Hard to defend

摘要

It is hard to imagine that America would look kindly on a foreign government that demanded the right to hold some of its own citizens in prison, incommunicado, denying them access to legal assistance for as long as it thought necessary, without ever charging them with a crime. Nevertheless, that is the position that George Bush's administration has tried to defend in the courts with regard to American citizens whom it has deemed to be "enemy combatants". So far it has had mixed success in persuading the judges that such extreme measures are needed. Most European countries have passed modern anti-terrorism laws, which typically give police greater powers than in normal cases but still give suspects basic rights such as access to lawyers. America has no such code of conduct. So the extent of Mr Bush's powers will be determined by two enemy-combatant cases currently working their way through the federal courts; they should reach the Supreme Court some time next year.