OK to charge David Hicks under retrospective American law at Guantanamo Bay?" he said.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/labor-turns-up-heat-over-hicks/2007/02/04/1170523946307.html

Analysis from this morning's SUNDAY AGE:

The sad circus is moving but has a long way to go
Penelope Debelle
February 4, 2007



This sad circus is far from over. It will continue until the charges against Hicks have been picked up and progressed by the convening authority for the not-yet constructed military commissions.

It could go on until Hicks has been tried, which may or may not be by the end of this year.

And it could well roll on in the diplomatic dance between Canberra, Cuba and Washington for another year or two while the new commissions deal with an almost certain fresh US judicial challenge.

The only possible final curtain for the David Hicks case can be when he stands on Australian soil, either to serve out the remnants of a prison sentence handed down in a legitimate legal process, or to see to his family before heading off to find the nearest piece of the great Australian outback where he can be both forgotten and free.

The handling of Hicks' case is building a momentum, which last week became a frenzy of dramas, accusations and responses about the conditions in which Hicks is held, the progress of his case, and his physical and mental state.



This time, Major Mori, US attorney Josh Dratel, McLeod and a second foreign attorney consultant Michael Griffin, were on the ground in Guantanamo and phoned or emailed information about Hicks' condition.

They raised the stakes partly in response to heightened media interest but also because they smell a shift in public opinion.

As David McLeod said before he left, irrespective of what Hicks might have done, many Australians believe the handling of his case no longer passes the commonsense test.

Their on-the-spot attacks and rebuttals derailed what would otherwise have been a successful response from Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer, who despatched the Australian consul in Washington, John McAnulty, to Guantanamo Bay.

Downer's office properly sought to allay concerns about Hicks' state of mind by sending a representative to make sure Hicks was all right.

But Hicks' lawyers were able to give their view of what happened. In a farcical turn of events, the consul tried to see Hicks but was instead handed a signed letter from Hicks saying he did not want to see him, was afraid to and in the past had been punished for complaining.

"If you want to do something for me then get me out of here," Hicks wrote.

While Labor put the pressure on daily and the Democrats called for an independent psychiatric assessment, there was confusion in federal ranks about whether a mental assessment should be sought and by whom.

After a US military psychiatrist went to see Hicks, Downer said Hicks was well, although frustrated, yet the lawyers claimed the assessment took less than five minutes, the psychiatrist took no notes, and Hicks was under the impres- sion she was there to see him about a stomach complaint and that was all he had talked about.

The focus will now shift to Washington and the charges that will first be sworn by the prosecution then assessed and adopted by a convening authority not yet in public existence.

Major Mori believes the prosecution is keen to charge Hicks to fit John Howard's mid-February deadline, but it is far from certain that the convening authority will be in place and ready to act in time.

The military commissions have not been set up to try David Hicks, who trained with al-Qaeda before September 11, met Osama bin Laden and did some surveillance and guard duty in Afghanistan without engaging in a known terrorist act or even firing a shot.

They are after much bigger fish, some of al-Qaeda's most senior men who were shifted to Guantanamo Bay from secret CIA rendition sites in September last year. A special war room has been set up by the Bush Administration to prosecute these men, who would embody the evil that al-Qaeda has unleashed on the world since 2001.

Hicks is tagging along behind, a minor player in the US but a headline act at home.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/the-sad-circus-is-moving-but-has-a-long-way-to-go/2007/02/03/1169919582378.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1

And why not? If the US can pass a retrospective law, why not Australia? He is an Australian citizen, afterall.:

Last Update: Sunday, February 4, 2007. 3:28pm (AEDT)

PM rejects call for retrospective Aust law for Hicks

Prime Minister John Howard says he does not believe the passage of retrospective laws in Australia is appropriate, despite Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks being charged under a retrospective law in the United States.

The Federal Opposition has accused the Government of double-standards over the draft charges announced for Mr Hicks, one of which was only passed into American law last year.

Labor is asking why the Government cannot introduce retrospective laws to enable Mr Hicks to be tried in Australia.

Mr Howard says what America decides to do is a matter for them.

"I don't equate what the US is doing with the passage of a retrospective criminal law in Australia, making offences that were not criminal offences at the time David Hicks did the things he's alleged to have done, crimes when they weren't at the time," he said.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200702/s1839870.htm

In other words, John Howard has washed his hands of any responsibility for David Hicks' fate. Especially with an election campaign just around the corner. "What the Americans do is up to the Americans." Honestly!:

Plea bargain fear for Hicks
February 4, 2007 - 4:30PM/the AGE

Prime Minister John Howard has said he is satisfied with the US government implementing a retrospective law to charge Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks.

It comes as Hicks's father Terry says he fears that Hicks could enter a plea bargain in a desperate effort to come home.

Although the Federal Government has long said Hicks cannot be charged retrospectively under Australian law, he is facing charges in the US on a law introduced five years after his arrest.

Labor's attorney-general spokesman Kelvin Thomson has said one of the charges, material support for terrorism, was not an offence until the US Military Commissions Act of 2006.

"We do not believe the passage of retrospective criminal law in Australia is appropriate," Mr Howard told reporters in Sydney.

"What the Americans do is up to the Americans.

"We believe the arrangements for the military commission meet the reasonable requirements of Australian law." ... <cont>

http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/plea-bargain-fear-for-hicks/2007/02/04/1170523946307.html

John Howard is a liar, a cheat, a thief, a hypocrite, and a mass murderer. ie, he's a typical conservative politician.

Wilso

I'm very upset & angry by the developments of the last few days (say nothing of years of Howard!), too. How can he even suggest that the US authorities have handled this properly & that "We believe the arrangements for the military commission meet the reasonable requirements of Australian law"? The commissions are not even properly set up! These these are only draft charges. They're not even official yet! This after 5 years, the last of which was spent in solitary confinement! I can't believe the rubbish that he's coming out with, I really can't. And now this:

Although the Federal Government has long said Hicks cannot be charged retrospectively under Australian law, he is facing charges in the US on a law introduced five years after his arrest.

Labor's attorney-general spokesman Kelvin Thomson has said one of the charges, material support for terrorism, was not an offence until the US Military Commissions Act of 2006.

It seems that what he's saying now is that basically he couldn't care less what happens to David Hicks .... so long as he avoids any political fall-out which impact on the Liberal's election prospects later this year.
I find this profoundly depressing.

I can well understand why Terry Hicks is concerned that his son could enter a plea bargain in the hope of finally getting out of Guantanamo Bay. And who would blame him, agreeing to almost anything to finally get out of there? I wonder if Mr Howard thinks this sort of treatment is conducive to reasonable treatment & a fair trial? This report was just from a couple of days ago.:

Hicks shown hanging for 'intellectual stimulation'
February 2, 2007/Sydney Morning Herald

The US military says photos and articles of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's execution were shown to David Hicks and other Guantanamo Bay inmates as "intellectual stimulation".

Hicks's legal team was outraged during this week's visit to the US prison camp to learn Hicks had viewed photos of Saddam's execution and trial.

US Commander Robert Durand, director of public affairs at Guantanamo Bay, today described the articles and photos available to the inmates as "neither graphic nor sensational".

Com Durand said the photos and articles were from mainstream news organisations such as Britain's BBC, The New York Times and the Washington Post and were available to Guantanamo inmates as part of the the prison's library and literacy program.

Hicks's lawyers had said the Adelaide detainee had viewed a photo of Saddam hanging from a noose, but Com Durand rejected the suggestion.

He said a photo of Saddam prior to his hanging accompanied a BBC news report.

"Our primary mission is safe and humane care and custody of the detainees," Com Durand said today. ... <cont>

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/hanging-intellectual-stimulation/2007/02/02/1169919505835.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1