The driver for Osama bin Laden faced a Combatant Status Review Tribunal to determine his eligibility to face the war crimes tribunal at the U.S. naval detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Salim Ahmed Hamdan was portrayed by government prosecutors as a loyalist to the al Qa’ida leader who swore an oath to bin Laden, carried and transported weapons and was enthusiastic in his support for the terrorist group's ideology. His lawyers, however, portrayed him as a low-level operative trying simply to make a meager living in war-torn Afghanistan. While the United States Supreme Court examines a package of cases involving the civil rights of the detainees, Hamdan's CSRT is the latest twist in the conflict over detention policies.
Hamdan's case ascended to the Supreme Court on the grounds that the military commission established to prosecute him at Guantanamo Bay was unconstitutional, as it existed under a presidential mandate. The Supreme Court ruled 5-3 in favor of Hamdan saying that only Congress has the right to dictate the letter of the law in such cases and the president had superseded his authority. The court said also that the military commission violated Hamdan's rights under the Geneva Conventions pertaining to access to evidence and other procedural questions and was therefore illegal. Congress passed various legislations in response to the Hamdan case that established the current military tribunal at Guantanamo Bay.
Government officials portrayed Hamdan as a willing and active member of bin Laden's inner circle in Afghanistan. They said he had prior knowledge of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and was implicated in several other major terrorist attacks.
U.S. forces captured Hamdan near Kandahar, Afghanistan, carrying an AK-47 and holding two surface-to-air missiles in his vehicle. He faces prosecution for conspiracy to commit terrorist acts against the United States and for associating with a terrorist organization, namely al-Qa’ida. Conspiracy is not normally considered a war crime, however, Congressional legislation outlining procedural issues for the tribunal system at Guantanamo Bay amends the United States’ Uniform Code of Military Justice to include such charges as a violation of the laws of war.
