SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The Bush administration should drop plans to let agents eavesdrop on conversations between terror suspects and defense lawyers and should ease other rules to ensure military tribunals are fair and open, the nation’s largest lawyers’ group said yesterday.
“We must defend those whom we dislike or even despise,” Miami defense lawyer Neal Sonnett told colleagues, before the American Bar Association voted to ask the administration to change its rules for any tribunals.
The ABA’s policy-making House of Delegates took no position on whether individual lawyers should participate in tribunals, although another lawyers’ organization has already said it would be unethical to represent terrorism suspects under the current rules.
The Pentagon will provide a free military lawyer to anyone brought before a tribunal, but also will allow defendants to choose outside civilian lawyers.
“We have every intent of these being full and fair trials and believe the rules do allow defense counsel to prepare and investigate the case,” said Maj. John Smith, a Pentagon spokesman for the office setting up tribunals.
Recommendations for changes are outlined in a report adopted by the ABA at its annual meeting in San Francisco.
The Pentagon has insisted that security and intelligence agents must be able to listen in on attorney-client conversations, but has said the information will not be used against the defendant at trial. Outside the military setting, defense lawyers assume that their conversations with clients are private.
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