Guantánamo Bay
Abd Al Hadi Al-Iraqi, facing trial and a life sentence at Guantánamo,
for allegedly commanding Al Qaeda forces that allegedly committed war crimes in
Afghanistan, had to be removed from the war court in an ambulance just 30
minutes into the open session of his most recent pre-trial hearing on 6
November. In the past 18 months, he has had five operations on his spine as a
result of the torture he suffered prior to being brought to Guantánamo.
Al-Iraqi was seen by two people present in the court before being transferred
to the detainee acute care unit after he suffered back spasms. Hearings were
cancelled for Wednesday and Thursday. Past hearings have also been cancelled
due to his poor health. At the court, he was unable to speak comfortably to his
lawyers and focus. He could also not initially swallow the medicine he was
given as he had difficulty breathing. It was the first hearing in which the new
judge in the case, Marine Lt. Col. Michael Libretto, was present. Due to his
medical problems, progress in Al-Iraqi’s pre-trial hearings has been disrupted
since September 2017.
The judge ordered the hearing to be resumed on Friday. This time a hospital
bed was brought into the courtroom, which Al-Iraqi used along with a specially
adapted chair during the hearing. Reading a recent medical opinion about the
defendant, the judge said “the accused may never improve beyond the current
condition.” The hearing itself focused on staffing issues, such as the
appointment and dismissal of lawyers.
Al-Iraqi’s hearing was succeeded the following week with pre-trial
hearings in the case of five men accused of involvement in the attacks in New
York in September 2001. This pre-trial hearing was almost halted after mould
was found covering computers, court filings, furniture and clothing in a room
shared by six defence lawyers. Two members of the defence team needed medical
attention. The hearing went ahead with the judge, Marine Col. Keith Parrella,
apologising for a broken air conditioner in the unit that caused the problem.
He ordered the US government to deal with the problem and ensure it does not
happen again.
The hearing discussed whether lawyers for Khalid Sheikh Mohamed could
call CIA chief Gina Haspel as a witness. On Thursday, the court looked at
evidence of torture interrogation methods the prosecution had been ordered to
share with the defence. The information included that “An alleged plot
mastermind was taken nude from interrogation to a medical officer, who put
fluids up his rectum then returned him nude to interrogation. Some captives
were kept like “cowering dogs,” subjected to standing sleep deprivation,
abdominal and facial slaps, in what one CIA agent called a “nightmare.”” The
defence argued, however, that this disclosure did not go far enough for a fair
trial whereas the prosecution argued that they already had enough information
concerning what happened to their clients in secret CIA prisons to defend them.
One of the prosecutors put it: “It’s really not a secret what happened to the
accused in CIA custody. It’s a matter of how it’s shaded or flavored, if you
will.” On the other hand, giving an example of the limitation of the evidence
available, lawyers for Khalid Sheikh Mohamed stated that “A description of a
15-hour interrogation was condensed to a page-and-a-half summary, Nevin said.
He offered an example: The prosecution provided evidence that Mohammed was
“rectally rehydrated,” he said, but doesn’t describe how it was done. “Does
somebody hold his legs apart? Is he naked? Was lubrication involved? How did they
do it?””
Extraordinary Rendition
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is suing the CIA to find
out where the body of Afghan Gul Rahman is; he was tortured to death in a
secret prison in Afghanistan in November 2012.
The ACLU has filed two lawsuits under the Freedom of Information
Act (FOIA) to get more information about the CIA’s extraordinary rendition programme.
The first lawsuit aims to seek answers for Gul Rahman’s family concerning what
happened to him. The second lawsuit will demand “information on the CIA’s
unprecedented propaganda campaign on behalf of Haspel — who was acting CIA
director during the confirmation process earlier this year — including her
potential conflict of interest in controlling the classification of information
related to her personal role in prisoner torture and abuse.”
Earlier in November, through another successful FOIA request, the
ACLU obtained a 90-page document that revealed the role of CIA doctors in the
torture interrogation process as well as plans to test a “truth serum” and
other drugs on detainees. It also details some of the plans and techniques used
on prisoners, including Abu Zubaydah and Abd Al-Nashiri.
Pakistani neuroscientist Dr Aafia Siddiqui, currently serving an
86-year sentence in the US after having been convicted of attacking US military
personnel in Afghanistan, where she appeared in US custody in 2008 after having
“disappeared” in Pakistan into CIA custody with her three children in 2003, has
written to new Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan asking him to intervene in
her case and to have her returned to Pakistan to serve the rest of her
sentence. The previous Pakistani government, in spite of numerous court cases,
refused to take action; it was complicit in her “disappearance”. The new
Pakistan government has since pledged to take action and has discussed her case
formally with Washington. The Pakistani Senate also passed a resolution seeking
her release.
LGC Activities:
The LGC held its monthly Shut Guantánamo! demos outside the US Embassy
in Nine Elms on Thursday 1 November. Our last demonstration for 2018 is
exceptionally being held on Monday 10 December at 12-2pm to mark both
Human Rights Days and the 70th anniversary of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, entrenching modern human rights. Articles 5 and 9
ban torture and arbitrary detention. Please join us in solidarity with the
prisoners at Guantánamo and other victims of human rights violations: https://www.facebook.com/events/736634930034090/
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