Execution Chamber At Guantanamo Bay Daryl Melham - Shadow Minister for Justice and Customs

Media Statement - 20 June 2003

Reports that American commanders of Camp Delta at Guantanamo Bay are planning to build an execution chamber should jolt the Howard Government out of its indifference to the fate of two Australian citizens held captive there.

"The military commanders at Guantanamo Bay have confirmed publicly that they are considering an execution chamber and have even discussed using lethal injection to deliver the death sentence," said the Shadow Minister for Justice, Daryl Melham.

"A military order issued by President Bush in November 2001 allows people detained at Guantanamo Bay to be tried by special military commissions that fall short of international standards for a fair trial."

"These special military commissions are not independent courts, they curtail the right of appeal and they allow a lower standard of evidence than in ordinary courts."

"Most disturbingly, people found guilty by these military commissions may face the death sentence. This is clearly set out in special instructions released by the US Department of Defense on May 2."

"Labor has consistently argued that the two Australians locked up at Guantanamo Bay - David Hicks and Mamdouh Habib – should not be detained without charge and should rightly expect the Government to intervene on their behalf. Instead, this Government has done nothing to protect its citizens."

"David Hicks has been imprisoned by the American military for eighteen months. Mamdouh Habib was first imprisoned by Pakistan, then by Egypt. He was then handed over to the American military and has been similarly detained at Guantanamo Bay for thirteen months."

"Both men, both Australian citizens, have been left to rot, held without charge and denied all legal rights."