The Niqabi Paralegal

Australian David Hicks has been held in near-solitary confinement at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba for two years, awaiting trial - and his lawyer says that his mental condition is deteriorating. Major Michael Mori, Hicks's attorney, spoke to the press on January 21, 2004.

Mori said that Hicks is suffering from the lack of outside communication and contact and can only concentrate on basic human needs such as food and shelter. Human rights groups have already criticized the indefinite detention of Guantanamo prisoners and alleged that they lead to mental degeneration and suicide attempts by the prisoners.

Hicks is almost unique among the 680 or so inmates at Guantanamo in having an attorney; only one other inmate has been allowed one. The U.S. Supreme Court will decide in July whether the other inmates must be allowed legal counsel as well.

Besides reporting on Hicks's mental health, Mori took aim at the system of military tribunals that the U.S. government has established for Hicks and five other Guantanamo prisoners. Mori said that the military tribunal would not be able to provide a fair trial for Hicks and that Hicks would have a better chance for justice if tried in his home country of Australia.

Hicks has not yet been charged with any crime. The government has not indicated when it will charge him or any of the Guantanamo prisoners, or whether it plans to provide trials for more than six of them. It is the indefinite nature of the detentions as much as the severe conditions that concerns human rights groups and other critics. Right now, Hicks and the other 680 inmates are left in limbo, without any rights. What does this say about the reality of the American justice system?

© 2004 Solidarity USA