Can there be fair trials in 9/11 cases?

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...802130334/1069

February 13, 2008

The proposed death penalty is not the problem with the latest charges filed against six Guantanamo terrorist suspects. If anyone merits the ultimate penalty, it is those legitimately convicted of plotting the 9/11 terror attacks.

The real question is whether these men can receive a fair public trial that satisfies U.S. legal standards and global scrutiny. The established commission process seems to make that unlikely. That at least two of the suspects may have been tortured ... makes matters worse.

The military commission system ... allows evidence obtained by coercion, hearsay testimony and secret proceedings. One former chief prosecutor resigned, saying that "full, fair and open trials were not possible" in the system.

The commissions do guarantee each defendant a military lawyer. That's good in theory. On Monday, however, seven of the military's eight defense attorneys already were in trials. The eighth was in his first day on the job.

The best known among the suspects is Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged 9/11 mastermind. Last week, the CIA confirmed that he was subjected to waterboarding, a form of controlled drowning that can cause death if not stopped and a technique long condemned as torture.

Also charged was Mohammed al-Qahtani. Held at Guantanamo almost six years, he was subjected to a variety of "aggressive interrogation methods" that included sleep deprivation, sexual humiliation, threats to his mother and intimidation by dogs.

Mohammed and al-Qahtani may well be murderous terrorists. But how can truth be sorted from their admissions when people will confess to anything under torture?

To try high-profile suspects under questionable rules with suspect evidence invites more legal challenges and international scorn. Unless their trial is scrupulously fair, convictions and the death penalty would increase the international outrage. The last thing this country needs is to help terrorists become martyrs.