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Proposed military court risks institutionalising impunity
Judicial System Monitoring Program Press Release - April 25, 2008
Recent comments about the establishment of a military court raise serious questions about how best to ensure the accountability of armed forces personnel. This issue has been sparked by the use of a site in Colmera, rather than the prison in Becora, as a detention facility for four captured dissident soldiers.
This de facto military prison has been officially justified by the need to provide additional security during the state of emergency. It remains to be seen whether those kept in custody at this special facility will join the general prison population now that the state of emergency has been lifted.
The Minister of Justice, Lucia Lobato, has said the establishment of a military prison is a step toward the establishment of a military court.
The President of the parliamentary commission responsible for security and defence issues, Duarte Nunes, also claimed that a military court is needed. Mr Nunes has publicly confirmed a plan to create a military court, and stated delays in its establishment are principally due to resourcing issues. This is not just an issue of resources. What standard of justice would be applied in a separate legal forum adjudicating cases of armed forces misconduct? Though the creation of such a court is constitutionally allowable, there is little legal guidance on what its jurisdiction, composition or function might be.
The Constitution indicates such a court would judge crimes ‘of a military nature’ at first instance. This appears to leave open the fortunate prospect of appeal. This issue takes on special significance given current, though as yet unsubstantiated, reports of abuses perpetrated under the auspices of the joint command.
For it to meet with public approval, such a court would have to guard procedurally against claims that it dispensed special treatment to those in uniform. Special care would need to be taken to make certain that matters brought before a military court were properly investigated, and transgressions punished. Should this plan proceed, it must be ensured that the court does not veil abuses of power, but rather provides an avenue for legitimate public complaint.
Should you ask any further information, please contact:
Timotio de Deus
Director JSMP
Mob: 3323883 / 7292909
E-mail: timotio@jsmp.minihub.org
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