I saw a film last year at the University of Maryland Law School called “The Response.” The movie was written and produced by Sig Libowitz, an alumnus of the law school. The 30-minute film crystallizes the constitutional and moral dilemma that tormented and divided the military judges determining the combatant status of the Guantanamo Bay detainees. It was filmed at the law school and is based on transcripts from “Combatant Status Review Tribunal” hearings.
In the movie, Aasif Mandvi from “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” plays the role of al Aqar, a man accused of being an al Qaeda bomb maker. Shackled at the ankles and chained to the floor, he stands before three military judges, two men and one woman. The judges refuse to present him with any evidence concerning the charges against him because, under the Bush administration’s suspension of habeas corpus, the accused has no right to this classified information. The man cannot defend himself effectively.
