Human rights straight out the window.

The conference I attended this weekend was about, among other things, the use of human rights arguments in areas in which the traditional argument has been based on civil rights and other authorities. One of the ACLU attorneys at the conference was on his way to Guantanamo Bay. I wonder if he witnessed this debacle today . . . as the linked story indicates, the defense team for a Canadian accused of killing a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan is on "trial" in one of the vaunted U.S. military tribunals requested today that the judge "halt proceedings because of a lack of established rules for the military trials."

The fact that an Army Captain would be in a position where he feels it is necessary to say this to a Marine Colonel should frighten all of us:

Sir, you should halt these proceedings ... until the government gets the rules together," said Army Capt. John Merriam, an attorney for Omar Khadr, 19. Shouting and table banging punctuated Wednesday's hearing at this isolated U.S. military base as the judge, Marine Col. Robert S. judge, and another of Khadr's defense attorneys clashed over the lack of rules for the first military tribunals since the World War II era. Chester said he would rule on Merriam's request to halt proceedings after he has read relevant material delivered by the defense.

Early in the session, Khadr said he was boycotting the proceedings because he has been kept in solitary confinement since March 30. Chester berated the defense attorney, Marine Lt. Col. Colby Vokey, for not having warned him earlier of the situation. As the voices grew louder, Vokey banged his hand on a varnished wood table and shouted that he hadn't had an opportunity to alert the judge. "Every time we come down here there is an incredible burden just to do my job," Vokey shouted. Chester then called a recess.

Vokey and the judge also clashed about trial procedures to bring in a Canadian consulting attorney requested by the Toronto-born Khadr, who was 15 when he was captured. Chester asked Vokey if he had filed a brief requesting a Canadian attorney as a consultant. Only lawyers who are U.S. citizens are permitted to directly participate. The judge then told Vokey that even if a brief was filed, he didn't know if he had the authority to allow a Canadian attorney into the courtroom. "There are no rules here," Vokey retorted. "It seems kind of crazy, if the presiding officer doesn't have the authority to act on it, to go to the presiding officer."

And here's the part that really ticks me off:

In a separate hearing Tuesday, Chester refused to say if he would use international law, or military law or federal statutes as guidelines. The chief military prosecutor, Air Force Col. Morris Davis, later said the judge can use several standards of law "to provide a full and fair trial."

Can you imagine a setting in which the defendant is not told what law will be used to decide his fate so that he can tailor the defense to the law? RIDICULOUS.

My delight over Delay's resignation was short-lived. I remain wholly embarrassed to be an American.

UPDATE: For fascinating reading, check out this ACLU blog concerning their observations of the Guantanamo tribunals. I met Jamil, the ACLU observer in Guantanamo, at the Human Rights Conference I attended in Austin--he is an incredibly smart and nice guy.