Terrorism Crimes Updates

A host of stories which we have been following require updating.

First, the Military Commissions Act of 2006, which we discussed at the beginning of this month, has finally been signed into law by President Bush. Immediately after its signing, “his administration … used the law to challenge suits by hundreds of Guantanamo Bay detainees.”^[1] This action was done in a letter sent by the Department of Justice to the DC Circuit Court of Appeals, in which it was argued that “the new law strips hundreds of … Guantanamo detainees of their right to a court hearing to challenge their confinement,”^[2] which the new law indeed states; whether the law is also allowed to violate ex post facto principles remains to be seen. In signing the legislation, President Bush said that “[i]t is a rare occasion when a president can sign a bill he knows will save American lives,” calling the MCA “a way to deliver justice to the terrorists we have captured.”^[3]

In other news, the jury in Muhammad Salah’s trial, which we discussed nearly a month ago when the government dropped the material support for terrorism charge facing him, has been chosen.^[4] The trial is scheduled to begin on Thursday at 9:30 AM, and “former university professor Abdelhaleem Ashqar” is to go on trial with Mr. Salah.^[5] Prosecutors objected to the make-up of the jury, arguing “that defense attorneys had acted to keep whites from serving on the jury.”^[6] District Judge Amy J. St. Eve overruled the objections, noting that the defense was allowed to strike 10 prospective jurors from the list without showing cause, unless race or ethnicity is the cause, and “that in each case there was non-racial explanation.”^[7]

Finally, Wesam al-Delaema, who we last mentioned in February, is still in the Netherlands and has now “applied for an urgent court ruling … against his extradition to the United States.”^[8] The nature of this court ruling, however, is unclear.

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[1] Roger Runningen, Bush Signs Law Creating Tribunals for Terror Suspects, Bloomberg, Oct. 17, 2006.
[2] Id.
[3] Sheryl Gay Stolberg, Bush Signs Bill Setting Detainee Rules, NY Times, Oct. 17, 2006.
[4] Jury Chosen for Chicago Terrorism Trial, AP (via Guardian (UK)), Oct. 17, 2006.
[5] Id.
[6] Id.
[7] Id.
[8] Dutch “Insurgent” Fights Extradition to US, Sapa-AFP (via Independent Online (South Africa)), Oct. 16, 2006.