Rights Wrongly Denied to Enemy Combatants

U.S. Solicitor Gen. Theodore Olson argues in front of the U.S. Supreme Court that the “enemy combatants” caged at Guantanamo Bay are not subject to U.S. law -- and do not have the right to be defended in U.S. courts -- because it’s Cuban territory (April 21). It’s only logical, therefore, to turn them over to the Cuban judicial system, which does have jurisdiction.

James Devine

Torrance

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I listened to Olson’s arguments in the Supreme Court on C-SPAN, representing the Bush administration’s contention that those being held at Guantanamo Bay have no rights and can be held indefinitely. The minute aspects of legal precedents were debated at length. What it comes down to, I think, should be not legal precedents but how we would want our soldiers or civilians to be treated if picked up by foreign governments for some alleged infraction of rules or as prisoners of war. The answer might better guide us in determining the fate of those we’ve detained.

Karen E. Stone

Laguna Hills

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The Guantanamo Bay detainees should be released forthwith pursuant to the provisions in the Geneva Convention. The Bush administration should not be allowed to detain individuals who have been classified as enemy combatants without justification. The Geneva Convention allows for reasonable detentions only if there is just cause. Clearly, the Guantanamo Bay detainees deserve due process and not indefinite incarceration, as is being proposed by the Bush administration.

Frank Perez

Culver City