A federal appeals court Thursday questioned whether a Guantanamo Bay Naval Base detainee has a right to be present for his entire trial, giving the Bush administration hope it may use military commissions to try prisoners there.
The three-judge panel reacted strongly when a lawyer for Salim Ahmed Hamdan told them "it makes no sense to say that we adhere to international law and the first thing we do at the beginning of a trial is violate a canon of international law."
Legal systems of other countries don't allow a defendant to be present for all parts of a trial, Appeals Judge A. Raymond Randolph replied. Judge John Roberts added that some countries don't allow cross-examination of witnesses.
"This is the law in Rwanda," but should not be in the United States, replied the detainee's lawyer, Charles Swift.
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