Government defends war crimes case; Court rules issued

UPDATE 7 p.m.
Military prosecutors have urged the new Court of Military Commission Review to reinstate in full the war crimes charges against a Canadian detainee, Omar Ahmed Khadr. The prosecutors’ written arguments to the Court, filed July 4, are now available, and can be found here. The case is U.S. v. Khadr, Docket 1 — the new appeals court’s first case. The document contended that the military judge’s dismissal of the charges, based on a finding that Khadr had not been properly determined to be an “unlawful enemy combatant,” threatens to undermine hundreds of combatant findings by military Combatant Status Review Tribunals. The findings made by those panels, the brief contended, are sufficient to establish that the detainees were, in fact, classified as unlawful, and thus trials against them may proceed before military commissions. The defense has 30 days to file a brief. Khadr and one other detainee, Salim Ahmed Hamdan, have been charged with war crimes. The charges against Hamdan also have been dismissed by a military judge.

The following post was filed earlier Tuesday:

The case of Guantanamo detainee Omar Ahmed Khadr will be the first before the new Court of Military Commission Review — the appeals court within the military that will review war crimes cases before tribunals called “military commissions.” Pentagon prosecutors appealed to the Court of Review on July 4 to challenge a military judge’s dismissal of all charges against Khadr, a 20-year-old Canadian.

John W. Rolph, deputy chief judge of the Court of Review, on June 28 promulgated the new rules that will govern that Court’s processes. The rules, put into effect as of June 27, can be found here.

The rules specify that the chief judge of the Court will establish one or more three-member decision panels, but en banc review is available at the full Court’s discretion upon motion by either side or by one of the panel members.

Only the United States — that is, the prosecution before a war crimes trial commission – may pursue pre-trial appeals. That is the situation with the Pentagon appeal in Khadr’s case.

Under the new rules, interlocutory appeals take priority over all other cases pending before the Court.