Edited by author 06-16-2004 10:19 PM
Mark

On topic, it seems like somebody could be suing the US government over whether the Geneva Conventions are being upheld

US law generally takes a more restrictive view of extra-territorial jurisdiction than most of the world.

US Federal courts do not (with a few exceptions) have jurisdiction out side their district or function.

The reason prisoners are being held in Guantanamo is that it is technically Cuban territory on a long-term lease to the United States. There is no Federal District Court that has jurisdiction so there is no place to file a suit. The same for persons held in Iraq. The practice of using Guantanamo for this purpose started with the Clinton administration, Rumsfeld is just extending the practice. I thought this was a dubious idea, even if technically lawful, when Clinton did it, the only thing that can be said for Rumsfeld is that this is not as egregious as Clinton’s practice. If they were being held in the US proper you can be sure that every bored lawyer would be filing an ex parte suit over something or other, on US domestic law..

Possibly, a person subject to the Geneva convention could file a case in the Distict court for Washington DC but I think there would be a mountain of hurdles to be over come. If after June 30 there is an agreement between the US and Iraq over compensation that will trump all other claims for Iraq. I have no doubt we will propose such an agreement, hopefully the Iraqi's reaize how generous we will be to close the issue.

Some US citizens with alleged Al Queda connections did file a suit, on the basis of US law, which is currently before the Supreme Court. The question seems to be how bad the administration will lose. See the links Carters INTEL DUMP off the main FLIT page. He has very good write ups.