I just find it very difficult to justify the idea of a tribunal, I guess. Especially a unilateral one. I'm glad it's happening but not all prisoners are getting them. Some just get to be locked up forever, with no chance to prove anything. Surely some of those people are innocent. It's just hard to say what is fair. But I do support civilian trials, rather than military tribunals.
Obviously some people have been let go either after a trial or when evidence was not there. The main Nurnberg Trials ended (IIRC) pretty late in 1946 when the war was over in May 1945. The later trials went on well after that ... they had the advantage of tons of documentary evidence and the inability of the defense to appeal the trial itself.
Given that, these seem to be taking place in a reasonable time IMO. Military/International Tribunals seem to have a pretty established precedent in these types of cases ... and I think a reputation for being somewhat fair. I would guess in 1945, most thought every Nazi would be hung, but 3 were released and others got prison. Same with the trials in Japan ... I do not think it is quite right to see these as "hanging juries" or unfair.
True, and I don't. I actually think most US military judges, prosecutors, and defence lawyers will do their jobs exactly as they are supposed to, and damn good on them. I don't oppose the tribunals, I just think that if the crimes are against the US citizenry in the form of terrorism, then the US citizenry should have the final responsibility in the cases. Military judges were used (though civilian lawyers defended and prosecuted, remember the chief prosecutor at Nuremberg was SCOTUS Justice Robert Jackson). I don't think the military will do a bad job. The question, to me, is constitutional, not practical. If the Geneva Conventions to which the USA is part states those detainees are not POWs, then they shouldn't be treated as such.
The U.S. Government has for the first time issued a public list of Guantanamo prisoners cleared for release or transfer, but who remain at the island prison because of difficulties finding a country willing to take them or because of concerns about sending them to their home countries.
The list (posted here) was filed in a series of federal court cases Friday morning and includes the names and serial numbers of 55 detainees. That's almost exactly one-third of the 167 men currently imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay.
A significant number of the men are believed to be Yemeni. President Barack Obama suspended further transfers to Yemen in January 2010 over concerns that some prisoners sent their for further detention had escaped.
What does registration exactly mean in this context? A vote is a vote, and it is done by a person (or someone else on behalf of the person) when the moment comes, not now.
If this is illegal, then you bet that more people are doing this. A tip of the iceberg.
In the USA, Foro, in order to vote, you have to register beforehand, though you can, I believe, cast a vote without being registered, it is far more difficult. Registered voters are statistically far more likely to vote, so the campaigns like to register people on their side, but not people on the other side.
Huh, I see. I thought it was like people went to register to vote (as you have to register as a voter) and then they neglected to register certain voters. That's how it came across to me. Should'nt obviously be so fast on the trigger.
In the USA, Foro, in order to vote, you have to register beforehand, though you can, I believe, cast a vote without being registered, it is far more difficult. Registered voters are statistically far more likely to vote, so the campaigns like to register people on their side, but not people on the other side.
Alright. But I still don't get the purpose or the function of this registration. I guess it has to do with the campaign. Maybe I understand it better when I explain how it works overhere.
In my country it's a neutral process. All citizens with Dutch passport having the age of 18 or higher receive a voting ticket from their municipality at their address, a few weeks before voting day. That way everybody is registered in advance, that is: if you want to call it registration. It's automatic and without political bullshit.
On the voting day, if you're going to vote, you need to take this ticket plus ID. Without: no vote.
It's a little more complicated over here. Most people when they turn 18 register to vote and at that time have to choose if they'll be registered as either a Democrat or a Republican. You can register as an independent but registered like that will not allow you to vote in the primaries becausewhen you vote in the primary you are given either a Democratic or Republican ballot. The primaries are the elections that decide which clients will face off in the general election and each state decides when the primaries are held (Indiana's primary is held in May) You don't have to vote in the primary, you can just wait to vote in the general election. However in Indiana if you fail to vote in two consecutive elections you have to be reregistered as a voter and I'm sure other states probably have similar rules.
It varies from state to state ... registering is incredibly easy in my experience... beyond people asking you to register, you can do it at pretty much any government office, schools have registration drives, etc. I believe the purpose of it is to prequalify voters as eligible (proper age and an actual citizen, not only of the country but the state/precinct you are registering in, My election ballot will be different than someone who lives 2 miles east of me as they will have a different Congressional/state/local races)
Again: this prequalifying is unnecessary when a municipality knows who is allowed to vote and who is not. This information is for them available in something called the civil registry.
Wiki explanation: Civil registration is the system by which a government records the vital events of its citizens and residents. The resulting repository or database is called civil register or registry, or population registry. The primary purpose of civil registration is to create legal documents that are used to establish and protect the civil rights of individuals. A secondary purpose is to create a data source for the compilation of vital statistics. In most countries, there is a legal requirement to notify the relevant authority of any life event which affects the registry.
In the Netherlands, maintaining the civil registry (Gemeentelijke basisadministratie) is the duty of the municipalities.
So when I try to translate our system to USA it could look something like this:
You do not need to do a thing if your situation has not changed since the last elections:
A: You're still alive
B: You still live in the same municipality
It doesn't get easier than that.
You receive your call-to-vote card automatically.
If you'd move to another municipality, the authorities must be informed and then the new ones will be responsible for providing you the card when the time comes.
If you die: authorities must know, you won't get another card.
Some more extended explanation:
...Polling is organized on the basis of municipalities. In each municipality there are multiple voting stations, usually in communal buildings, such as churches, schools, and more recently, railway stations. There are two different systems: using the call-to-vote card (oproepkaart) or a voting pass (stempas). With the oproepkaart, voters may vote, using this card, only at their nearest voting station, or if lost, their identity card. With a stempas, users may vote at any station in their municipality, but must have the pass with them. If it is lost, a replacement can be requested, but only until a few days before the elections. A stempas (of different type) can also be requested to vote in a different municipality. When arriving at a voting station, voters hand in their card or pass to one of the three attendants of the voting station, who checks the card, cancels it, issues ballot papers to the voter, and directs him or her to the polling-booth. Dutch citizens living abroad are able to vote by registering in advance and then using a postal vote or, more recently, voting over the internet...
I know it's more complicated in the US because they have states with own (unhandy!) rules.
Drivers licenses are probably the most common form of ID and are supposed to be current as far as address, but obviously not everyone drives. There is an option to get a state ID card, which comes in handy if you ever want to fly or cash a check .. there is a small fee associated with the ID (though some states that recently passed voter ID laws are giving those away for free).
There have been sporadic debates (most recently after 9/11) about creating a national id, but that is not really a popular option in the US.
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