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). Um historiador e jornalista freelance, Andy Worthington passou vários anos, olhando para os undercurrents do pós-guerra britânico história social - em particular o conflito entre o Estado e alguns dos seus mais outspoken críticos (protesto movimentos, viajantes e comunidades alternativas).

In 2006, he turned his attention to the “War on Terror”. Em 2006, voltou sua atenção para a "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 . Como muitos digno de espírito dos cidadãos do mundo, que ele tinha sido profundamente preocupado, a partir do momento Guantánamo abriu, em Janeiro de 2002, que os E.U. administração da resposta ao 11 / 9 foi tanto cruel e errada, embora ele tenha realizado alguma pesquisa nos anos Que se seguiu, não foi até março de 2006, quando ele leu Enemy Combatente pela libertado prisioneiro britânico Moazzam Begg, que ele perguntou-se a fatal pergunta: "Quem está em Guantanamo?" A busca de responder a esta pergunta consumidos ao longo de um ano de Sua vida, e conduziu à criação de Guantanamo Os Arquivos.

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. Para coincidir com a publicação de A Guantanamo Files, ele começou a fornecer informações adicionais sobre os presos que ele não foi capaz de incluir no livro. 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. Em fevereiro de 2008, ele co-escreveu um front-page notícia com Carlotta Gall para o New York Times, e também teve artigo publicado no Guardian, sobre Índice Censura, socialista e Revisão do Daily Star, do Líbano.

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. Desde Setembro de 2007, ele tem também realizadas várias entrevistas - com a BBC, Al-Jazeera, TV Press, INN World News e outros - e orais, incluindo o Radical Book Fair, em Edimburgo (com Arun Kundnani), e várias outras conversações com Moazzam Begg, Zachary Katznelson, consultor sênior em Reprieve, e ex-capelão Guantanamo James Yee.

Following is the text of the interview Press TV’s Ismail Salami has conducted with Andy Worthington. A seguir está o texto da entrevista Press TV's Ismail Salami tem conduzido com Andy Worthington.

Press TV: Could you please explain about the structure at Guantanamo? Prima TV: Poderia explicar sobre a estrutura de Guantanamo?

Andy Worthington: The prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba is on land occupied by a US naval base. Andy Worthington: A prisão de Guantanamo Bay, Cuba está em terras ocupadas por uma E.U. base naval. 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. Ele foi primeiramente ocupada pelos Estados Unidos em 1903 e é mantido de acordo com os termos do contrato de locação que não pode ser quebrado a menos que ambos os governos americano e cubano concorde com ela.

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. Como um "War on Terror" prisão, projetado para deter presos - conhecido como "presos" - sem acusação nem julgamento, e sem acesso ao sistema os E.U. tribunal, Guantánamo abriu em 11 de janeiro de 2002, como o primeiro de quase 800 detentos chegaram Por avião desde os E.U. airbase prisão em Kandahar, no Afeganistão.

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. Os detidos foram inicialmente realizado em gaiolas que foram abertas para os elementos - em Camp X-Ray - mas a primeira fase de uma estrutura mais permanente, conhecida como Camp Delta, inaugurado em Maio de 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. Ela agora contém sete quarteirões prisão - Camps 1 a 7 - acrescida de um bloco isoladamente, Camp Echo, e um outro bloco, Camp Iguana, que já foi usado para abrigar menores detidos.

Press TV: Could you please tell us about Camp 6 at Guantanamo? Prima TV: Poderia, por favor, informe-nos sobre Camp 6 em Guantanamo?

Andy Worthington: Camp 6, modeled on “supermax” prisons on the US mainland, opened in late 2006. Andy Worthington: Camp 6, modelado em "supermax" prisões sobre os E.U. continente, abriu no final de 2006. Although communal areas were incorporated into the structure, these have never been used. Embora as áreas comuns foram incorporados à estrutura, estas nunca foram utilizados. 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. Após agitação após o aparente suicídio de três detidos em Junho de 2006, foi decidido que era perigoso permitir que os detentos para misturar livremente.

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. Embora detidos em Camp 4 partes dormitórios e comunais são permitidas algumas instalações de lazer, que estão em minoria, e Guantanamo geral da população é realizada em Camp 6, onde os detentos permanecem em isolamento durante 22 a 23 horas por dia, e são Não é permitido qualquer tipo de vida social, ainda que incluem dezenas de detidos que foram apuradas para a libertação, após decisões tomadas pelos militares revisão 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. Estes homens inocentes não podem ser repatriados porque receio de que eles serão torturados no seu regresso, e são provenientes de países como a China, Uzbequistão, Argélia, Tunísia e Líbia.

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. Prima TV: A administração Bush alegou que a Terceira Convenção de Genebra não se aplica a al-Qaeda ou combatentes talibãs, embora tornou-se evidente que muitos dos detidos em Guantánamo estão sendo mantidos sem sólidos acusações contra eles. How can you interpret this? Como você pode interpretar isto?

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: A decisão de privar os detentos das proteções das Convenções de Genebra (GPW), foi para facilitar a sua interrogação, que é proibida em contrário. 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.” Na memo assessorar o Presidente para remover GPW direitos dos detidos (assinada por seu Chief Counsel Alberto Gonzales, mas amplamente atribuída ao vice-presidente Dick Cheney e seus conselheiros mais próximos), que também foi afirmado que priva os detidos dos seus direitos GPW "substancialmente Reduz a ameaça de processo criminal doméstico sob a War Crimes Act ".

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. Infelizmente, quando os detentos não conseguiram fornecer a inteligência que a administração teve que se esperava, a eliminação dos direitos GPW permitiu às autoridades para interrogá-los coercively, usando "técnicas reforçadas interrogatório", que têm sido amplamente interpretado como constituindo tortura.

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. Ao longo do tempo, é claro, como já demonstram em Guantanamo Os arquivos, tornou-se evidente que a maioria dos detentos não teve inteligência para oferecer porque eram inocentes ou homens - caridade trabalhadores, missionários, religiosos e estudantes migrantes económicos - ou Taliban pé soldados , Recrutados para lutar contra uma guerra civil inter-muçulmano contra a Aliança do Norte, que tinham, na maior parte dos casos, nenhum conhecimento do funcionamento da al-Qaeda. 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. Embora a administração alegou que os detidos foram "capturados no campo de batalha", a maioria tinha, de facto, sido entregues às forças E.U. pelos seus aliados, tanto no Afeganistão e no Paquistão, num momento em que substancial graça pagamentos estavam sendo realizados para a al-Qaeda Taliban ou suspeitos, e outros tinham sido pego com base em falsas informações.

Press TV: Could you please explain to our readers about the Tipton Three? Prima TV: Poderia explicar aos nossos leitores sobre o Tipton Três?

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: O Tipton Três são três homens jovens de West Midlands, em Inglaterra, que foram capturados no Afeganistão, onde eles tinham desvia em busca de aventura após viajar ao Paquistão para organizar o casamento de um dos homens.

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. Capturados no lugar errado, no momento errado - do norte da cidade afegã de Kunduz, durante a sua rendição, em Novembro de 2001 - que sobreviveu um massacre rota para uma prisão executado por um dos comandantes da Aliança, quando centenas de prisioneiros foram sufocados em contentores caminhões , E foram detidos em Guantanamo até Março de 2004, quando foram devolvidos ao Reino Unido e libertados sem acusação.

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. Sob pressão, em Guantánamo, que tinham falsamente confessou que eram figuras no meio da multidão em um vídeo de baixa qualidade que apresentou uma reunião entre Osama Bin Laden e levar 9 / 11 hijacker Mohammed Atta, mas os seus advogados foram capazes de demonstrar que, quando os Vídeo foi gravado, um dos três tinha vindo a trabalhar numa loja elétrico na Inglaterra. As a result, the British government was able to press for their release. Como resultado, o governo britânico foi capaz de pressionar para a sua libertação.

Press TV: One of the abuses at the camp is reportedly the abuse of religion while the US government claims they respect religious beliefs. Prima TV: Um dos abusos no campo é declaradamente o abuso da religião, enquanto os E.U. governo afirma que respeitar as crenças religiosas. If it is true, could you please give instances of religious abuses and elaborate more on the matter? Se é verdade, poderia fazer o favor de dar instâncias religiosas abusos e elaborar mais sobre o assunto?

Andy Worthington: Religious abuse is something that has been widely reported in the statements of detainees released from Guantanamo. Andy Worthington: Religiosos abuso é algo que tem sido amplamente noticiada nas declarações dos detidos de Guantanamo libertados. 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. Foi aparentemente generalizada nas prisões no Afeganistão, onde os detidos foram "tratados" de Guantanamo, e também foi o gatilho para as primeiras greves da fome em Guantanamo própria. 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. Parece que abusar do Alcorão -, largando-o, treading sobre ela, ou tratando-a com desrespeito - era uma maneira fácil de causar perigo para detentos sem ter de lançar um dedo sobre eles.

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. Também foi relatado que as autoridades de Guantanamo interferiram com a convocação para a oração - tocando música alto, por exemplo - e que, em transformação e interrogatórios que eles jogaram sobre as vulnerabilidades causadas pelos detentos "religiosas e culturais, por exemplo, no Uso da nudez forçada, cavidade pesquisas e humilhação sexual.

Press TV: The appalling practices at the Guantanamo have been widely condemned by the international organizations? Prima TV: As terríveis práticas no Guantánamo têm sido amplamente condenada pelo organizações internacionais? Can you think of any organization that defends the horrendous practices at the Guantanamo? Pode você pensar de qualquer organização que defende os terríveis práticas no 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: Não, mas é importante apontar, em minha opinião, que regimes repressivos do mundo todo têm sido capazes de sustentar que as suas próprias brutal e anárquica comportamento justifica-se porque foi endossado pelo os E.U. administração do voo de domésticos E das leis internacionais.

If those captured are Prisoners of War, they should be treated according to the Geneva Conventions. Se os reclusos são capturados de Guerra, devem ser tratados de acordo com as Convenções de Genebra. 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. Se, por outro lado, eles são criminosos, que devem ser cobrados e julgados como tais, e não sujeito a detenção indefinida, sem acusação nem julgamento, e ao tratamento que viola a Convenção das Nações Unidas contra a Tortura.

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 do livro O Guantanamo Files: As histórias do 774 Detainees na America's prisão ilegal, é publicado pela Pluto Press. Visit his website at: Visite o seu website em: 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 Por Ross Tuttle Ross Tuttle

A damning new interview reveals that the Gitmo trials are only for show. Uma condenável nova entrevista revela que o Gitmo ensaios são apenas para mostrar.

Secret evidence. Secret provas. Denial of habeas corpus. Negação de habeas corpus. Evidence obtained by waterboarding. Provas obtidas por waterboarding. Indefinite detention. Detenção indefinida. The litany of complaints about the legal treatment of prisoners at Guantánamo Bay is long, disturbing and by now familiar. O rosário de queixas sobre o tratamento jurídico dos prisioneiros de Guantánamo Bay é longo, perturbador e por agora familiar. 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. No entanto, uma nova onda de choque e crítica saudou o anúncio do Pentágono 11 de fevereiro que estava cobrando Guantánamo seis detidos, incluindo a alegada 9 / 11 clássia Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, com a guerra crimes - e buscando a pena de morte para todos eles.

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. Como a obscuros, quasi-legal estadiamento da Administração Bush's comissões militares desdobra, um dos principais oficiais A Nation disse que os ensaios são rigged desde o início. 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. Segundo a-coronel Morris Davis, o ex-procurador-chefe de Guantánamo militar da comissão, o processo tem sido manipulado pela Administração pessoas nomeadas numa tentativa de excluir a possibilidade de absolvição.

Colonel Davis’s criticism of the commissions has been escalating since he resigned this past October, telling the Coronel Davis's crítica das comissões foi escalada desde que ele demitiu este passado outubro, informando o

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, que tinha sido pressionado pela defesa altos funcionários politicamente nomeados para perseguir casos considerados "sexy" e de "alto interesse" (como o 9 / 11 casos, sendo agora perseguido) nas vésperas das eleições de 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, que já foi um acérrimo defensor das comissões processo, elaborado em suas razões num 10 de dezembro de 2007, Los Angeles Times op-ed. “I concluded that full, fair and open trials were not possible under the current system,” he wrote. "Eu concluiu que completa, justa e aberta ensaios não foram possíveis no âmbito do actual sistema", escreveu ele. “I felt that the system had become deeply politicized and that I could no longer do my job effectively.” "Senti que o sistema tinha-se tornado profundamente politizada e que eu já não podia fazer o meu trabalho de forma eficaz."

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. Então, em uma entrevista com a Nação, em Fevereiro após os seis Guantánamo detentos foram cobrados, o mais condenável Davis oferecidas provas dos militares comissões "viés - uma revelação que fala fundamental para falhas na administração Bush's conduta da política: o seu desprezo Pelo Estado de direito e à sua prossecução dos objectivos políticos acima de tudo.

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. Quando perguntado se ele achava que os homens em Guantánamo poderiam receber um julgamento justo, Davis forneceu a seguinte conta de um Agosto 2005 reunião que teve com Pentágono conselho geral William Haynes - o homem que agora supervisiona o processo para o tribunal do Departamento da Defesa. “[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] disse estes ensaios será o Nuremberg do nosso tempo", recordou Davis, referindo-se ao nazi tribunais, em 1945, considerado o modelo dos direitos processuais na repressão de crimes de guerra. In response, Davis said he noted that at Nuremberg there had been some acquittals, something that had lent great credibility to the proceedings. Em resposta, Davis disse ele observou que em Nuremberg, havia algumas absolvições, algo que havia emprestado grande credibilidade ao processo.

“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. "Eu disse a ele que, se chegarmos até curto e há algumas absolvições no nosso caso, ele irá, pelo menos, validar o processo", continuou Davis. “At which point, [Haynes’s] eyes got wide and he said, ‘Wait a minute, we can’t have acquittals. "Em que ponto, [Haynes's] olhos got ampla e ele disse, 'Espere um minuto, não podemos ter absolvições. If we’ve been holding these guys for so long, how can we explain letting them get off? Se temos sido exploração esses rapazes por tanto tempo, como podemos explicar deixá-los sair? We can’t have acquittals, we’ve got to have convictions.’” Não podemos ter absolvições, temos de ter convicções "."

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 apresentou a sua demissão em 4 de outubro de 2007, apenas horas depois ele foi informado de que Haynes tinha sido colocado acima dele no comissões "cadeia de comando. “Everyone has opinions,” Davis says. "Toda a pessoa tem opiniões", diz Davis. “But when he was put above me, his opinions became orders.” "Mas quando ele foi colocado acima mim, o seu parecer foi ordens".

(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.”) (Alcançados para comentar, porta-voz da Defesa Departamento Cynthia Smith disse: "O Departamento de Defesa contesta as afirmações feitas pelo coronel Davis nesta declaração sobre absolvições.")

“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. "Isto disse ele, não pode haver absolvições irá manchar todo o processo [tribunal]", diz Scott Horton, que leciona Direito na Columbia University Law School, que escreveu extensamente sobre Haynes's conflitos com o Juiz Advogado-Geral da (JAG ) Corpo, o braço judicial das Forças Armadas, que é encarregado de implementar as comissões militares. 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. De acordo com Horton, Haynes tentado diminuir os JAG corpo fora de debates internos sobre a detenção e perseguição de detidos, sabendo que era crítico das posições da Administração. 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.” Em privado e memos em público Senado testemunho, altos funcionários do corpo têm reiteradamente manifestadas preocupações acerca da Administração da advocacia de "extrema interrogatório técnicas".

“The JAG corps consists of a group of rigorous professionals, but Haynes never trusted them to do their job,” says Horton. "O corpo JAG consiste de um grupo de profissionais rigoroso, mas nunca Haynes confiáveis-los a fazer o seu trabalho", diz Horton. “His clashes have always had the same subtext — they want to be independent, he wants them to do political dirty-work.” "Seus confrontos tiveram sempre o mesmo subtexto - eles querem ser independentes, o que têm que fazer política suja-obra."

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, de um compromisso político e diretor appointee advogado secretários de Defesa Donald Rumsfeld e Robert Gates, foi nomeado em 2006 pela Administração Bush para uma vida assento como um juiz no Tribunal de Apelações para o Circuito Quarta. 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. Mas sua nomeação nunca got out of comissão, principalmente por causa da oposição dos republicanos senador (e ex-advogado militar) Lindsey Graham e outros membros alarmado sobre o papel da Haynes, por escrito ou supervisionar a redação do Pentágono memos defendendo o uso de técnicas duras interrogatório Convenções de Genebra classificar como tortura.

Currently, in his capacity as Pentagon general counsel, Haynes oversees both the prosecution and the defense for the commissions. Atualmente, na sua qualidade de advogado geral Pentágono, Haynes supervisiona tanto a acusação ea defesa para as comissões. “You would think a person in that position wouldn’t be favoring one side,” says Colonel Davis. "Você acha que uma pessoa em posição que não seria favorecendo um dos lados", diz coronel 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.” Disse de Davis da história sobre Haynes, Clive Stafford Smith, uma defesa advogado, que tem representado mais de setenta Guantánamo clientes, disse, "Audição faz-me pensar que estou de volta no Mississippi representando um homem negro na frente de um todo-branco Júri ".

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. E acrescenta: "Ele confirma o que as pessoas próximas ao sistema que sempre disse," observando que quando três procuradores - Maj. Robert Preston, Capt. John Carr e Capt. Carrie Wolf - pediu para ser transferido para fora do Escritório de Comissões Militares em 2004, que alegou que tinha sido informado do processo foi rigged. In an e-mail to his supervisors, Preston had said that there was thin evidence against the accused. Em um e-mail aos seus supervisores, Preston tivesse dito que não havia provas contra os acusados thin. “But they were told by the chief prosecutor at the time that they didn’t need evidence to get convictions,” says Stafford Smith. "Mas eles foram informados pelo procurador-chefe na época que não tinham necessidade de obter provas convicções", disse Stafford Smith.

At the time, the military wrote it off as “miscommunication” and “personality conflicts.” And then there were changes in personnel. Na altura, os militares escrevi isto fora como "miscommunication" e "Personalidade conflitos." E, então, houve mudanças no pessoal. “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. "Disseram-nos que o sistema tinha sido limpo… mas acho mais coisas a mudar, o mais que ficar na mesma", disse 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. A terrível ironia é que, mesmo que fosse possível absolvições, o governo tem declarado que ele possa continuar a deter qualquer pessoa considerada como um "combatente inimigo" para a duração das hostilidades, não importa o resultado de um processo judicial. 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. Ea maioria dos 275 homens detidos em Guantánamo são classificados como "inimigos combatentes", enquanto as hostilidades na "guerra ao terror" poderia ser never-ending.

Says ACLU staff attorney Ben Wizner, “The trial doesn’t make a difference. Diz ACLU pessoal advogado Ben Wizner, "O julgamento não faz diferença. 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. Elas podem segurar até lá para sempre, até que decide deixá-lo fora ". A única pessoa a ser liberada a partir de Guantánamo através de um processo judicial, australiano David Hicks, defendeu culpados. As Wizner wrote in the Los Angeles Times in April 2007, “In an ordinary justice system, the accused must be acquitted to be released. Como Wizner escreveu no Los Angeles Times, em Abril de 2007, "Com um simples sistema de justiça, o arguido deve ser absolvido de ser libertada. In Guantánamo, the accused must plead guilty to be released.” Em Guantánamo, os acusados devem pleitear culpado de ser libertado. "

Still, the trials serve a purpose for the government, in providing the semblance of a legitimate judicial process. Ainda assim, os ensaios servem um objectivo para o governo, em fornecer a aparência de um legítimo processo judicial. According to defense attorneys involved — and many of the former prosecutors, like Davis — the process is political, not legal. Segundo a defesa advogados envolvidos - e muitos dos antigos procuradores, como Davis - o processo é político, e não jurídico.

“If someone was acquitted, then it would suggest we did the wrong thing in the first place. "Se alguém foi absolvido, então sugiro que fizemos a coisa errada, em primeiro lugar. That can’t happen,” says Horton sardonically. Isso não pode acontecer ", diz Horton sardonically. “When the government decides to clear someone, it calls the person ‘no-longer an enemy combatant’ instead of just saying they made a mistake.” "Quando o governo decide claro para alguém, pede-se a pessoa" não-mais um combatente inimigo ", em vez de apenas dizendo que cometi um erro."

He adds, “For people like Haynes, justice is meant to serve the party.” E acrescenta: "Para pessoas como Haynes, a justiça é utilizado para servir o partido."

The US decision to bring death penalty charges against six men suspected of orchestrating 9/11 attacks could strain relations with UK. Os E.U. decisão de trazer morte acusações contra seis homens suspeitos de orchestrating 9 / 11 ataques poderiam estirpe relações com a Inglaterra.

UK authorities have raised their voices against US Gitmo detention camp and the legally flawed system of military tribunals. UK autoridades levantaram suas vozes contra E.U. Gitmo detenção acampamento e os legalmente imperfeito sistema de tribunais militares.

Human rights activists have also expressed concern over the US announcement to put the six men on trial. Activistas dos direitos humanos têm também manifestou a sua preocupação sobre os E.U. anúncio para colocar os seis homens no julgamento.

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. A decisão de recorrer a Khalid Sheikh Mohammed e os outros como guiné-suínos em um processo legal constitucionalmente duvidosa é susceptível de desencadear uma firestorm do sentimento anti-americano no mundo islâmico, segundo o 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. Foram levantadas questões quanto à política de ingerência pela Casa Branca no exército da decisão de ir a julgamento no meio de uma campanha eleitoral na qual os republicanos frontrunner, John McCain, fez da luta contra a Al-Qaeda central de sua eleição lance.

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, o diretor executivo chefe do Centro de Direitos Constitucionais, que representa muitos Guantanamo detidos disse, "O que estamos a analisar, há uma série de ensaios demonstram pela administração Bush que realmente estão desprovidas de qualquer processo formal de considerações".

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 ex-advogado geral Lord Goldsmith criticou o juridicamente imperfeito sistema de E.U. tribunais militares, criado para tentar non-US cidadãos e que uma lei lord assimilado a "canguru tribunais".

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. Advogados de direitos humanos que diz respeito a tribunais como uma afronta à justiça natural, porque as provas contra os suspeitos foi assegurada através de tortura ou detenção ilegal.

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. Mesmo Tony Blair e Gordon Brown ter chamado para o encerramento da prisão Guantanamo acampamento, que ainda detém 275 reclusos, dos quais muitos foram ilegalmente detidos há mais de cinco anos.

Britain is opposed to capital punishment and has censured the treatment of detainees held in Guantanamo Bay. Bretanha se opõe à pena capital e foi censurada o tratamento dos prisioneiros detidos em Guantanamo.

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. Militares procuradores tenham decidido solicitar a pena de morte para os seis Guantanamo detentos que estão a ser cobrado com papéis centrais no set 11 ataques terroristas, funcionários governamentais que têm sido informados sobre os encargos disse domingo.

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. Os funcionários disseram os encargos seriam anunciados no Pentágono, assim como hoje, e eram susceptíveis de incluir numerosos crimes de guerra acusações contra os seis homens, incluindo Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, o ex-chefe operações al-Qaeda, que tem descrito como o próprio clássia de Os ataques, que mataram cerca de 3000 pessoas.

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. Um funcionário da Defesa disse Departamento procuradores estavam procurando a pena de morte porque, "se houver algum caso se justifique, seria para pessoas que eram partes de um crime dessa escala." Os funcionários falou anonimamente, pois ninguém no governo foi autorizado a falar Sobre o caso.

NEW CHALLENGES NOVOS DESAFIOS

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. A decisão de procurar a pena de morte seria aumentar o foco internacional sobre o caso e apresentar novos desafios para o sistema incomodado comissão militar que ainda tem que começar um único julgamento.

“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. "O sistema não foi capaz de lidar com o menos complicado casos, foi presenteado com a data", disse David Glazier, um ex-oficial da Marinha, que é professor de Loyola Law School, em 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. Além de Mohammed, os outros cinco para ser cobrado incluir detidos eram funcionários dizem coordenadores e intermediários no terreno, entre os quais um homem rotulado de "20a hijacker", que foi negada a entrada aos Estados Unidos no mês antes dos atentados. 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. Sob as regras da guerra-crimes Guantanamo sistema, a promotoria militar pode designar como despesas de capital quando apresentá-los, e é essa primeira fase do processo que é esperado esta semana. 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. O oficial militar que, em seguida, eles opiniões, Susan Crawford, um ex-militar recurso jurisdicional juiz, tem o poder de aceitar ou rejeitar um pedido pena de morte.

A Pentagon spokesman declined to comment Sunday. Um porta-voz Pentágono recusou a comentar domingo.

QUESTION OF CARRYING OUT EXECUTION Questão da realização de execução

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. Mas algumas dessas informado sobre o caso já disseram os procuradores vista a sua tarefa na procura convicções para o 11 de Setembro ataques como um desafio histórico. A special group of military and Justice Department lawyers has been working on the case for several years. Um grupo especial de militares e Justiça Departamento advogados tem vindo a trabalhar no caso há vários anos.

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. Mesmo que os detidos são condenados nas despesas de capital, qualquer execução seriam muitos meses, ou talvez anos, de ser realizado, o advogado disse, em parte porque uma condenação à morte teria de ser examinado pelos apelos tribunais civis.

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. Federal funcionários têm dito nos últimos meses que não há morte de câmara no campo de detenção os E.U. base naval de Guantanamo, em Cuba, e que eles não sabiam de planos específicos para fazer uma condenação à morte seria realizado.

The last military execution was in 1961, when an Army private, John A. Bennett, was hanged after being convicted of rape and attempted murder. A última execução militar foi em 1961, quando um exército privado, John A. Bennett, foi enforcado, após ter sido condenado por estupro e tentativa homicídio.

By Colin Freeman | Por Colin Freeman | The Telegraph O 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. E.U. procuradores militares estão colocando os últimos retoques para o primeiro grande caso contra Guantanamo detidos suspeitos de ter ajudado o enredo atentados de 11 de Setembro.

	Khalid Shaik Mohammed was subjected to “waterboarding” while in detention Khalid Shaik Mohammed foi submetido a "waterboarding" enquanto em detenção

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. As acusações são esperados para envolver seis detidos actualmente detidos na prisão cubana acampamento, incluindo Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, o ex-altos aide a Osama bin Laden, que afirma ter sido o principal arquiteto do enredo.

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. No entanto, qualquer julgamento irá colocar os holofotes, mais uma vez, sobre alegações de maus tratos e tortura interposto por alguns dos reclusos, que designou como "combatentes inimigos", de os E.U. foram negados os direitos legais básicos que normalmente concedidas aos prisioneiros de guerra ao abrigo da Convenção de Genebra .

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. Na semana passada, por exemplo, a CIA confirmou que o senhor Mohammed tinha, por vezes, sido submetidos a interrogatórios técnica conhecida como "waterboarding", no qual suspeitos têm água derramada em sua respiração passagens, a fim de simular uma sensação de afogamento.

The CIA claimed it was carried out on him in the belief that he had knowledge about further large-scale terrorist attacks. A CIA afirmou que foi levado a cabo sobre ele na convicção de que ele tinha conhecimento sobre novos ataques terroristas em larga escala. 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. Um segundo suspeito, pensa-se entre os seis, Mohammed al-Qahtani, foi submetido dormir privação, forçado a usar uma bra, e levaram cerca de Guantanamo Bay em um leash, de acordo com um inquérito em 2005 Pentágono alegações de tratamento abusivo.

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, que foi realizada em Guantanamo desde 2002, é dito ter sido a chamada "20a hijacker", cujos planos foram frustrado quando ele foi negada a entrada nos Estados Unidos por uma imigração oficial.

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, de um advogado para o senhor al-Qahtani, disse ao The New York Times que ela não tinha qualquer informação sobre se ele seria cobrado.

“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.” "Mas se ele for", ela acrescentou: "Posso assegurar-lhe que o seu bem-documentados tortura e a controvérsia sobre segredo ensaios serão o foco".

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. Procuradores estão a ser entendida considerando acusações de assassinato, conspiração e fornecendo material apoio ao terrorismo contra os arguidos, embora se pensava que qualquer julgamento é ainda muitos meses de distância.

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. A única pessoa que tem sido tentado em um tribunal sobre E.U. de 11 de Setembro enredo é Zacarias Moussaoui, que defendeu culpado de conspiração em 2005 e está servindo uma vida prisão prazo.

All the British inmates held in Guantanamo Bay have been released. Todos os britânicos reclusos detidos em Guantanamo Bay foram dispensados.

By Adam Zagorin | Por Adam Zagorin | Time Magazine Time Magazine

Majid Khan is seen in 1999 during his senior year in high school in Baltimore, Maryland. Majid Khan é visto em 1999 durante a sua sênior anos no ensino médio, em Baltimore, Maryland. Khan, 27, is now jailed at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Khan, 27, já está preso em Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The Khan Family / Center for Constitutional Rights / AP A família Khan / Centro de Direitos Constitucionais / AP

In 2005, CIA officials ordered the destruction of videotapes depicting the harsh interrogation of prisoners in the agency’s secret overseas prisons. Em 2005, funcionários da CIA ordenou a destruição das cassetes vídeo alusivos ao duro interrogatório de prisioneiros no organismo de prisões secretas no exterior. 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. Director da CIA, Michael Hayden admitiu que em Dezembro de 2007 entre um debate público sobre a utilização de "waterboarding" sobre detentos e se deve ou não a técnica - que simula afogamento - constituída tortura. 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. Nessa altura, Hayden disse que apenas alguns prisioneiros nunca foram submetidas a "técnicas especiais interrogatório", que podem incluir waterboarding, e que nada foi gravado em vídeo depois de 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. Essa alegação é agora mais próximos sob escrutínio, em parte devido a uma informação classificada, que será entregue à Comissão do Senado Selecione Intelligence esta sexta-feira. 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. Os advogados que representam uma corrente Guantanamo detido TIME dizer que eles planejam para apresentar provas de que ele foi submetido a interrogatório vídeo, além de não especificada "tortura sistemática", quando foi detida em prisões secretas da CIA. 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. Os advogados, a partir do Centro de Direitos Constitucionais, com sede em Nova York jurídica sem fins lucrativos com um longo historial de advocacia para prisioneiros de Guantanamo, nota que o seu cliente tem a dizer videotaping ocorreu após sua prisão em 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, um ex-aluno da escola secundária suburbano Baltimore, foi pela primeira vez apreendida pelas autoridades do Paquistão, onde ele disse que ele foi visitar seu irmão. 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, então, passou mais de três anos em uma secretas da CIA no exterior "black site" antes, o Presidente Bush ordenou a sua transferência para Guantánamo, juntamente com outros 13 detentos de alto valor. 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. Também foi transferido alegada 9 / 11 clássia Khaled Sheik Mohammed, que tinha alegadamente Khan ordenou a investigação sobre os ataques americanos água reservatórios e estações de gás.

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 advogados estão armados com mais de 500 páginas de ultra-secreto notas tomadas durante recentes reuniões com os seus clientes em Guantanamo; eles vão usar o material para descrever o seu interrogatório e detenção ao Comité Inteligência. Though details are highly classified, his lawyers claim that he and others were tortured and videotaped, charges that Hayden and other CIA officials deny. Embora detalhes são altamente classificado, seus advogados alegam que ele e outros foram torturados e vídeo, os encargos que Hayden e outros funcionários da CIA nega. On Feb. 5, Hayden admitted to Congress that the CIA had used waterboarding on Khaled Sheik Mohammed and two others. Em fevereiro 5, Hayden admitidos ao Congresso que a CIA havia utilizado waterboarding sobre Khaled Sheik Mohammed e outros dois. The CIA continues to assert that it does not engage in torture. A CIA continua a afirmar que não praticam a tortura.

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. Subindo para Hayden da defesa, a Casa Branca nesta semana deixou claro a sua opinião de que waterboarding já salvou vidas americanas, é legal - e não constitui tortura, como os críticos insistem. A spokesman for Bush said the President would authorize waterboarding for use on future terror suspects if certain standards are met, a spokesman said. Um porta-voz de Bush disse que o presidente iria autorizar waterboarding para uso em futuros terror suspeitos se determinadas normas são cumpridas, disse um porta-voz. Hayden himself banned the technique in 2006 for use in CIA interrogations, and the Pentagon and FBI have done likewise. Hayden próprio proibiu a técnica em 2006 para utilização em interrogatórios da CIA e do Pentágono eo FBI fizeram também.

A White House spokesman said the CIA could use waterboarding again if it had specific approval from the President. A Casa Branca disse o porta-voz da CIA podiam usar waterboarding novamente se tivesse específica aprovação do presidente. That authorization would depend on a variety of factors, such as the “belief that an attack might be imminent” the spokesman explained. Essa autorização dependerá de diversos factores, tais como a "convicção de que um ataque pode ser iminente" o porta-voz explicou. “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. "O presidente vai ouvir a sentença do considerados profissionais da inteligência e da comunidade, o acórdão do procurador geral, em termos de consequências jurídicas dos empregar uma técnica específica", disse.

Khan is one of very few Guantanamo prisoners whose claim to US residency has been legally established. Khan é um dos muito poucos Guantanamo prisioneiros cuja alegação de E.U. residência tenha sido legalmente estabelecida. 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. Ele tem parentes próximos no Baltimore área, que são cidadãos americanos; Khan's advogados têm apelado aos membros do Congresso em seu nome, incluindo Sen. Barbara Mikulski de Maryland, que tem assento no Comité Inteligência. 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. Depois de anos de isolamento na prisão, Khan foi recentemente autorizada a mistura com, pelo menos, um outro prisioneiro de Guantanamo, Abu Zubaydah, um top alegados terroristas que, Hayden afirmou, foi um dos presos a serem 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 advogados têm dito seu cliente tenha ido a uma greve da fome para protestar as condições do seu confinment, e parece pálida e gaunt. In the course of meetings with counsel and the Red Cross, Khan also handed over neatly penned, handwritten letters. No decurso de reuniões com o conselho e da Cruz Vermelha, Khan também entregou ordenadamente penned, letras manuscritas. Several have been made public, after heavy redactions imposed by US military censors. Vários têm sido tornado público, após pesados redactions E.U. militar imposta pelos censores. 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 Por 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