David Hicks, an Australian detainee who has been held for nearly 5 years at the U.S. prison camp in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, has pleaded guilty to terrorist activity including "providing material support" to Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. For those who were not able to attend our campus film screening of The Road to Guantánamo, our Amnesty urgent action letter concerned the Australian government's negligence in regards to Hicks' case and his ongoing detention and alleged claims of torture and maltreatment at Guantánamo. Hicks is the first Guantánamo detainee to face prosecution under the Military Commissions Act passed by Congress in 2006 - a practice that has drawn sharp international criticism.

Several concerns have surrounded Hicks's plea, including the fact that he was denied access to two of his three lawyers at the beginning of the trial, and also the suspicion that his plea may have arisen out of a desperate desire to return home. For more information on the court proceedings during Hicks's guilty plea, take a look at today's International Herald Tribune article here. Australian ministers report that it is "very likely" that Hicks will return home to serve out his prison sentence.