U.S. soldier performs security sweep, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. (AP)
Groups Criticize Guantanamo Prison Story aired: Friday, October 10, 2003
Several groups of prominent Americans have joined together to urge the Supreme Court to intervene on behalf of some of the 660 detainees held by the military at Guantanamo Bay.
Seven separate briefs were filed at the Supreme Court this week, including one, by retired U.S. diplomats, arguing that detaining prisoners beyond the reach of law "demeans and weakens this nation's voice abroad."
Another brief, by former military lawyers, including the former judge advocate general of the navy, says that American failure to provide prisoners with the protections of the Geneva Convention may lead to other countries depriving American prisoners of those same protections in a future conflict.
A group of former American prisoners of war tells the court that those protections may have saved their lives in the past.
Also, a group of former U.S. judges urges the Supreme Court to overturn a lower court ruling and give the prisoners the legal right to challenge their detention.
Guests:
John Gibbons, former chief justice of the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
