In 2006, after charges were laid against a number of detainees held in the Guantanamo Bay detention camps, a boycott against the judicial hearings was declared by Ali al-Bahlul. The boycott gained momentum in 2008 when more detainees faced Guantanamo military commissions
The Guantanamo Bay detention camp is a United States military prison located within Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, also referred to as Guantánamo, G-Bay, GTMO, and Gitmo, which is on the coast of Guantánamo Bay in Cuba. Since the inmates have been detained indefinitely without trial and several detainees have been tortured, the operations of this camp are considered to be a major breach of human rights by Amnesty International.
A boycott is an act of voluntary and intentional abstention from using, buying, or dealing with a person, organization, or country as an expression of protest, usually for moral, social, political, or environmental reasons. The purpose of a boycott is to inflict some economic loss on the target, or to indicate a moral outrage, to try to compel the target to alter an objectionable behavior.
The Guantanamo military commissions are military tribunals authorized by presidential order, then by the Military Commissions Act of 2006, and currently by the Military Commissions Act of 2009 for prosecuting detainees held in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps.
The boycott has threatened the future of the tribunals, and reduced the credibility of the Military Commissions Act of 2006 as prisoners have resolved not to cooperate or recognise the American military proceedings, amidst claims that the tribunals were not impartial, the detainees had been abused or tortured into giving false confessions, and would find each detainee "Guilty" regardless of the facts. [1] Public confidence in the fairness of the trials reached all-time lows after the boycotts began. [2]
The United States Military Commissions Act of 2006, also known as HR-6166, was an Act of Congress signed by President George W. Bush on October 17, 2006. The Act's stated purpose was "to authorize trial by military commission for violations of the law of war, and for other purposes".
Organised by the detainees themselves, American military defence attorneys have blamed peer pressure for convincing other prisoners to join the process. [1]
Peer pressure is the direct influence on people by peers, or the effect on an individual who gets encouraged to follow their peers by changing their attitudes, values or behaviors to conform to those of the influencing group or individual. This can result in either a positive or negative effect. Social groups affected include both membership groups, in which individuals are "formally" members, and cliques, in which membership is not clearly defined. However, a person does not need to be a member or be seeking membership of a group to be affected by peer pressure. Peer pressure can decrease one's confidence. It can affect the lives of the students drastically.
Six of the charged prisoners have appeared before a judge in 2008, and five of them declared their intentions to boycott the proceedings. The Canadian Omar Khadr, accused of throwing a grenade when he was 15 years old, is the only detainee facing charges who is not currently boycotting the hearings, as his lawyers have stressed this shows that he is not a threat and will "play by the rules" if released. [1] He was, however, a former member of the boycott, announcing his intentions to boycott in March 2006. [3]
Omar Ahmed Sayid Khadr is a Canadian who was detained by the United States at Guantanamo Bay for ten years, from the age of 16, during which he pleaded guilty to the murder of U.S. Army Sergeant 1st Class Christopher Speer and other charges. He later appealed his conviction, claiming that he falsely pleaded guilty so that he could return to Canada. Khadr sued the Canadian government for infringing his rights under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms; this lawsuit was settled in 2017 with a $10.5 million payment and an apology by the federal government.
