US charges Australian Guantanamo prisoner Hicks

12.00pm UPDATE


WASHINGTON - The United States brought three criminal charges on Thursday against Guantanamo Bay prisoner David Hicks, an Australian accused of joining al Qaeda, but his military lawyer said Hicks committed no crime and that even prosecutors did not state he hurt anyone.

Hicks, captured in Afghanistan in late 2001 and held for more than two years at the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, was charged with conspiracy to commit war crimes, attempted murder by an unprivileged belligerent and aiding the enemy. Hicks, 28, will face trial before a US military tribunal, although no date has been set, the Pentagon said.

While the United States holds about 595 non-US citizens at Guantanamo Bay, Hicks became just the third to be charged. The other two men, from Yemen and Sudan, were charged in February with conspiracy to commit war crimes.

The Pentagon accused Hicks, a convert to Islam, of travelling to Afghanistan to join al Qaeda and fighting with the Islamic militant group, blamed for the 2001 attacks on the United States, until his capture.

At the Guantanamo base, US officials refused to say whether Hicks had co-operated with interrogators. He is being held in a one-person cell divided by a metal mesh fence. His lawyers can converse with him through the fence and work at a table on the other side.

Hicks is provided with paper and a flexible pen that cannot serve as a weapon. He is held in isolation, unable to communicate with other prisoners.

Marine Corps Maj Michael Mori, the military lawyer named by the Pentagon to defend Hicks, said the charges do not accuse Hicks of killing or even harming anyone.

"David Hicks has not committed any crime," said Mori, who criticised the legal process established by the Pentagon for the tribunals, formally called military commissions. These would be the first such US trials of their kind since World War 2.

"The defence team intends to fight these allegations -- and that's all they are is allegations -- to the fullest extent that we're allowed to, and the resources that are provided to us," Mori told Reuters.

"It's unfortunate these allegations will never be tested in a fair and established justice system. There's just a complete lack of the independent judiciary and the independent appeals process that are the backbone of any criminal justice system we're used to. It's such a departure from fundamental fairness," Mori added.

The Pentagon confirmed statements by Australia's government that US prosecutors will not seek the death penalty against Hicks. The Pentagon said it would not monitor conversations between Hicks and his lawyers even though it has reserved the right to eavesdrop on such communications in other cases.

The Pentagon said Hicks will have access to an Australian lawyer, and representatives of Australia's government will be able to attend the trial at the remote Guantanamo base, as well as two "appropriately cleared" family members of Hicks.

Another Australian citizen, Egyptian-born Mamdouh Habib, is being held at Guantanamo without charges.

A Pentagon statement said "military commission procedures provide for a full and fair trial," including the presumption of innocence, a requirement of proof beyond a reasonable doubt and an opportunity to present evidence and call witnesses.

However, critics have noted the entire process is controlled by the Defence Department, including the appointment of the panel that will hear the case and a review panel to which any appeal would go. There is no right to appeal to a civilian court.

The Pentagon said Hicks trained to use a variety of weapons at al Qaeda training camps and conducted surveillance of the US and British Embassies in Kabul. Mori said those embassies were not even operating at the time.

Prosecutors said Hicks met al Qaeda leaders including Osama bin Laden and key lieutenant Mohammed Atef, and performed tasks including translating al Qaeda training materials from Arabic to English.

- REUTERS