Senior British Minister Calls Guantanamo Bay "A Shocking Affront"
Shaveta Bansal - All Headline News Staff Writer Sydney, Australia (AHN) - In a rare scene of diplomacy, a senior British minister has sternly denounced the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. During a speech to lawyers in Australia, Lord Chancellor Charles Falconer, a close ally of Prime Minister Tony Blair, said the U.S. military camp is a "shocking affront to the principles of democracy." The comments by Falconer come at a time when Washington is rushing to clear the way to begin prosecuting the foreign detainees held at the facility. Falconer said that acceptance of the rule of law meant that courts must be able to exercise jurisdiction over the executive, otherwise the conduct of the executive would not be defined and restrained by law. "It is because of that basic principle that the United States of America, deliberately seeking to put the detainees beyond the reach of law in Guantanamo Bay, is so shocking an affront to the principles of democracy," he said, adding that without independent judicial control the essential values of the society will be ineffective. "Without these values, what we are fighting for can get lost in the way we fight," he said. Falconer, however, said the disparity of views over the facility between two countries did not detract from their position as "close and staunch" allies. Britain has secured the release of all nine of its citizens held at the camp after saying |
