John Ashcroft (photo by Andrew Ramonas / Main Justice)
Former Attorney General John Ashcroft defended the use of military commissions for terrorism suspects in a speech before the conservative Heritage Foundation on Wednesday.
The Obama administration is in the process of reviewing whether terrorism suspects housed at Guantanamo Bay should face trials in civilian or military courts as they work to close the military prison.
Ashcroft, who served as the nation’s top law enforcement official from 2001 to 2005, said proceedings before the military tribunals would be fair to the defendants and dismissed the concerns of liberal groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union. He said the use of commissions would not result in “cooked justice.”
“The rights of individuals are respected by our military,” Ashcroft said. “They are the people who give their lives in order to defend those rights. And it is less than fair to suggest that because you have a military commission, somehow you will be disrespecting justice.”
The Obama administration has slated some detainees for trials before military commissions. But Attorney General Eric Holder announced late last year that self-proclaimed Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his alleged co-conspirators were destined for a civilian court in New York.
Holder has since backed off his announced plans for KSM and his alleged accomplices after backlash from Republican and Democratic leaders. He has said that military commissions are once again on the table for the terrorism suspects.
Ashcroft also said the Obama administration should continue to hold terrorism suspects at Guantanamo Bay and the prison is good facility to house alleged terrorists captured by soldiers on the battlefield.
“The idea that somehow there is something evil about Guantanamo, I think is a bankrupt idea,” the former Attorney General said.