A freelance historian and journalist, Andy Worthington has spent several years looking at the undercurrents of post-war British social history - in particular the clash between the state and some of its most outspoken critics (protest movements, travelers and alternative communities). Eine freiberufliche Historiker und Journalist, Andy Worthington verbrachte mehrere Jahre Blick auf die Unterströmungen der Nachkriegszeit British sozialen Geschichte - insbesondere der Kampf zwischen dem Staat und einige seiner ausgesprochenen Kritiker (Protestbewegungen, Reisende und alternative Gemeinden).

In 2006, he turned his attention to the “War on Terror”. Im Jahr 2006 wandte er seine Aufmerksamkeit auf den "War on Terror". Like many decent-minded citizens of the world, he had been deeply concerned, from the moment Guantanamo opened in January 2002, that the US administration’s response to 9/11 was both cruel and misguided, although he conducted some research in the years that followed, it was not until March 2006, when he read Enemy Combatant by the released British prisoner Moazzam Begg, that he asked himself the fateful question, “Who’s in Guantanamo?” The quest to answer this question consumed over a year of his life, and led to the creation of The Guantanamo Files . Wie viele anständig gesinnten Bürger der Welt, er war sehr besorgt, von dem Moment an Guantanamo eröffnet im Januar 2002, dass die US-Administration die Antwort auf 9 / 11 war auch grausam und falsch, auch wenn er einige Jahre in der Forschung , Die folgten, war es nicht bis März 2006, als er lesen Enemy Combatant von den britischen Gefangenen freigelassen Moazzam Begg, dass er fragte sich, die schicksalhafte Frage "Who's in Guantanamo?" Das Streben, diese Frage zu beantworten verbraucht über einem Jahr Sein Leben und führte zu der Gründung der Guantanamo-Dateien.

To coincide with the publication of The Guantanamo Files , he started providing additional information about the prisoners that he was unable to include in the book. Zeitgleich mit der Veröffentlichung von Die Guantanamo-Dateien, begann er, zusätzliche Informationen über die Gefangenen, dass er nicht in der Lage war, in das Buch. In February 2008, he co-wrote a front-page news story with Carlotta Gall for the New York Times, and has also had articles published in the Guardian, Index on Censorship, Socialist Review and the Daily Star, Lebanon. Im Februar 2008 ist er Co-schrieb ein Front-Seite Nachrichten Geschichte mit Carlotta Gall für die New York Times, und hat auch in den veröffentlichten Artikeln Guardian, Index on Censorship, Socialist Review und der Daily Star, Libanon.

Since September 2007, he has also undertaken various interviews - with the BBC, Al-Jazeera, Press TV, INN World News and others - and speaking engagements, including the Radical Book Fair in Edinburgh (with Arun Kundnani), and various other talks with Moazzam Begg, Zachary Katznelson, senior counsel at Reprieve, and former Guantanamo chaplain James Yee. Seit September 2007 hat er auch verschiedene Interviews - mit der BBC, Al-Jazeera, Presse TV, INN World News und andere - und sprechende Verpflichtungen, einschließlich der Radikalen Buchmesse in Edinburgh (mit Arun Kundnani), und verschiedene andere Gespräche mit Moazzam Begg, Zachary Katznelson, Senior Counsel bei gewähre, und ehemaliger Guantanamo Kaplan James Yee.

Following is the text of the interview Press TV’s Ismail Salami has conducted with Andy Worthington. Im Anschluss ist der Text des Interviews Presse TV's Ismail Salami hat mit Andy Worthington.

Press TV: Could you please explain about the structure at Guantanamo? Presse TV: Könnten Sie bitte erklären, über die Struktur in Guantanamo?

Andy Worthington: The prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba is on land occupied by a US naval base. Andy Worthington: Das Gefängnis in Guantanamo Bay, Kuba ist auf dem Land von einem US-Marine-Basis. It was first occupied by the United States in 1903 and is maintained under the terms of a lease that cannot be broken unless both the American and Cuban governments agree to it. Es wurde zum ersten Mal von den Vereinigten Staaten im Jahr 1903 und wird unter den Bedingungen eines Mietvertrags, die nicht gebrochen werden, es sei denn, auch die amerikanischen und kubanischen Regierungen zustimmen.

As a “War on Terror” prison, designed to hold prisoners — known as “detainees” — without charge or trial, and without access to the US court system, Guantanamo opened on January 11, 2002, as the first of nearly 800 detainees arrived by plane from the US prison at Kandahar airbase in Afghanistan. Als "War on Terror" Gefängnis, die Gefangenen zu halten - bekannt als "Gefangenen" - ohne Anklage oder Prozess und ohne Zugang zu den US-Gericht, Guantanamo eröffnet am 11. Januar 2002, als die erste von fast 800 Häftlinge angekommen Mit dem Flugzeug aus dem US-Gefängnis in Kandahar Luftwaffenstützpunkt in Afghanistan.

The detainees were initially held in cages that were open to the elements — in Camp X-Ray — but the first phase of a more permanent structure, known as Camp Delta, opened in May 2002. Die Häftlinge wurden zunächst in Käfigen gehalten, die geöffnet waren, um die Elemente - in Camp X-Ray - aber die erste Phase einer permanenten Struktur, bekannt als "Camp Delta", eröffnet im Mai 2002. It now contains seven prison blocks — Camps 1 to 7 — plus an isolation block, Camp Echo, and another block, Camp Iguana, which was once used to house juvenile detainees. Es enthält jetzt sieben Blöcke Gefängnis - Camps 1 bis 7 - zuzüglich einer Isolation Block, Camp Echo, und ein weiterer Block, Camp Iguana, die einst zu Haus Jugendkriminalität Häftlinge.

Press TV: Could you please tell us about Camp 6 at Guantanamo? Presse TV: Könnten Sie uns bitte mitteilen, über 6 Camp in Guantanamo?

Andy Worthington: Camp 6, modeled on “supermax” prisons on the US mainland, opened in late 2006. Andy Worthington: Camp 6, modelliert auf "supermax" auf dem US-amerikanischen Gefängnissen Festland, eröffnet im Spätsommer 2006. Although communal areas were incorporated into the structure, these have never been used. Obwohl Gemeinschaftsräume wurden in die Struktur, die diese noch nie benutzt. After unrest following the apparent suicide of three detainees in June 2006, it was decided that it was unsafe to allow the detainees to mix freely. Nach Unruhen nach der scheinbaren Selbstmord von drei Häftlingen im Juni 2006 wurde beschlossen, es sei unsicher, damit die Gefangenen frei zu mischen.

Although detainees in Camp 4 share dormitories and are allowed some communal leisure facilities, they are in the minority, and Guantanamo’s general population is held in Camp 6, where the detainees remain in solitary confinement for 22 to 23 hours a day, and are not allowed any kind of social life, even though they include dozens of detainees who have been cleared for release, following decisions made by military review boards. Obwohl die Gefangenen in Camp 4 Aktien Schlafsäle sind erlaubt und einige kommunale Freizeiteinrichtungen, sie sind in der Minderheit, Guantanamo und die allgemeine Bevölkerung ist in Camp 6, wo die Gefangenen in Einzelhaft bleiben für 22 bis 23 Stunden am Tag, und sind Nicht erlaubt jede Art des gesellschaftlichen Lebens, auch wenn sie Dutzende von Häftlingen, die gelöscht sind für die Freigabe, folgende Beschlüsse mit militärischen Review Boards. These innocent men cannot be repatriated because of fears that they will be tortured on their return, and are from countries including China, Uzbekistan, Algeria, Libya and Tunisia. Diese unschuldigen Männer können nicht zurückgeführt werden, weil befürchtet wird, dass sie bei ihrer Rückkehr gefoltert, und aus Ländern, einschließlich China, Usbekistan, Algerien, Libyen und Tunesien.

Press TV: The Bush administration has claimed that the Third Geneva Convention does not apply to al-Qaeda or Taliban fighters even though it has become evident that many of the detainees at Guantanamo are being kept with no solid accusations against them. Presse TV: Die Bush-Regierung behauptet, dass die Dritte Genfer Konvention gilt nicht für al-Qaida und Taliban-Kämpfer, obwohl es hat sich herausgestellt, dass viele der Häftlinge in Guantanamo gehalten werden, ohne solide Anschuldigungen gegen sie. How can you interpret this? Wie kann man diese interpretieren?

Andy Worthington: The decision to deprive the detainees of the protections of the Geneva Conventions (GPW) was to facilitate their interrogation, which is otherwise prohibited. Andy Worthington: Die Entscheidung zu berauben, die Häftlinge von den Schutzmechanismen der Genfer Konventionen (GPW) wurde zur Erleichterung ihrer Vernehmung, die ansonsten verboten. In the memo advising the President to remove GPW rights from the detainees (signed by his Chief Counsel Alberto Gonzales, but widely attributed to Vice President Dick Cheney and his close advisors), it was also stated that depriving the detainees of their GPW rights “substantially reduces the threat of domestic criminal prosecution under the War Crimes Act.” In der Memo Beratung des Präsidenten zu entfernen GPW Rechte der Häftlinge (unterzeichnet von seinem Chief Counsel Alberto Gonzales, aber weitgehend zurückzuführen auf Vizepräsident Dick Cheney und seiner engen Berater), es wurde auch festgestellt, dass die Häftlinge beraubt ihrer GPW Rechte "wesentlich Reduziert die Gefahr von inländischen Strafverfolgung nach dem Gesetz über Kriegsverbrechen. "

Unfortunately, when the detainees failed to provide the intelligence that the administration had hoped for, the removal of GPW rights allowed the authorities to interrogate them coercively, using “enhanced interrogation techniques” that have been widely interpreted as constituting torture. Leider, wenn die Gefangenen nicht die Intelligenz, dass die Verwaltung hatte gehofft, für die Beseitigung der GPW Rechte erlaubt den Behörden, sie zu befragen zwingende Verwendung von "Enhanced interrogation techniques", die seit weit interpretiert, die als Folter.

Over time, of course, as I demonstrate in The Guantanamo Files, it became apparent that the majority of the detainees had no intelligence to offer because they were either innocent men — charity workers, missionaries, religious students and economic migrants — or Taliban foot soldiers, recruited to fight an inter-Muslim civil war against the Northern Alliance, who had, for the most part, no knowledge of the workings of al-Qaeda. Im Laufe der Zeit, natürlich, wie ich zeigen, in der Guantanamo-Dateien, es wurde deutlich, dass die Mehrheit der Häftlinge hatten keine Intelligenz zu bieten, denn sie waren entweder unschuldige Männer - Charity Arbeitnehmer, Missionare, religiöse Studenten und Wirtschaftsmigranten - oder Taliban Fußtruppen , Rekrutiert, um gegen einen inter-islamischen Bürgerkrieg gegen die Nordallianz, die sich zum größten Teil keine Kenntnisse über die Funktionsweise von al-Qaida. Although the administration claimed that the detainees were “captured on the battlefield,” the majority had in fact been handed over to US forces by their allies, both in Afghanistan and Pakistan, at a time when substantial bounty payments were being made for al-Qaeda or Taliban suspects, and others had been picked up on the basis of false intelligence. Obwohl die Verwaltung behauptet, dass die Häftlinge wurden "erfasst auf dem Schlachtfeld", die Mehrheit hatte in der Tat seit den US-Streitkräften übergeben von ihren Verbündeten, die in Afghanistan und Pakistan, in einer Zeit, in substantielle Fülle Zahlungen wurden für al-Qaida Oder Taliban-Verdächtigen, und andere wurden Aufheben auf der Grundlage falscher Intelligenz.

Press TV: Could you please explain to our readers about the Tipton Three? Presse TV: Könnten Sie bitte erklären, die wir unseren Lesern über die Tipton Three?

Andy Worthington: The Tipton Three are three young men from the West Midlands, in England, who were captured in Afghanistan, where they had strayed in search of adventure after traveling to Pakistan to arrange the wedding of one of the men. Andy Worthington: Die Tipton Three sind drei junge Männer aus den West Midlands in England, die in Afghanistan gefangen genommen wurden, wo sie hatte streunte auf der Suche nach Abenteuer nach Pakistan zu reisen, um die Hochzeit von einem der Männer.

Caught in the wrong place at the wrong time — the northern Afghan city of Kunduz, during its surrender in November 2001 — they survived a massacre en route to a prison run by one of the Alliance commanders, when hundreds of prisoners were suffocated in container trucks, and were held in Guantanamo until March 2004, when they were returned to the UK and freed without charge. Caught in den falschen Ort zur falschen Zeit - die nördlichen afghanischen Stadt Kundus, während seiner Kapitulation im November 2001 - ein Massaker überlebt sie auf dem Weg zu einem Gefängnis, das von einer der Kommandeure der Allianz, bei der Hunderte von Häftlingen wurden in Container-Lastwagen erstickten Und fanden in Guantanamo bis März 2004, als sie sich wieder auf das Vereinigte Königreich und ohne Anklage freigelassen.

Under pressure in Guantanamo, they had falsely confessed that they were figures in the crowd in a poor-quality video that featured a meeting between Osama bin Laden and lead 9/11 hijacker Mohammed Atta, but their lawyers were able to demonstrate that, when the video was recorded, one of the three had been working at an electrical store in England. Unter dem Druck in Guantanamo, hatten sie gestanden, dass sie falsch waren Zahlen in der Menge in einem schlechten Video-Qualität, in der auch ein Treffen zwischen Osama bin Laden und führen 9 / 11 hijacker Mohammed Atta, aber ihre Anwälte waren in der Lage, zu zeigen, dass, wenn die Video aufgezeichnet wurde, einer der drei war an einem elektrischen Speicherung in England. As a result, the British government was able to press for their release. Als Folge, dass die britische Regierung war in der Lage, sich für ihre Freilassung.

Press TV: One of the abuses at the camp is reportedly the abuse of religion while the US government claims they respect religious beliefs. Presse TV: Einer der Missbräuche im Camp berichtet, ist der Missbrauch der Religion, während die US-Regierung behauptet sie die Achtung religiöser Überzeugungen. If it is true, could you please give instances of religious abuses and elaborate more on the matter? Wenn es stimmt, könnten Sie bitte den religiösen Instanzen von Missbrauch und erarbeiten mehr zu diesem Thema?

Andy Worthington: Religious abuse is something that has been widely reported in the statements of detainees released from Guantanamo. Andy Worthington: Religiöse Missbrauch ist etwas, das weithin berichtet wurde in den Aussagen von Häftlingen aus Guantánamo. It was apparently widespread in the prisons in Afghanistan, where the detainees were “processed” for Guantanamo, and was also the trigger for the earliest hunger strikes in Guantanamo itself. Es war offenbar weit verbreitet in den Gefängnissen in Afghanistan, wo die Häftlinge wurden "verarbeitet" für Guantanamo, und war auch der Auslöser für die ersten Hungerstreiks in Guantanamo. It appears that abusing the Koran — by dropping it, treading on it, or otherwise treating it with disrespect — was an easy way to cause distress to detainees without having to lay a finger on them. Es scheint, dass die Verhinderung eines Missbrauchs des Koran - von Drop it, schreitend auf, oder anders zu behandeln ihn mit Missachtung - war eine einfache Weise zu verursachen Not zu Inhaftierten zu legen, ohne mit dem Finger auf sie.

It has also been reported that the authorities in Guantanamo interfered with the call to prayer — by playing loud music, for example — and that in processing and interrogations they played on vulnerabilities caused by the detainees’ religious and cultural backgrounds; for example, in the use of enforced nudity, cavity searches and sexual humiliation. Es wurde auch berichtet, dass die Behörden in Guantanamo mischte sich ein mit dem Aufruf zum Gebet - mit lauter Musik, zum Beispiel - und das in der Verarbeitung und Verhöre spielten sie auf Schwachstellen, die durch den Häftlingen "religiösen und kulturellen Hintergründen, zum Beispiel in der Nutzung des Verschwindenlassens Nacktheit, sexuelle Hohlraum Recherchen und Demütigung.

Press TV: The appalling practices at the Guantanamo have been widely condemned by the international organizations? Presse TV: Die entsetzlichen Praktiken auf Guantanamo wurden allgemein verurteilt, die von internationalen Organisationen? Can you think of any organization that defends the horrendous practices at the Guantanamo? Können Sie sich denken, dass jede Organisation verteidigt die schrecklichen Praktiken auf Guantanamo?

Andy Worthington: No, but it’s worth pointing out, I think, that repressive regimes around the world have been able to claim that their own brutal and lawless behavior is justified because it has been endorsed by the US administration’s flight from domestic and international laws. Andy Worthington: Nein, aber es ist darauf hinzuweisen, denke ich, dass die repressiven Regimes in der ganzen Welt in der Lage gewesen, zu behaupten, dass ihre eigene brutale und gesetzlosen Verhalten gerechtfertigt ist, weil es wurde von der US-Regierung die Flucht aus der häuslichen Und internationale Gesetze.

If those captured are Prisoners of War, they should be treated according to the Geneva Conventions. Wenn diese erfasst sind Prisoners of War, sollten sie behandelt werden, nach den Genfer Konventionen. If, on the other hand, they are criminals, they should be charged and tried as such, and not subjected to indefinite detention without charge or trial, and to treatment that contravenes the UN Convention Against Torture. Wenn auf der anderen Seite, sie sind Verbrecher, sollten sie aufgeladen und versucht, als solche, und nicht unter unbefristeten Haft ohne Anklage oder Gerichtsverfahren, und Behandlung, die gegen die UN-Konvention gegen Folter.

Andy Worthington’s book The Guantanamo Files: The Stories of the 774 Detainees in America’s Illegal Prison, is published by Pluto Press. Andy Worthington Buch Die Guantanamo-Dateien: Die Geschichten der 774 Häftlinge in America's Prison Illegale, wird herausgegeben von Pluto Press. Visit his website at: Besuchen Sie seine Website unter: http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/ Http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/

http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=45108&sectionid=3510302 Http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=45108&sectionid=3510302

By Mit Ross Tuttle Ross Tuttle

A damning new interview reveals that the Gitmo trials are only for show. Eine vernichtende neues Interview enthüllt, dass die Gitmo Studien sind nur für die Show.

Secret evidence. Secret Beweise. Denial of habeas corpus. Denial-of-Habeas-Corpus. Evidence obtained by waterboarding. Beweise, die von waterboarding. Indefinite detention. Unbestimmt Inhaftierung. The litany of complaints about the legal treatment of prisoners at Guantánamo Bay is long, disturbing and by now familiar. Die Litanei von Klagen über die rechtliche Behandlung der Gefangenen in Guantánamo Bay ist lang, und von störenden jetzt kennen. Nonetheless, a new wave of shock and criticism greeted the Pentagon’s announcement on February 11 that it was charging six Guantánamo detainees, including alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, with war crimes — and seeking the death penalty for all of them. Dennoch, eine neue Welle von Kritik Schock und begrüßte die Ankündigung des Pentagon am 11. Februar, es sei der Ladevorgang sechs Häftlinge in Guantánamo, einschließlich der angeblichen 9 / 11 Mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, mit Kriegsverbrechen - und auf der Suche nach der Todesstrafe für alle von ihnen.

As the murky, quasi-legal staging of the Bush Administration’s military commissions unfolds, a key official has told The Nation that the trials are rigged from the start. Wie der trübe, quasi-rechtliche Inszenierung der Bush-Administration der militärischen Kommissionen entfaltet, eine Schlüsselrolle offizielle The Nation hat gesagt, dass die manipulierten Studien sind von Anfang an. According to Col. Morris Davis, former chief prosecutor for Guantánamo’s military commissions, the process has been manipulated by Administration appointees in an attempt to foreclose the possibility of acquittal. Laut Col. Morris Davis, ehemaliger Staatsanwalt für Guantánamo-militärischen Kommissionen, der Prozess wurde durch die Verwaltung manipuliert ernannten Mitglieder in einem Versuch, die Möglichkeit eines Freispruchs.

Colonel Davis’s criticism of the commissions has been escalating since he resigned this past October, telling the Oberst Davis Kritik an der Kommissionen wurde eskalierenden zurückgetreten, da er im letzten Oktober, die sagen,

Washington Post that he had been pressured by politically appointed senior defense officials to pursue cases deemed “sexy” and of “high-interest” (such as the 9/11 cases now being pursued) in the run-up to the 2008 elections. Washington Post, dass er unter Druck gesetzt worden, indem politisch ernannten hochrangigen Beamten der Verteidigung zu verfolgen Fällen als "sexy" und der "high-interest" (wie die 9 / 11 Fällen derzeit verfolgten) in der Zeit bis zu den Wahlen 2008. Davis, once a staunch defender of the commissions process, elaborated on his reasons in a December 10, 2007, Los Angeles Times op-ed. Davis, einmal ein standhafter Verteidiger der Kommissionen, ausführlich auf seine Gründe in der 10. Dezember 2007, Los Angeles Times op-ed. “I concluded that full, fair and open trials were not possible under the current system,” he wrote. "Ich Schluss, dass eine umfassende, gerechte und offene Studien wurden nicht möglich, im Rahmen des derzeitigen Systems", schrieb er. “I felt that the system had become deeply politicized and that I could no longer do my job effectively.” "Ich spürte, dass das System hatte sich politisiert und tief, daß ich nicht mehr meine Arbeit tun können."

Then, in an interview with The Nation in February after the six Guantánamo detainees were charged, Davis offered the most damning evidence of the military commissions’ bias — a revelation that speaks to fundamental flaws in the Bush Administration’s conduct of statecraft: its contempt for the rule of law and its pursuit of political objectives above all else. Dann, in einem Interview mit The Nation im Februar nach den sechs Häftlinge in Guantánamo wurden, die meisten angebotenen Davis vernichtende Beweise für die militärische Kommissionen 'bias - eine Offenbarung spricht, dass grundlegende Mängel in der Bush-Administration das Verhalten der Politik: Die Verachtung Für die Rechtsstaatlichkeit und die Verfolgung ihrer politischen Ziele vor allem anderen.

When asked if he thought the men at Guantánamo could receive a fair trial, Davis provided the following account of an August 2005 meeting he had with Pentagon general counsel William Haynes — the man who now oversees the tribunal process for the Defense Department. Auf die Frage, ob er dachte, die Männer in Guantánamo könnte ein faires Verfahren erhalten, Davis, sofern das folgende Konto der August-Sitzung 2005 hatte er mit Pentagon General Counsel William Haynes - der Mann, der jetzt überwacht das Gericht für die Defense Department. “[Haynes] said these trials will be the Nuremberg of our time,” recalled Davis, referring to the Nazi tribunals in 1945, considered the model of procedural rights in the prosecution of war crimes. "[Haynes] sagte diesen Studien werden die Nürnberger unserer Zeit", erinnert daran, Davis, in bezug auf die NS-Gerichte im Jahre 1945, als das Modell der prozessualen Rechte in der Verfolgung von Kriegsverbrechen. In response, Davis said he noted that at Nuremberg there had been some acquittals, something that had lent great credibility to the proceedings. In Reaktion, Davis sagte, er stellte fest, dass in Nürnberg gab es einige Freisprüche, etwas, das ausgeliehen hatte große Glaubwürdigkeit des Verfahrens.

“I said to him that if we come up short and there are some acquittals in our cases, it will at least validate the process,” Davis continued. "Ich sagte zu ihm, dass, wenn wir uns kurz, und es gibt einige Freisprüche in unseren Fällen, wird es mindestens Validierung des Prozesses," Davis fortgesetzt. “At which point, [Haynes’s] eyes got wide and he said, ‘Wait a minute, we can’t have acquittals. "An welchem Punkt, [Haynes] bekam große Augen, und er sagte:" Warten Sie eine Minute Zeit, können wir nicht haben Freisprüche. If we’ve been holding these guys for so long, how can we explain letting them get off? Wenn wir haben, die die Jungs so lange, wie können wir erklären, sie zu steigen? We can’t have acquittals, we’ve got to have convictions.’” Es kann nicht sein, Freisprüche, wir haben zu Verurteilungen. "

Davis submitted his resignation on October 4, 2007, just hours after he was informed that Haynes had been put above him in the commissions’ chain of command. Davis seinen Rücktritt eingereicht am 4. Oktober 2007, nur wenige Stunden, nachdem er informiert wurde, dass Haynes gebracht hatten vor ihm in den Kommissionen "Befehlskette. “Everyone has opinions,” Davis says. "Jeder hat Meinungen", sagt Davis. “But when he was put above me, his opinions became orders.” "Aber wenn er vor mir war, seine Meinung zu werden."

(Reached for comment, Defense Department spokesperson Cynthia Smith said, “The Department of Defense disputes the assertions made by Colonel Davis in this statement regarding acquittals.”) (Kommentar für erreicht, Defense Department Sprecherin Cynthia Smith sagte: "Das Department of Defense bestreitet die Behauptungen, die von Oberst Davis in dieser Erklärung in Bezug auf Freisprüche.")

“That he said there can be no acquittals will stain the entire [tribunal] process,” says Scott Horton, who teaches law at Columbia University Law School and who has written extensively about Haynes’s conflicts with the Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) corps, the judicial arm of the Armed Forces, which is charged with implementing the military commissions. "Das sagte er kann es keine Freisprüche Fleck wird die gesamte [Tribunal]-Prozess", sagt Scott Horton, die lehrt Recht an der Columbia University Law School, und wer geschrieben hat Haynes ausführlich über die Konflikte mit dem Judge Advocate General (JAG ) Korps, die richterliche Arm der Armee, die sich mit der Umsetzung der militärischen Kommissionen. According to Horton, Haynes tried to cut the JAG corps out of internal debates over the detention and prosecution of detainees, knowing it was critical of the Administration’s views. Laut Horton, Haynes probiert, die das JAG Corps aus internen Debatten über die Verfolgung und Inhaftierung von Gefangenen, zu wissen, es war Kritik an der Verwaltung angesehen werden. In private memos and in public Senate testimony, high-ranking officers of the corps have repeatedly expressed concerns about the Administration’s advocacy of “extreme interrogation techniques.” In privaten Notizen und in der Öffentlichkeit Senat Zeugnis, hochrangige Offiziere des Korps haben wiederholt zum Ausdruck gebrachten Bedenken in Bezug auf die Verwaltung der Fürsprache von "extreme interrogation techniques."

“The JAG corps consists of a group of rigorous professionals, but Haynes never trusted them to do their job,” says Horton. "Das JAG Corps besteht aus einer Gruppe von Fachleuten strenge, aber nie Haynes vertrauenswürdigen sie um ihre Arbeit zu tun", sagt Horton. “His clashes have always had the same subtext — they want to be independent, he wants them to do political dirty-work.” "Seine Auseinandersetzungen hatten schon immer die gleiche Subtext - sie wollen unabhängig sein, er will sie zu tun schmutzig-politische Arbeit."

Haynes, a political appointee and chief legal adviser to Defense secretaries Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates, was nominated in 2006 by the Bush Administration for a lifetime seat as a judge in the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Haynes, eine politische Beauftragte und Chief Rechtsberater Sekretärinnen Verteidigungsminister Donald Rumsfeld und Robert Gates, nominiert wurde im Jahr 2006 durch die Bush-Administration für ein Leben als Sitz eines Richters in der Court of Appeals für die Vierte Circuit. But his nomination never got out of committee, primarily because of the opposition of Republican Senator (and former military lawyer) Lindsey Graham and other members alarmed over Haynes’s role in writing or supervising the writing of Pentagon memos advocating the use of harsh interrogation techniques the Geneva Conventions classify as torture. Doch seine Nominierung nie aus dem Ausschuß, vor allem wegen der Opposition der republikanischen Senator (und ehemaligen militärischen Rechtsanwalt) Lindsey Graham und andere Mitglieder beunruhigt über Haynes Rolle in der Aufsicht über die schriftlich oder schriftlich Pentagon Memos Eintreten für die Verwendung von scharfen Verhör-Techniken Die Genfer Konventionen als Folter klassifizieren.

Currently, in his capacity as Pentagon general counsel, Haynes oversees both the prosecution and the defense for the commissions. Derzeit, in seiner Eigenschaft als General Counsel Pentagon, Haynes überwacht sowohl die Anklage und die Verteidigung für die Kommissionen. “You would think a person in that position wouldn’t be favoring one side,” says Colonel Davis. "Man könnte meinen, dass eine Person in der Lage wäre nicht die Bevorzugung einer Seite", sagt Colonel Davis.

Told of Davis’s story about Haynes, Clive Stafford Smith, a defense attorney who has represented more than seventy Guantánamo clients, said, “Hearing it makes me think I’m back in Mississippi representing a black man in front of an all-white jury.” Erzählte von der Geschichte über Davis Haynes, Clive Stafford Smith, ein Anwalt der Verteidigung, vertreten hat, mehr als siebzig Guantánamo Kunden, sagte: "Hören sie mir denke, ich bin wieder in Mississippi, die einen schwarzen Mann vor einem all-Weiß Jury. "

He adds, “It confirms what people close to the system have always said,” noting that when three prosecutors — Maj. Robert Preston, Capt. John Carr and Capt. Carrie Wolf — requested to be transferred out of the Office of Military Commissions in 2004, they claimed they’d been told the process was rigged. Er fügt hinzu: "Es bestätigt, was die Leute nah an das System haben immer gesagt," stellt fest, dass bei drei Staatsanwälte - Maj. Robert Preston, Hauptmann John Carr und Capt Carrie Wolf - übertragen werden gebeten, aus dem Office of Military Commissions in 2004, behaupteten sie, sie hatte gesagt, der Prozess wurde manipuliert. In an e-mail to his supervisors, Preston had said that there was thin evidence against the accused. In einer E-Mail an seinen Vorgesetzten, Preston gesagt hatte, dass es dünne Beweise gegen die Angeklagten. “But they were told by the chief prosecutor at the time that they didn’t need evidence to get convictions,” says Stafford Smith. "Aber sie haben gesagt, der Chef-Staatsanwalt an der Zeit, die sie nicht brauchen, um Beweise Überzeugungen", sagt Stafford Smith.

At the time, the military wrote it off as “miscommunication” and “personality conflicts.” And then there were changes in personnel. Zu dieser Zeit schrieb er das Militär aus als "Missverständnis" und "Persönlichkeit Konflikte." Und dann gab es personelle Veränderungen. “They told us that the system had been cleaned up … but I guess the more things change, the more they stay the same,” says Stafford Smith. "Sie erzählte uns, dass das System gereinigt worden war… aber ich denke, je mehr die Dinge ändern sich, je mehr sie bleiben die gleichen", sagt Stafford Smith.

The terrible irony is that even if acquittals were possible, the government has declared that it can continue to detain anyone deemed an “enemy combatant” for the duration of hostilities–no matter the outcome of a trial. Die schreckliche Ironie ist, dass selbst wenn Freisprüche möglich waren, hat die Regierung erklärt, dass sie weiterhin festhalten jemand als "feindliche Kombattanten" für die Dauer der Feindseligkeiten-egal, das Ergebnis einer Studie. And most of the 275 men held at Guantánamo are classified as “enemy combatants” while the hostilities in the “war on terror” could be never-ending. Und die meisten der 275 Männer in Guantánamo stattfinden, werden als "feindliche Kombattanten", während der Feindseligkeiten in der "Krieg gegen den Terror" könnte nie endenden.

Says ACLU staff attorney Ben Wizner, “The trial doesn’t make a difference. ACLU sagt Mitarbeiter Anwalt Ben Wizner, "Der Prozess macht keinen Unterschied. They can hold you there forever until they decide to let you out.” The one person to be released from Guantánamo through the judicial process, Australian David Hicks, pleaded guilty. Sie können Sie halten es für immer, bis sie sich entscheiden, lassen Sie sich. "Die einzige Person, die auf die Freigabe von Guantánamo durch die gerichtlichen Prozess, der Australier David Hicks, plädierte für schuldig befunden. As Wizner wrote in the Los Angeles Times in April 2007, “In an ordinary justice system, the accused must be acquitted to be released. Wie Wizner schrieb in der "Los Angeles Times" im April 2007: "In einem normalen Justiz, die Angeklagten freigesprochen werden müssen freigegeben werden. In Guantánamo, the accused must plead guilty to be released.” In Guantánamo, die Angeklagten schuldig zu plädieren, müssen freigelassen werden. "

Still, the trials serve a purpose for the government, in providing the semblance of a legitimate judicial process. Still, die Studien dienen einem Zweck für die Regierung, die in den Anschein einer rechtmäßigen gerichtlichen Prozess. According to defense attorneys involved — and many of the former prosecutors, like Davis — the process is political, not legal. Nach der Verteidigung beteiligt - und viele der ehemaligen Staatsanwälten, wie Davis - der Prozess politischer, nicht rechtlicher Natur.

“If someone was acquitted, then it would suggest we did the wrong thing in the first place. "Wenn jemand freigesprochen wurde, dann würde vorschlagen, wir haben die falsche Sache in den ersten Platz. That can’t happen,” says Horton sardonically. Das kann nicht passieren ", sagt Horton sardonische. “When the government decides to clear someone, it calls the person ‘no-longer an enemy combatant’ instead of just saying they made a mistake.” "Wenn die Regierung entscheidet sich jemand klar, es ruft die Person" nicht mehr als Feind Kämpfer 'statt nur, dass sie einen Fehler gemacht haben. "

He adds, “For people like Haynes, justice is meant to serve the party.” Er fügt hinzu: "Für Menschen wie Haynes, der Gerechtigkeit zu dienen, ist die Partei."

The US decision to bring death penalty charges against six men suspected of orchestrating 9/11 attacks could strain relations with UK. Die US-Entscheidung, die Todesstrafe gegen sechs Männer im Verdacht stehen, Orchestrierung 9 / 11 Angriffe belasten könnten die Beziehungen zu Großbritannien.

UK authorities have raised their voices against US Gitmo detention camp and the legally flawed system of military tribunals. Britischen Behörden haben ihre Stimme gegen die US-Gewahrsam Gitmo Lagers und der rechtlich fehlerhaft System der Militärgerichte.

Human rights activists have also expressed concern over the US announcement to put the six men on trial. Menschenrechtsaktivisten äußerten sich auch besorgt über die US-Ankündigung, um die sechs Männer vor Gericht.

The decision to use Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the others as guinea-pigs in a constitutionally dubious legal proceeding is likely to trigger a firestorm of anti-American sentiment in the Islamic world, according to The Independent. Die Entscheidung, Khalid Scheich Mohammed und die anderen als Versuchskaninchen in einem verfassungsrechtlich zweifelhaften juristischen Verfahrens ist wahrscheinlich ein Feuersturm auslösen, der anti-amerikanischen Stimmung in der islamischen Welt, nach The Independent.

Concerns were raised of political interference by the White House in the military’s decision to go to trial in the middle of an election campaign in which the Republican frontrunner, John McCain, has made the fight against al-Qaeda central to his election bid. Bedenken wurden von politischer Einflussnahme durch das Weiße Haus und das Militär die Entscheidung für einen Prozess in der Mitte des Wahlkampfes, in dem die Republikaner Vorreiter, John McCain, hat den Kampf gegen al-Qaida im Mittelpunkt seiner Wahl Gebot.

Vincent Warren, the executive director head of Center for Constitutional Rights, which represents many Guantanamo detainees said, “What we are looking at is a series of show trials by the Bush administration that are really devoid of any due process considerations.” Vincent Warren, der Geschäftsführer Leiter des Center for Constitutional Rights, was viele Guantanamo-Häftlinge sagte, "Was wir suchen ist auf eine Reihe von Studien zeigen, durch die Bush-Administration, die wirklich frei von jedem Prozess wegen Erwägungen."

Britain’s former attorney general Lord Goldsmith criticized the legally flawed system of US military tribunals, set up to try non-US citizens and which one law lord likened to “kangaroo courts”. Britain's ehemaliger Staatsanwalt Lord Goldsmith kritisiert, die rechtlich fehlerhaft System der US-Militärgerichten, die bis zu versuchen, Nicht-US-Bürgern, die ein Recht und Fürst verglich "Känguru Gerichte".

Human rights lawyers regard the tribunals as an affront to natural justice because the evidence against the suspects has been secured through torture or unlawful detention. Menschenrechte Juristen halten die Gerichte als einen Affront gegen die Natur des Rechts, weil die Beweise gegen die Verdächtigen wurde gesichert durch Folter oder unrechtmäßige Inhaftierung.

Even Tony Blair and Gordon Brown have called for the closure of the Guantanamo prison camp which still holds 275 inmates, many of whom have been unlawfully detained for more than five years. Selbst Tony Blair und Gordon Brown haben für die Schließung des Gefangenenlagers Guantanamo, die immer noch 275 Insassen, von denen viele zu Unrecht inhaftiert wurden für mehr als fünf Jahre.

Britain is opposed to capital punishment and has censured the treatment of detainees held in Guantanamo Bay. Großbritannien ist gegen die Todesstrafe und hat Mißtrauen der Behandlung von Inhaftierten in Guantanamo Bay.

JM/BGH JM / BGH

WILLIAM GLABERSON WILLIAM GLABERSON
The New York Times The New York Times

Military prosecutors have decided to seek the death penalty for six Guantanamo detainees who are to be charged with central roles in the Sept. 11 terror attacks, government officials who have been briefed on the charges said Sunday. Military Staatsanwälte entschieden haben, um die Todesstrafe für sechs Guantánamo-Häftlinge, die zu Lasten mit zentrale Rolle in der Terror-Anschläge September 11, Regierungsbeamte, die wurden informiert über die Kosten, sagte Sonntag.

The officials said the charges would be announced at the Pentagon as soon as today and were likely to include numerous war-crimes charges against the six men, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the former al-Qaida operations chief who has described himself as the mastermind of the attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people. Die Beamten sagte die Kosten würden auf das Pentagon angekündigt, so schnell wie heute waren und wahrscheinlich auch zahlreiche Kriegsverbrecher Anklage gegen die sechs Männer, darunter Khalid Scheich Mohammed, dem ehemaligen al-Qaida-Chef Operationen, die er beschrieben hat, wie der Mastermind des Die Anschläge, bei denen fast 3000 Menschen getötet.

A Defense Department official said prosecutors were seeking the death penalty because, “if any case warrants it, it would be for individuals who were parties to a crime of that scale.” The officials spoke anonymously because no one in the government was authorized to speak about the case. Ein Beamter sagte Defense Department Staatsanwälte waren, um die Todesstrafe, weil, "wenn es Optionsscheine jeden Fall wäre es für den Einzelnen, die Parteien zu einem Verbrechen dieser Größenordnung." Die Beamten sprach anonym, weil niemand in der Regierung wurde ermächtigt zu sprechen Über den Fall.

NEW CHALLENGES NEUE HERAUSFORDERUNGEN

A decision to seek the death penalty would increase the international focus on the case and present new challenges to the troubled military commission system that has yet to begin a single trial. Eine Entscheidung zu sein, die Todesstrafe würde die internationale Ausrichtung auf den Fall und stellen neue Herausforderungen an die schwierigen militärischen Provision System, das erst noch zu einem einzigen Prozess beginnen.

“The system hasn’t been able to handle the less-complicated cases it has been presented with to date,” said David Glazier, a former Navy officer who is a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. "Das System ist nicht in der Lage gewesen, mit den weniger komplizierten Fällen ist es mit bis heute", sagte David Glazier, ein ehemaliger Marine-Offizier, der als Professor an der Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.

In addition to Mohammed, the other five to be charged include detainees officials say were coordinators and intermediaries in the plot, among them a man labeled the “20th hijacker,” who was denied entry to the United States in the month before the attacks. Zusätzlich zu Mohammed, die anderen fünf zu zahlen sind Häftlinge wurden Beamte sagen, Koordinatoren und Vermittler in die Handlung, unter ihnen ein Mann der Aufschrift "20. Hijacker", die Einreise verweigert wurde, um die Vereinigten Staaten in den vier Wochen vor den Anschlägen. Under the rules of the Guantanamo war-crimes system, the military prosecutors can designate charges as capital when they present them, and it is that first phase of the process that’s expected this week. Nach den Regeln der Guantanamo-Krieg-Verbrechen, die militärische Staatsanwälte können designierten Gebühren als Kapital, wenn sie ihnen, und es ist die erste Phase des Prozesses, der in dieser Woche erwartet. The military official who then reviews them, Susan Crawford, a former military appeals court judge, has the authority to accept or reject a death-penalty request. Die militärischen Beamten, der sie dann Bewertungen, Susan Crawford, einem ehemaligen Militärgebiet Berufungsgericht Richter, hat die Behörde zu akzeptieren oder abzulehnen eines angekündigten Todes-Strafe Anfrage.

A Pentagon spokesman declined to comment Sunday. Ein Pentagon-Sprecher lehnte eine Stellungnahme Sonntag.

QUESTION OF CARRYING OUT EXECUTION Frage der Durchführung Ausführung

But some of those briefed on the case have said the prosecutors view their task in seeking convictions for the Sept. 11 attacks as a historic challenge. Aber einige dieser über den Fall informiert haben, sagte der Ankläger ihre Aufgabe bei der Suche nach Verurteilungen für die September 11 Angriffe als eine historische Herausforderung. A special group of military and Justice Department lawyers has been working on the case for several years. Eine spezielle Gruppe von Militär-und Justizministerium Juristen arbeitet seit über den Fall für mehrere Jahre.

Even if the detainees are convicted on capital charges, any execution would be many months or, perhaps years, from being carried out, lawyers said, in part because a death sentence would have to be scrutinized by civilian appeals courts. Selbst wenn die verurteilte Häftlinge sind auf Eigenkapitalanforderungen, die Ausführung beliebigen wäre oder viele Monate, vielleicht Jahre, aus durchgeführt werden, Anwälte sagte, zum Teil, weil ein Todesurteil müsste geprüft Appelle von zivilen Gerichten.

Federal officials have said in recent months that there’s no death chamber at the detention camp at the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and that they knew of no specific plans for how a death sentence would be carried out. Bundesamt für Beamte haben in den letzten Monaten gesagt, dass es keinen Tod Kammer in der Haft Camp in der US-Marine-Stützpunkt in Guantanamo Bay, Kuba, und wusste, dass sie keine konkreten Pläne für die wie ein Todesurteil würde durchgeführt werden.

The last military execution was in 1961, when an Army private, John A. Bennett, was hanged after being convicted of rape and attempted murder. Die letzte Hinrichtung wurde in militärischen 1961, als eine private Armee, John A. Bennett, wurde gehängt, nachdem er wegen Vergewaltigung und versuchten Mordes.

By Colin Freeman | Mit Colin Freeman | The Telegraph Die Telegraph -

US military prosecutors are putting the finishing touches to the first major case against Guantanamo Bay inmates suspected to have helped plot the September 11 attacks. US-Militär Staatsanwälte setzen den letzten Schliff für das erste große Verfahren gegen Guantanamo-Häftlinge im Verdacht zu haben dazu beigetragen, die Handlung vom 11. September.

	Khalid Shaik Mohammed was subjected to “waterboarding” while in detention Khalid Shaik Mohammed wurde zum "waterboarding", während in Haft

The charges are expected to involve six detainees currently held at the Cuban detention camp, including Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the former senior aide to Osama bin Laden, who claims to have been the main architect of the plot. Die Kosten werden voraussichtlich sechs Inhaftierten, die derzeit auf dem kubanischen Lager Haft, darunter Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, der ehemalige leitende Mitarbeiter von Osama bin Laden, die behauptet haben die wichtigsten Architekten des Grundstücks.

However, any trial will put the spotlight once again on claims of mistreatment and torture brought by some of the inmates, who as designated “enemy combatants” of the US were denied basic legal rights that would normally afforded to prisoners of war under the Geneva Convention. Allerdings, eines Versuchs wird die Strahler noch einmal auf Forderungen von Misshandlung und Folter, die von einigen der Gefangenen, die als so genannte "feindliche Kombattanten" in den USA wurden grundlegende Rechte verweigert, die normalerweise gewährt Kriegsgefangene nach der Genfer Konvention .

Last week, for example, the CIA confirmed that Mr Mohammed had at times been subjected to the interrogation technique known as “waterboarding”, in which suspects have water poured into their breathing passages in order to simulate a sense of drowning. Letzte Woche, zum Beispiel, die CIA bestätigt, dass Herr Mohammed hatte zu Zeiten waren zu der Befragung Technik bekannt als "waterboarding", in dem Verdächtigen sind mit Wasser gegossen in ihre Atemwege und zu simulieren, um ein Gefühl zu ertrinken.

The CIA claimed it was carried out on him in the belief that he had knowledge about further large-scale terrorist attacks. Die CIA behauptet, sie durchgeführt wurde, ihn in dem Glauben, dass er Kenntnisse über weitere groß angelegte terroristische Attacken. A second suspect thought to be among the six, Mohammed al-Qahtani, was subjected to sleep deprivation, forced to wear a bra, and led around Guantanamo Bay on a leash, according to a 2005 Pentagon investigation into claims of abusive treatment. Ein zweiter Gedanke zu vermuten, sich unter den sechs, Mohammed al-Qahtani, wurde unter Schlafentzug, Zwangs-BH zu tragen, und führte rund um Guantanamo Bay an der Leine, nach einer Untersuchung in 2005 Pentagon Forderungen von Misshandlung.

Al-Qahtani, who been held at Guantanamo since 2002, is said to have been the so-called “20th hijacker”, whose plans were thwarted when he was denied entry into the United States by an immigration official. Al-Qahtani, fand in Guantanamo seit 2002, ist gesagt worden zu dem so genannten "20. Hijacker", deren Pläne wurden vereitelt, wenn er abgelehnt wurde die Einreise in die Vereinigten Staaten von einer offiziellen Einwanderung.

Gitanjali Gutierrez, a lawyer acting for Mr al-Qahtani, told The New York Times that she had no information about whether he would be charged. Gitanjali Gutierrez, ein Anwalt von Herrn al-Qahtani, erzählte der New York Times, sie habe keine Informationen darüber, ob er bereit wäre, berechnet.

“But if he is,” she added, “I can assure you that his well-documented torture and the controversy over secret trials will be the focus.” "Aber wenn er ist", fügte sie hinzu: "Ich kann Ihnen versichern, dass seine gut dokumentierte Folter und die Kontroverse über die geheimen Tests wird im Mittelpunkt."

Prosecutors are understood to be considering charges of murder, conspiracy and providing material support for terrorism against the defendants, although it is thought that any trial is still many months away. Staatsanwälte sind verstanden zu werden, unter Berücksichtigung von Kosten Mord, Verschwörung und materielle Unterstützung für den Terrorismus gegen die Angeklagten, aber es ist der Meinung, dass jeder Prozess wird noch viele Monate entfernt.

The only person who has so far been tried in a US court over the September 11 plot is Zacarias Moussaoui, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy in 2005 and is serving a life jail term. Die einzige Person, die bisher versucht, in einem US-Gericht über den 11. September Plot ist Zacarias Moussaoui, der sich schuldig, Verschwörung im Jahr 2005 und ist eine lebenslange Gefängnisstrafe.

All the British inmates held in Guantanamo Bay have been released. Alle britischen Häftlinge in Guantanamo Bay freigelassen worden sind.

By Adam Zagorin | Von Adam Zagorin | Time Magazine Time Magazine

Majid Khan is seen in 1999 during his senior year in high school in Baltimore, Maryland. Majid Khan wird in 1999 bei seinem Senior-Jahr in der High School in Baltimore, Maryland. Khan, 27, is now jailed at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Khan, 27, ist jetzt ins Gefängnis in Guantanamo Bay, Kuba.

The Khan Family / Center for Constitutional Rights / AP Die Familie Khan / Center for Constitutional Rights / AP

In 2005, CIA officials ordered the destruction of videotapes depicting the harsh interrogation of prisoners in the agency’s secret overseas prisons. In 2005, ordnete die CIA-Beamten Zerstörung von Videobändern Darstellung des harten Verhör von Gefangenen in der Agentur die geheimen Gefängnisse in Übersee. CIA Director Michael Hayden admitted that in December 2007 amid a public debate over the use of “waterboarding” on detainees and whether or not the technique - which simulates drowning - constituted torture. CIA-Direktor Michael Hayden räumte ein, dass im Dezember 2007 mitten in einer öffentlichen Debatte über die Verwendung von "waterboarding" auf Häftlinge und ob oder nicht die Technik - das Ertrinken simuliert - konstituiert Folter. At that time, Hayden said that only a few prisoners were ever subjected to “special interrogation techniques,” which can include waterboarding, and that nothing was recorded on video after 2002. Zu dieser Zeit, Hayden sagte, dass nur wenige Häftlinge waren immer unter "besonderen Techniken Verhör", die man auch waterboarding, und dass nichts auf Video aufgezeichnet wurde nach 2002. That claim is now coming under additional scrutiny, in part due to a classified briefing that will be delivered to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence this Friday. Diese Forderung ist nun unter Kontrolle zusätzliche, zum Teil aufgrund einer Unterrichtung klassifiziert werden, dass der Senat Select Committee on Intelligence diesem Freitag. Lawyers representing one current Guantanamo detainee tell TIME that they plan to present evidence that he was subjected to videotaped interrogation, in addition to unspecified “systematic torture” when he was held in secret CIA prisons. Anwälte, die ein aktuelle Guantanamo inhaftierten TIME sagen, dass sie planen, um Beweise dafür, dass er auf Videoband Verhör unterzogen, zusätzlich zu unspezifiziert "systematische Folter", wenn er in geheimen CIA-Gefängnissen. The lawyers, from the Center for Constitutional Rights, a New York-based legal non-profit with a long record of advocacy for prisoners at Guantanamo, note that their client has said the videotaping occurred after his arrest in 2003. Die Rechtsanwälte, aus dem Center for Constitutional Rights, New York-rechtliche Non-Profit-mit einer langen Geschichte des Eintreten für die Gefangenen in Guantanamo, weisen darauf hin, dass ihre Kunden hat gesagt, die Aufzeichnung erfolgte nach seiner Festnahme im Jahr 2003.

Majid Khan, 27, a former suburban Baltimore high school student, was first seized by authorities in Pakistan, where he said he was visiting his brother. Majid Khan, 27, ein ehemaliger Vorort von Baltimore Gymnasiast, der erste wurde von den Behörden beschlagnahmt in Pakistan, wo er sagte, er besuchte seinen Bruder. Khan then spent more than three years in a secret overseas CIA “black site” before President Bush ordered his transfer to Guantanamo along with 13 other high-value detainees. Khan dann verbrachte mehr als drei Jahre in einem geheimen CIA in Übersee "schwarze Seite", bevor Präsident Bush ordnete seine Übertragung auf Guantanamo zusammen mit 13 anderen Häftlingen hohem Wert. Also transferred was alleged 9/11 mastermind Khaled Sheik Mohammed, who had allegedly ordered Khan to research attacks on American water reservoirs and gas stations. Auch übertragen wurde behauptet, 9 / 11 Mastermind Khaled Scheich Mohammed, der angeblich bestellt hatte Khan Forschung Angriffe auf amerikanische Wasser-Reservoire und Tankstellen.

Khan’s lawyers are armed with more than 500 pages of top-secret notes taken during recent sessions with their client at Guantanamo; they will use the material to describe his interrogation and detention to the Intelligence Committee. Khan's Anwälte sind bewaffnet mit mehr als 500 Seiten top-geheimen Notizen, die während der letzten Sitzungen mit ihren Mandanten in Guantanamo, sie wird das Material zu beschreiben seiner Vernehmung und Inhaftierung der Intelligence Committee. Though details are highly classified, his lawyers claim that he and others were tortured and videotaped, charges that Hayden and other CIA officials deny. Obwohl Einzelheiten sind hoch eingestuft, seine Anwälte behaupten, dass er und andere wurden gefoltert und auf Videoband aufgezeichnet, Gebühren, Hayden und anderen CIA-Beamten leugnen. On Feb. 5, Hayden admitted to Congress that the CIA had used waterboarding on Khaled Sheik Mohammed and two others. Am 5 Februar, Hayden, die zum Kongress, dass die CIA hatte waterboarding auf Khaled Scheich Mohammed und zwei andere. The CIA continues to assert that it does not engage in torture. Die CIA weiterhin zu behaupten, dass es sich nicht in der Folter.

Rising to Hayden’s defense, the White House this week made clear its view that waterboarding has saved American lives, is legal - and does not constitute torture, as critics insist. Hayden's Rising auf Verteidigung, das Weiße Haus in dieser Woche deutlich gemacht, dass seiner Ansicht nach waterboarding amerikanische Leben gerettet hat, legal ist - und keine Folter, wie Kritiker betonen. A spokesman for Bush said the President would authorize waterboarding for use on future terror suspects if certain standards are met, a spokesman said. Ein Sprecher von Präsident Bush sagte, die waterboarding autorisieren würde für die Verwendung auf zukünftige Terror-Verdächtigen, wenn bestimmte Standards erfüllt sind, sagte ein Sprecher. Hayden himself banned the technique in 2006 for use in CIA interrogations, and the Pentagon and FBI have done likewise. Hayden selbst verboten, die Technik in 2006 für den Einsatz in der CIA-Verhöre, und das Pentagon und das FBI haben ebenfalls getan.

A White House spokesman said the CIA could use waterboarding again if it had specific approval from the President. Ein Sprecher des Weißen Hauses sagte, die CIA könnte waterboarding wieder, wenn er besonderen Genehmigung des Präsidenten. That authorization would depend on a variety of factors, such as the “belief that an attack might be imminent” the spokesman explained. Diese Ermächtigung würde, hängt von einer Vielzahl von Faktoren, wie beispielsweise die "Überzeugung, dass ein Angriff unmittelbar bevorsteht könnte", erklärte der Sprecher. “The President will listen to the considered judgment of the professionals in the intelligence community and the judgment of the attorney general in terms of the legal consequences of employing a particular technique,” he said. "Der Präsident wird zu hören als das Urteil der Fachleute in die Intelligenz und das Urteil der Staatsanwalt im Hinblick auf die rechtlichen Folgen des Einsatzes einer bestimmten Technik", sagte er.

Khan is one of very few Guantanamo prisoners whose claim to US residency has been legally established. Khan ist einer der wenigen Guantanamo-Häftlinge, deren Anspruch auf US-Wohnsitz ist gesetzlich festgelegt. He has close relatives in the Baltimore area who are American citizens; Khan’s lawyers have appealed to members of Congress on his behalf, including Sen. Barbara Mikulski of Maryland, who sits on the Intelligence Committee. Er hat nahen Verwandten in der Gegend von Baltimore, die amerikanischen Bürger; Khan's Anwälte haben Berufung an die Mitglieder des Kongresses, in seinem Namen, darunter Senator Barbara Mikulski of Maryland, die sitzt auf der Intelligence Committee. After years of isolation in prison, Khan was recently allowed to mix with at least one other prisoner at Guantanamo, Abu Zubaydah, a top alleged terrorist who, Hayden has said, was one of those prisoners to be waterboarded. Nach Jahren der Isolation in den Gefängnissen, Khan wurde vor kurzem erlaubt, vermischen sich mit mindestens einem weiteren Gefangenen in Guantanamo, Abu Zubaydah, ein top mutmaßlichen Terroristen, die Hayden gesagt hat, war einer der Gefangenen zu waterboarded.

Khan’s lawyers have said their client has gone on a hunger strike to protest the conditions of his confinment, and appears pale and gaunt. Khan's Anwälte haben gesagt, ihr Client hat auf einem Hungerstreik protestieren die Bedingungen seiner confinment, und erscheint blass und hager. In the course of meetings with counsel and the Red Cross, Khan also handed over neatly penned, handwritten letters. Im Laufe der Sitzungen mit Rat und das Rote Kreuz, Khan auch ordentlich übergeben Feder, handgeschriebene Briefe. Several have been made public, after heavy redactions imposed by US military censors. One of Khan’s messages begins: “In this letter I am going to mention some of the things I have been through.” Then the next 19 lines of text are blacked out.

But Khan’s private declarations to his lawyers cannot be censored, and it is those that the Intelligence Committee will hear on Friday. His allegations come at a time when Congress is considering passage of a new intelligence bill that would effectively outlaw many of the CIA’s interrogation methods by forcing the Agency to use only those techniques permitted in the US Army Field Manual.

The bipartisan ban in the intelligence bill, put forward by Senators Dianne Feinstein of California and Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, still faces Republican opposition, while the intelligence bill as a whole could face a presidential veto because if it does not grant amnesty to telephone companies who participated in possibly illegal wiretapping of Americans, as requested by the Bush Administration. The bipartisan ban in the intelligence bill, put forward by Senators Dianne Feinstein of California and Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, still faces Republican opposition, while the intelligence bill as a whole could face a presidential veto because if it does not grant amnesty to telephone companies who participated in possibly illegal wiretapping of Americans, as requested by the Bush Administration.

”The national debate over torture will end if this amendment to place the CIA under the Army Field Manual becomes law,” Senator Feinstein said. “At that point, all US government interrogations - military and civilian - would be conducted under the same rules and regulations, and eight specific techniques, including waterboarding, would be prohibited.”

A new court at Guantánamo would allow the US military to keep its secrets by cutting off terror suspects’ testimony from the ears of observers at the flick of a switch.

BY CAROL ROSENBERG

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVY BASE, Cuba — On the eve of the resumption of its war crimes trials, the military on Sunday unveiled a new state-of-the-art court capable of trying six alleged terrorists simultaneously — and silencing them from the outside world, if they try to spill state secrets. GUANTANAMO BAY NAVY BASE, Cuba — On the eve of the resumption of its war crimes trials, the military on Sunday unveiled a new state-of-the-art court capable of trying six alleged terrorists simultaneously — and silencing them from the outside world, if they try to spill state secrets.

The military offered a comprehensive look at its new court, part of a $12 million razor-wire-ringed legal complex that arrived by cargo plane and barge in prefabricated parts. Unlike a more ambitious plan to build a $125 million compound on the site overlooking Guantánamo Bay, the new compound can be dismantled and shipped back stateside once trials are done.

”We got it up in six months at a fraction of the cost,” said Army Col. Wendy Kelly, director of operations at the Pentagon’s Office of Military Commissions.

Architecturally, the bunker-style building is a bland structure impenetrable to electronic eavesdropping.

Inside, it has an up-to 20-seat jury box for the US military officers who will be assembled from around the world, case by case, to sit in judgment; typical judges and prosecution tables, plus a bank of defense tables where six captives can sit at computers on faux leather chairs, unshackled but guarded by soldiers. Inside, it has an up-to 20-seat jury box for the US military officers who will be assembled from around the world, case by case, to sit in judgment; typical judges and prosecution tables, plus a bank of defense tables where six captives can sit at computers on faux leather chairs, unshackled but guarded by soldiers.

KILLING THE SOUND

It also has a 30-seat adjacent room, behind a tempered-glass window, where observers can hear the proceedings on a broadcast basis — and a kill-switch where a security officer or the judge can cut the sound in case someone divulges a state secret. It also has a 30-seat adjacent room, behind a tempered-glass window, where observers can hear the proceedings on a broadcast basis — and a kill-switch where a security officer or the judge can cut the sound in case someone divulges a state secret.

There is no blackout capacity or curtain, meaning the media, legal observers, dignitaries and family members who might attend a trial could watch but not listen.

Such measures could be necessary if the Pentagon presses ahead with plans to try alleged 9/11 architect Khalid Sheik Mohammed or any of the other 14 high-value detainees who arrived at this base in September 2006 from three-plus years of secret CIA custody.

The agency has classified the interrogation techniques it used on the men — in secret sites, somewhere overseas — as national security secrets. Were one to blurt out his treatment at trial, the judge or security officer could simply stifle their voices.

It is inside razor wire along with five separate windowless cells where lawyers can meet clients who could some day include the alleged architects of the 9/11 attacks and other suspected senior al Qaeda leaders.

On Monday, lawyers return to the old court to argue, again, for dismissal of terror charges against Guantánamo’s youngest detainee, Toronto-born Omar Khadr, who was captured at age 15 in Afghanistan. Khadr’s Pentagon-appointed attorneys argue before an Army judge Monday that all war crimes charges should be dismissed against the Canadian man, now 21.

He is charged in the grenade killing of a US Army medic, Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Speer, 28, of Albuquerque, NM, who was part of a Special Forces unit that attacked a suspected al Qaeda compound in Khost, Afghanistan, in July 2002.

Khadr is from a fundamentalist Muslim family, which sometimes celebrated Muslim feasts with the bin Ladens in Afghanistan, and he is also accused of conspiring with and supporting al Qaeda, attempted murder of other members of Speer’s unit and spying by scouting on US forces. Khadr is from a fundamentalist Muslim family, which sometimes celebrated Muslim feasts with the bin Ladens in Afghanistan, and he is also accused of conspiring with and supporting al Qaeda, attempted murder of other members of Speer’s unit and spying by scouting on US forces .

Conviction could carry life in prison because, in consideration of his youth, the Pentagon waived an option to seek the death penalty.

Khadr’s lawyers claim he should have been treated as a ”child soldier,” not equally responsible to an adult, in part because he was 15 at the time of his capture.

”If jurisdiction is exercised over Mr. Khadr, the military judge will be the first in Western history to preside over the trial of alleged war crimes committed by a child,” Navy Lt. Cmdr. William Kuebler wrote in a 15-page motion.

Moreover, Kuebler argued that the United States failed his client — who has grown into beefy, bearded adulthood behind the razor wire here at Camp Delta.

But the chief prosecutor, Army Col. Larry Morris, disputes the defense characterization of the captive as a child soldier — saying Khadr did not meet the definition under international law.

”The conventions on child soldiers establish the minimum age for conscripting soldiers,” he said in a statement, adding, “They do not provide amnesty for war crime activities on the battlefield.”

DETAINED SINCE 16

Khadr arrived at this remote prison camp at age 16, saw his first attorneys two years later and has periodically fired the lawyers who have volunteered to work on his case.

He has spent long portions of detention in special segregation for war-court candidates but more recently was moved to a POW-style compound where about 60 of the 275 or so detainees live in communal bunkhouses.

Prosecutors from Spain’s National Court are seeking key witnesses in relation to alleged secret CIA flights in which dozens of Islamist prisoners were transported via Spain to Guantanamo Bay.

The National Court suspects that dozens of prisoners captured in Kandahar, Afghanistan by US forces were transported to Guantanamo via Spanish airports or using Spanish airspace between January 2002 and October 2006.

According to the Spanish daily El Pais, about 47 flights headed to or came from the US base at Guantanamo in Cuba and landed or flew over Spanish airports.

A document submitted to the court by the Spanish Airports and Air Navigation (AENA) authority, refers to eight flights in 2002, seven in 2003, twelve in 2004, nine in 2005, nine in 2006, and two in February 2007.

The National Court also wants to know why in 2002, just months after the deadly September 11 attacks against the twin towers, ex-premier Jose Maria Aznar and US president George W. Bush, updated a bilateral defence treaty, which had been in place in 1989. The National Court also wants to know why in 2002, just months after the deadly September 11 attacks against the twin towers, ex-premier Jose Maria Aznar and US president George W. Bush, updated a bilateral defence treaty, which had been in place in 1989.

The updated treaty made it more flexible for American planes to land at the US bases of Rota and Moron de la Frontera.

The court wants to know if these ‘more flexible’ terms were used to transfer the first 23 prisoners sent from the city of Kandahar in Afghanistan to Guantanamo.

Flight and airport officials as well as military and civilian air traffic controllers in the US bases located at Moron de la Frontera, Rota and Torrejon de Ardoz will be asked to give their testimony.

The flights took place under the leadership of former prime minister Jose Maria Aznar and the current prime minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.

© GMC Group Ð all rights reserved

From CagePrisoners

US Attorney H. Candace Gorman has revealed that her client Abdul Hamid Al-Ghizzawi has been infected with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). Al Ghizzawi believes the infection happened during medical procedures at Guantanamo in 2004 when he was given a blood test which resulted in alarm amongst the hospital staff. Al Ghizzawi was not given any explanation for the alarm at the time. As a result Al-Ghizzawi has now been told that he is suffering from Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). Having already been suffering from Hepatitis B and Tuberculosis (which he also acquired at Guantanamo) Al Ghizzawi has been held in severe isolation in Camp 6.

Gorman filed an emergency application with the US Supreme Court asking that the US military be ordered to treat Al-Ghizzawi’s medical problems and for medical records to be turned over to her. Chief Judge Roberts denied the motion despite it being stated by the chief medical doctor at Guantanamo, Dr Sollock, that Al-Ghizzawi did not suffer from any ill health on arrival to the base.

Al-Ghizzawi’s health has rapidly deteriorated and Cageprisoners calls for the immediate release of his medical records so that adequate medical treatment can be given to the detainee. Spokesman for Cageprisoners and former Guantanamo detainee, Moazzam Begg said,

“That a man who has endured more than half a decade in the world’s most infamous prison – without charge or trial – is now infected with the world’s most dreaded disease is preposterous. How will the US administration explain this one to his family? More ‘robust interrogation techniques’?”

With Al-Ghizzawi’s condition as it is, Candace Gorman made the following plea,

“Al-Ghizzawi is an innocent civilian turned over to the Americans in response to a bounty (cash American dollars for Arabs). Al-Ghizzawi has been taken from his wife and young daughter and he will die if he is not given immediate medical care, and yet the American military cannot be bothered… I ask that all of you please contact the American state department and ask them to release this innocent and very ill man.” Al-Ghizzawi has been taken from his wife and young daughter and he will die if he is not given immediate medical care, and yet the American military cannot be bothered… I ask that all of you please contact the American state department and ask them to release this innocent and very ill man.”

A double heart-attack of Saifullah Paracha, the death of an Afghan detainee due to cancer and the deaths of four other detainees in Guantanamo all highlight the serious medical difficulties of those being detained. The US administration must put pressure on the public to give full medical treatment to those under its control. However, the medical situation only reiterates the more pressing concern that these men must either be charged for crimes under a system that is recognised to be fair and open, or must be released expeditiously.

Cageprisoners is a human rights organisation that exists to raise awareness of the plight of the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay and other detainees held as part of the War on Terror. We aim to give a voice to the voiceless.

By Ramzy Baroud

Guantanamo is a dark spot in US history and shall go down in world history as a symbol of injustice and oppression

11 January marked the sixth year anniversary of the establishment of the Guantanamo detention camp. Mere months after the start of the 2001 United States invasion of Afghanistan, a large cargo plane landed in a US military base in Cuba’s Guantanamo Bay, bringing in a group of hunchbacked, orange-clad, blindfolded, “terrorist” suspects, apparently representing the worst of the worst. Mere months after the start of the 2001 United States invasion of Afghanistan, a large cargo plane landed in a US military base in Cuba’s Guantanamo Bay, bringing in a group of hunchbacked, orange-clad, blindfolded, “terrorist” suspects, apparently representing the worst of the worst. They included children and aged men, charity workers, journalists and people who were sold to the US military in exchange for a large bounty.

The debate over this notorious prison has ever since been marred by easy reductionism. The fact is that Guantanamo is neither a warranted compound holding “bad people” — as explained by the ever straightforward President Bush — nor is it a dark spot in the otherwise luminous US record for respecting human rights, rules of war and international treaties. If anything, Guantanamo is a mere extension of a long list of untold violations practised by the Bush administration, which condenses the camp to being a symbol of widespread policy predicated on nonchalantly undermining international law.

The prison is arguably one of the worst mockeries of international law, which was itself drafted partly by American legal experts. Past US administrations may not have been devoted followers of the Geneva Conventions, but neither have they ever discarded international treaties as openly and as arrogantly as the current one. Former attorney-general Alberto Gonzales, a personal friend of President Bush, mastered this art in a way that allowed his bosses to adorn their gratuitous actions with the air of legitimacy. Guantanamo was his ultimate masterpiece.

Hundreds of Guantanamo prisoners have subsequently been released, some to the custody of their respective governments. Roughly 275 remain in the camp. Out of a total of about 1,000 only 10 have been charged. Out of a total of about 1000 only 10 have been charged.

The prisoners at Guantanamo are “among the most dangerous, best trained vicious killers on the face of the earth,” according to former secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld. If that was the case, why wasn’t Rumsfeld prepared to try them in a court of law? After all his self-assured judgement shows that he possessed more evidence than needed by any court to convict and throw them into jail. But, of course, the subject of evidence or lack thereof was irrelevant.

Neither habeas corpus, due process, nor any set of laws, national or international, mattered much to an administration that prided itself on its ability to transcend all of that. Of course, such disregard was justified on the basis of national interests and a whole set of tired pretences. Time, however, showed that Guantanamo, and the overriding militancy it symbolised, has probably done more damage to US national interest than any other event in US history.

In the early years, prisoners at Guantanamo were held in open air cages, with nothing but a mat and a bucket for a toilet. Anthony D Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, wrote in Salon.com, “We now know that only a small percentage of the many hundreds of men and boys who have been held at Guantanamo were captured on a battlefield fighting against Americans; far more were sold into captivity by tribal warlords for substantial bounties.” Romero cites comments made by a former Guantanamo commander for several years, Brigadier General Jay Hood. Anthony D Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, wrote in Salon.com, “We now know that only a small percentage of the many hundreds of men and boys who have been held at Guantanamo were captured on a battlefield fighting against Americans ; far more were sold into captivity by tribal warlords for substantial bounties.” Romero cites comments made by a former Guantanamo commander for several years, Brigadier General Jay Hood. The commander told the Wall Street Journal, “Sometimes, we just didn’t get the right folks.”

Moreover, both former secretary of state Colin Powell and current Secretary Condoleezza Rice called for the shutting down of Guantanamo, along with various international bodies and numerous rights groups in the US and abroad. But the Bush administration still persists in maintaining Guantanamo. The chances are if the Guantanamo prisoners were of any value in Operation Enduring Freedom and in the so-called global war on terror, whatever information some of them might have possessed has already been extracted, violently or otherwise. Moreover, if overwhelming evidence against them was indeed at hand, the Bush administration would have tried them long ago. Neither scenario is convincing.

Leigh Sales, writing for the Sydney Morning Herald made the dubious assessment that the “the problem is what to do with the prisoners [if the detention camp is shutdown]. If they are moved to American jails, they will have to be charged and tried under US law. Evidence gathered through coercive interrogations will not be admissible in regular courts and so Bush would risk watching the likes of Mohamed and Hambali walk free.” Such commentary, emulated by others, suggests that the underlying reason behind the preservation of Guantanamo is, more or less, national interests. Evidence gathered through coercive interrogations will not be admissible in regular courts and so Bush would risk watching the likes of Mohamed and Hambali walk free.” Such commentary, emulated by others, suggests that the underlying reason behind the preservation of Guantanamo is, more or less , national interests.

However, Guantanamo is staying in business, for the exact same reason that the Iraq war rages on, and for similar reasons to why the Bush administration’s failing global policy persists. Shutting down Guantanamo would be an admission of defeat, a declaration of failure, which is something that the patrons of the empire cannot afford, at least not now.

11 September was an opportune moment to turn a new doctrine into reality, as outlined by the Project for the New American Century, a desperate attempt to sustain an empire that is facing challenges. The tactics, utilised almost immediately after the terrorist attacks, pointed at a foreign and military policy style designed to free itself from accountability to anyone, including the American people, the United Nations and international law. Guantanamo is a grotesque representation of that tactic — and the failure of that tactic.

Indeed, Guantanamo is a dark spot in US history and shall go down in world history as a symbol of injustice and oppression. And it will continue to be a jarring reminder of the inhumanity, the torture, and the extreme violence associated with the Bush administration’s so-called war on terror.

– Ramzy Baroud is a Palestinian-American author and editor of PalestineChronicle.com. His work has been published in numerous newspapers and journals worldwide, including the Washington Post, Japan Times, Al Ahram Weekly and Lemonde Diplomatique. His latest book is The Second Palestinian Intifada: A Chronicle of a People’s Struggle (Pluto Press, London). Read more about him on his website: RamzyBaroud.net

US appellate court rejects British victims’ suit for Guantánamo torture damages

By Mit John Burton

On January 11, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit dismissed a case brought by four British citizens seeking money damages to compensate them for having been tortured by the US government. The four individuals were held for more than two years at the United States Naval Base in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

With an outlandish display of convoluted and specious logic, the three-judge panel issued a precedent establishing that non-US citizens outside US national borders cannot seek any redress in any US court for torture or other deprivations of constitutional and statutory rights inflicted by US government officials. With an outlandish display of convoluted and specious logic, the three-judge panel issued a precedent establishing that non-US citizens outside US national borders cannot seek any redress in any US court for torture or other deprivations of constitutional and statutory rights inflicted by US government officials.

Ironically, the decision was issued on the sixth anniversary of the Guantánamo Bay’s opening, which was marked by protests and demonstrations around the world. About 200 demonstrators, many wearing orange jumpsuits, marched from the US Capitol to the Supreme Court building in Washington, DC. Others demonstrations took place in London, Sydney, Rome, Athens and Madrid. Terry Hicks, the father of freed Australian Guantánamo prisoner David Hicks, participated in a protest in the Australian city of Adelaide.

Incarcerating as many as 800 prisoners at its peak, the Guantánamo prison population today is reportedly around 275.

To reach its politically pre-determined result—ratifying the Bush administration’s creation of a legal “black hole” beyond both domestic and international law—the three-judge panel concluded that Guantánamo Bay prisoners: (1) cannot sue under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS) or the Geneva Conventions because their torturers acted within the scope of their federal employment; (2) have no rights under the US Constitution because they are neither US citizens nor within US territorial jurisdiction; and (3) are not “persons” protected by the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). To reach its politically pre-determined result—ratifying the Bush administration’s creation of a legal “black hole” beyond both domestic and international law—the three-judge panel concluded that Guantánamo Bay prisoners: (1) cannot sue under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS) or the Geneva Conventions because their torturers acted within the scope of their federal employment; (2) have no rights under the US Constitution because they are neither US citizens nor within US territorial jurisdiction; and (3) are not “persons ” protected by the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA).

Shafiq Rasul, Asif Iqbal, Rhuhel Ahmed and Jamal Al-Harith were captured in Afghanistan by General Rashid Dostum, a Northern Alliance warlord, on November 28, 2001. They were turned over to the US military and held in Guantánamo until their release in March 2004. (See “Britain: Freed Guantánamo Bay detainees detail beatings and abuse” )

The following October, attorneys from the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) in New York City filed a complaint for damages in federal district court, alleging that then secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld and Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, along with several high ranking military officers, expressly approved and promulgated policies to abuse and torture Guantánamo Bay prisoners. The following October, attorneys from the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) in New York City filed a complaint for damages in federal district court, alleging that then secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld and Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, along with several high ranking military officers, expressly approved and promulgated policies to abuse and torture Guantánamo Bay prisoners.

The CCR complaint sets out in detail the “cruel, inhuman and degrading” conditions to which the plaintiffs were subjected. They were placed in “wire cages of about 2 meters by 2 meters” exposed to the elements, including scorching sunlight, and often were removed only once a week for a two-minute shower and again once a week for “five minutes recreation while their hands remained chained.” They were placed in “wire cages of about 2 meters by 2 meters” exposed to the elements, including scorching sunlight, and often were removed only once a week for a two-minute shower and again once a week for “five minutes recreation while their hands remained chained.”

Throughout their ordeal, the prisoners were repeatedly “beaten, shackled in painful stress positions, threatened by dogs, subjected to extreme temperatures and deprived of adequate sleep, food, sanitation, medical care and communication,” while being subjected to repeated, lengthy and coercive interrogations. Throughout their ordeal, the prisoners were repeatedly “beaten, shackled in painful stress positions, threatened by dogs, subjected to extreme temperatures and deprived of adequate sleep, food, sanitation, medical care and communication,” while being subjected to repeated, lengthy and coercive interrogations.

In addition to such physical and mental abuse, the plaintiffs allege “they were harassed while practicing their religion, including forced shaving of their beards, banning or interrupting their prayers, denying them copies of the Koran and prayer mats and throwing a copy of the Koran in a toilet bucket.” In addition to such physical and mental abuse, the plaintiffs allege “they were harassed while practicing their religion, including forced shaving of their beards, banning or interrupting their prayers, denying them copies of the Koran and prayer mats and throwing a copy of the Koran in a toilet bucket.”

The government and military defendants filed a motion to dismiss the complaint. Under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the reviewing court must accept all the factual allegations of the complaint as true and deny the motion to dismiss unless established law absolutely precludes recovery under any reasonable interpretation of the facts. In March 2005 the trial judge dismissed parts of the case, but allowed the claim that the defendants interfered with the prisoners’ religious freedom to go forward. Both sides appealed. Last Friday’s decision followed almost three years later.

Circuit Judge Karen Lecraft Henderson—appointed by George HW Bush to fill the seat vacated by Kenneth W. Starr in 1990—issued a 43-page opinion disposing of each claim on the most reactionary grounds possible.

Henderson was joined by Judge A. Raymond Randolph, also appointed by the first president Bush. Randolph has previously authored two noxious decisions upholding the Bush administration’s assault on democratic rights. In Al Odah v. United States , he ruled that Guantánamo prisoners have no habeas corpus rights (See “US appeals court upholds denial of habeas corpus rights to Guantánamo detainees” ), and in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld he ruled that Guantánamo prisoners can be tried before military commissions that do not comply with the Uniform Code of Military Justice (See “US court upholds military trials for Guantánamo prisoners” ).

The Supreme Court later reversed both of these earlier decisions. Because of subsequent Congressional actions, however, the issues presented by them remain unresolved.

Henderson wrote that the four plaintiffs could not sue the defendants under the Alien Tort Statute or the Geneva Conventions because each defendant was acting “within the scope of his employment.”

Henderson made the extraordinary declaration, “Torture is a foreseeable consequence of the military’s detention of suspected enemy combatants.” On this basis, she rejected the plaintiffs’ argument that the immunity for federal employees acting within the scope of employment should not apply because the defendants torture policy “was never authorized,” was “seriously criminal,” “has long [been] condemned” by the United States and was a “substantial departure from the government’s ‘normal method’ of detaining and interrogating persons of interest.” Henderson made the extraordinary declaration, “Torture is a foreseeable consequence of the military’s detention of suspected enemy combatants.” On this basis, she rejected the plaintiffs’ argument that the immunity for federal employees acting within the scope of employment should not apply because the defendants torture policy “was never authorized,” was “seriously criminal,” “has long [been] condemned” by the United States and was a “substantial departure from the government’s ‘normal method’ of detaining and interrogating persons of interest .”

Henderson then dismissed the constitutional claims based on denial of due process and cruel and unusual punishment by claiming, “Guantánamo detainees lack constitutional rights because they are aliens without property or presence in the United States.”

The argument is absurd as the US government exercises complete jurisdiction over the military base at Guantánamo, which it occupies pursuant to a perpetual $1 lease extracted from the Cuban government in 1903. The opinion also defies recent Supreme Court precedent directly on point. Even if this were not the case, the Bill of Rights to the US Constitution constitutes a restriction on US governmental power, not a grant of rights or special privileges limited to US citizens or people within the national borders.

The appellate court’s position means that under the Constitution anyone in the executive branch of the US government can go anywhere outside the strict territorial boundaries of the United States itself, capture anyone not a US citizen, and then subject him or her to extreme physical, mental and emotional abuse without any concern for liability in any US court arising from violations of US or international law. The appellate court’s position means that under the Constitution anyone in the executive branch of the US government can go anywhere outside the strict territorial boundaries of the United States itself, capture anyone not a US citizen, and then subject him or her to extreme physical , mental and emotional abuse without any concern for liability in any US court arising from violations of US or international law.

Finally, the appellate court rejected the plaintiffs’ claim that the defendants “inhibited and constrained religiously motivated conduct central to Plaintiffs’ religious beliefs,” when they “imposed a substantial burden on Plaintiffs’ abilities to exercise or express their religious beliefs” and “regularly and systematically engaged in practices specifically aimed at disrupting Plaintiffs’ religious practices.” Finally, the appellate court rejected the plaintiffs’ claim that the defendants “inhibited and constrained religiously motivated conduct central to Plaintiffs’ religious beliefs,” when they “imposed a substantial burden on Plaintiffs’ abilities to exercise or express their religious beliefs” and “regularly and systematically engaged in practices specifically aimed at disrupting Plaintiffs’ religious practices.”

In the most patently offensive part of her opinion, Henderson wrote that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which provides that the “Government shall not substantially burden a person’s exercise of religion,” cannot be used by the British plaintiffs tortured at Guantánamo Bay because “persons”—as used in the statute—do not include “aliens … located outside sovereign United States territory.” In the most patently offensive part of her opinion, Henderson wrote that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which provides that the “Government shall not substantially burden a person’s exercise of religion,” cannot be used by the British plaintiffs tortured at Guantánamo Bay because “persons”—as used in the statute—do not include “aliens … located outside sovereign United States territory.”

This argument was too much for the third member of the panel, Judge Janice Rogers Brown, a right-wing judge appointed by George W. Bush, who enjoys a well-deserved reputation as a judicial loose cannon. Brown attacked the majority’s reasoning, but not its result. “There is little mystery that a ‘person’ is an individual human being … as distinguished from an animal or thing,” Rogers wrote, adding that the opinion “leaves us with the unfortunate and quite dubious distinction of being the only court to declare those held at Guantánamo are not ‘person[s].’ This is a most regrettable holding in a case where plaintiffs have alleged high-level US government officials treated them as less than human.” “There is little mystery that a ‘person’ is an individual human being … as distinguished from an animal or thing,” Rogers wrote, adding that the opinion “leaves us with the unfortunate and quite dubious distinction of being the only court to declare those held at Guantánamo are not ‘person[s].’ This is a most regrettable holding in a case where plaintiffs have alleged high-level US government officials treated them as less than human.”

Eric Lewis, a law partner in Washington, DC’s Baach Robinson & Lewis, who argued the appeal for the plaintiffs, called it “an awful day for the rule of law and common decency when a court finds that torture is all in a day’s work for the Secretary of Defense and senior generals…. Eric Lewis, a law partner in Washington, DC’s Baach Robinson & Lewis, who argued the appeal for the plaintiffs, called it “an awful day for the rule of law and common decency when a court finds that torture is all in a day ’s work for the Secretary of Defense and senior generals…. It is an awful day for our tradition of respect for religious freedom and for our moral standing in the world when a court finds that these detainees are not ‘persons’ whose rights to observe their religion with dignity and without harassment are worthy of protection.”

The Center for Constitutional Rights announced that it will be filing a petition for review in the Supreme Court.

The highest US military officer says he would like to see the detention centre at Guantanamo Bay closed because its image has damaged America’s international standing.

“I would like to see it shut down,” Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the US military’s joint chiefs of staff, said on Sunday.

On his first visit to the jail in Cuba since taking up his post in October, Mullen toured Guantanamo facilities including the construction site of a new high-security courtroom that US officials say should speed up inmate trials.

He said: “I believe that from the standpoint of how it reflects on us that it’s been pretty damaging.”

But he acknowledged closing the prison posed major legal problems.

Legal issues

“There are enormous challenges associated with that,” Mullen said.

“There are enormously complex, complicating legal issues that are way out of my purview.”

He said there were some “really, really bad people” detained at Guantanamo who had committed “extraordinary crimes”.

Among those detained is Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the self-confessed mastermind of the September 11, 2001, attacks in New York and Washington DC.

Mullen also said steps had been taken to reduce the population at the camp, which now stood at 277.

Waterboarding ‘torture’

Earlier, Mike McConnell, the chief of US national intelligence, was quoted as saying he believed the US interrogation practice known as “waterboarding” could be described as torture.

“Whether it’s torture by anybody else’s definition, for me it would be torture,” he told The New Yorker magazine on Sunday.

Protesters enact ‘waterboarding’ in one of the many rallies held against its practice [Reuters]

The comments came as the US House Intelligence Committee continues an investigation into the CIA’s destruction of videotapes that are reported to have shown the use of the interrogation technique on suspects.

McConnel also said that should waterboarding ever be determined as torture, “there will be a huge penalty to be paid for anyone engaging in it”.

“If I had water draining into my nose, oh God, I just can’t imagine how painful!” he said.

“Waterboarding”, involves pouring water over subjects who are bound, gagged and hooded in order to terrify them by stimulating the feeling that they are drowning.

McConnell stopped short of categorically describing the interrogation process as torture and declined to say whether he believed it should be formally labelled as such.

No dispute

A spokesman for McConnell later said he did not dispute the quotes attributed to him in the story the Associated Press reported.

Kevin Lanigan, from Human Rights First, told Al Jazeera: “It’sa very important step for such a senior official in this [US] administration for the first time to admit that - with some caveats on his admission - that this technique is torture.” Kevin Lanigan, from Human Rights First, told Al Jazeera: “It’sa very important step for such a senior official in this [US] administration for the first time to admit that - with some caveats on his admission - that this technique is torture .”

Michael Mukasey, the US attorney general, has declined to rule on whether “waterboarding” is torture.

A ruling that the technique does constitute torture would put at risk the CIA interrogators who were given permission by the White House in 2002 to use the technique on three prisoners who were considered resistant to conventional interrogation.

‘Excruciatingly painful’

McConnell said in his interview that the legal test for torture should be “pretty simple”, suggesting: “Is it excruciatingly painful to the point of forcing someone to say something because of the pain?”

The CIA has said it has not used the technique since 2003 and Michael Hayden, the agency’s director, prohibited it in 2005.

Tony Fratto, a White House spokesman, refused to comment on the issue on Saturday.

He said: “We don’t talk about interrogation techniques. And we are not going to respond to every little thing that shows up in the press.

“We think it’s vitally important he and the intelligence community have all the tools they need.”

On the sixth anniversary of the Guantanamo Bay, protesters took to the street worldwide, with over 80 people arrested in the US capital.

On Friday, around 200 demonstrators in prisoner-style orange jumpsuit marched from Congress in Washington DC to the nearby Supreme Court building, calling for the shutdown of the prison where the US military put terrorist suspects in detention.

In addition, a petition signed by 1,100 parliamentarians from across the world, and 100,000 other signatures from US citizens, was to be handed in to the White House. In addition, a petition signed by 1100 parliamentarians from across the world, and 100000 other signatures from US citizens, was to be handed in to the White House.

People also staged protests in the Philippines, Sweden, Paraguay, Bahrain, Ireland, the United Kingdom and Greece.

The US Supreme Court is to rule in the coming months on whether prisoners at Guantanamo Bay can challenge their detention in civilian courts. Currently they face special military tribunals at the base, outside the US soil.

According to the US Department of Defense, despite hundreds who have been released from Guantanamo to various countries, there are still 275 remaining in the prison.

SG/GM

By Mary Shaw

January 11, 2008, will mark the sixth anniversary of the first arrival of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.

While some of Gitmo’s residents probably are terrorists who want to kill Americans, we have reason to believe that many others are actually innocent of any ties to terrorism and were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, or were arrested due to an unfortunate language misinterpretation, or were arbitrarily sold to US troops by bounty hunters. While some of Gitmo’s residents probably are terrorists who want to kill Americans, we have reason to believe that many others are actually innocent of any ties to terrorism and were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, or were arrested due to an unfortunate language misinterpretation, or were arbitrarily sold to US troops by bounty hunters.

And, as of this writing, only 10 Gitmo detainees have ever been charged with any crime.

In fact, a study by Seton Hall University found that 55 percent of Gitmo detainees are not determined to have committed any hostile acts against the United States or its coalition allies.

According to the same study , only eight percent were characterized as al-Qaeda fighters. 40 percent of the remaining detainees have no definitive connection with al-Qaeda at all, and 18 percent have no definitive affiliation with either al-Qaeda or the Taliban!

Imagine being an innocent person locked up in a 6.5′ x 8′ cage and mistreated for six years straight — 2,191 days — without charge, and with no real means to challenge your detention or prove your innocence — just an unfair military tribunal system that has been Imagine being an innocent person locked up in a 6.5′ x 8′ cage and mistreated for six years straight — 2191 days — without charge, and with no real means to challenge your detention or prove your innocence — just an unfair military tribunal system that has been condemned by Amnesty International and other human rights groups as a travesty of justice. But, you see, the Bushies say that the Gitmo detainees are “the worst of the worst” and therefore don’t deserve basic human rights.

In other words, they’re presumed guilty until proven innocent — but they have no opportunity to prove their innocence. Catch-22.

Imagine the helplessness, hopelessness, and despair that the innocent detainees must feel. And think of their families. These innocent detainees are not just numbers; they are fathers, sons, husbands, brothers, uncles, nephews, cousins, and friends. And some of them were just kids when they were arrested.

Congress blessed this horrific system when it passed the Military Commissions Act of 2006 , which turned a really bad policy into really bad law.

Congress should be ashamed. And Congress should waste no more time in correcting that mistake.

We need to close Guantanamo — a national embarrassment — and give each detainee a fair trial, in accordance in international law. Sort them out in a credible court of law, release the ones found innocent, and punish the true bad guys.

Why is a fair trial so unacceptable to the Bush administration — and to Congress?

US Secretary of State has urged countries that have nationals in Guantanamo Bay to help Washington close the detention center.

“We need some help in closing Guantanamo,” said Condoleezza Rice.

Rice added that since the freed inmates could go on to jeopardize international security, the countries should guarantee the “bad people” in custody would not be a danger when released.

She said the camp contained dangerous men who had been plotting against capitals in the US, Europe and South East Asia and had been caught during the US invasion of Afghanistan.

Hundreds of people are currently being held in US prisons at Guantanamo Bay, in Cuba after the invasion of Afghanistan in early 2002.

UN officials have strongly criticized the human rights violations at the US prison and have expressed concern at US treatment of the detainees, US military courts, and its interrogation techniques.

SBB/RA