Guantánamo Bay
Majid Khan, who entered a plea bargain in February 2012 before the
Guantánamo military commission, in which he agreed to testify against other
prisoners, is due to be sentenced later this year, more than 7 years after he
pleaded guilty to terrorism offences. In a pre-sentencing hearing in early
April, his lawyers argued that his sentence should be reduced to less than the
19 years he agreed to in 2012; they argued that he should serve a shorter
sentence in view of his ordeal in CIA custody. Khan, a former US resident who
attended school there, was held in secret CIA prisons before being taken to
Guantánamo. Part of his torture was outlined in the 2014 US Senate Committee
report on extraordinary rendition: “He
was sexually assaulted while hanging naked from the
ceiling. Interrogators threatened to hammer his head, and threatened to harm
his young sister. Majid lived in total darkness for much of 2003, and in
solitary confinement from 2004 to 2006.”
The pre-sentencing hearing focused on whether or not the torture he
suffered is a mitigating factor in his sentence. Prosecutors argued that he
waived his right to the documents and witnesses his defence is now seeking to
argue that.
The next pre-sentencing hearing in his case is set for early June.
The
periodic review system set up by previous president Barack Obama is continuing
to operate for prisoners held indefinitely without charge or trial to determine
whether or not they can be released. When Donald Trump became president in
early 2017, five prisoners had been cleared for release. They remain at
Guantánamo, and only one prisoner, as part of his sentence, has been released
under Trump. As a result, prisoners are increasingly boycotting the review
system as there is little hope that they will be released. For many prisoners
they are currently having their second or third hearing. At the end of March,
Yemeni prisoner Suhayl Abdul Anam Al Sharabi did not attend, nor did his
lawyer. He was instead represented by a government-appointed personal
representative in a hearing that lasted 4 minutes. In recent months, other
prisoners have also refused to cooperate with the process.
Pentagon prosecutors are seeking
for the third time to charge three Guantánamo prisoners – Indonesian Hambali
and two Malaysian prisoners, Mohd Farik Bin Amin and Mohammed Nazir Bin Lep –
with murder, terrorism and conspiracy in the 2002 Bali bombings and the 2003
bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Jakarta. Between their kidnapping in 2003
through extraordinary rendition and their arrival at Guantánamo in 2006, the
three men were held in secret CIA prisons at various locations around the world
and severely tortured. As a result, the three are considered high-value
prisoners and have limited access to the outside world. Prosecutors have chosen
not to apply the death penalty and the three men could face life sentences if
the charges are approved. Indonesia has already prosecuted the Bali bombings
and executed three men convicted of carrying it out. The Indonesian prisoner
Hambali was not linked to the attacks during this trial. Indonesia has no
interest in trying Hambali and is not seeking his return to the country. The
Obama administration had tried to have him extradited to Australia or Malaysia
to stand trial there but there is a lack of evidence against him, which has
seen the charges against him thrown previously. The family of one of the
Malaysian men is hoping he is returned to Malaysia, even if he has to serve a
life sentence there, rather than remain at Guantánamo.
On 16 April, a US court of appeal
threw out all the pre-trial orders made over three and a half years in the case
of Abd Al-Nashiri, facing the death penalty for his alleged role in the bombing
of the USS Cole in Yemen in 2000, by the judge in the case, Air Force Colonel
Vance Spath, as well as every ruling on appeals of his orders, as the judges
held that Spath’s impartiality as a judge was questionable, given that he was
simultaneously applying for the position of an immigration judge with the
Justice Department. Al-Nashiri’s lawyers argued that the undeclared intention
to seek work elsewhere – the judge left the case to retire – meant that his
impartiality was questionable and the appeal court judges agreed. In their
reasoning, the judges pointed out that while Judge Spath did not inform the
parties that he was seeking employment elsewhere, the US government too refused
to question him on it. The outcome of this decision sets proceedings in
Al-Nashiri’s case back to where they were in November 2015, and thus will
extend the period by which his case will go to trial, if at all. The ruling is
a major blow to the military tribunal process and further undermines its
credibility.
The Guantánamo camp commander, Navy
Rear Admiral John Ring was abruptly relieved of his duties on 27 April, 7 weeks
before he was due to be redeployed. No specific reason has been given but a
“statement from US Southern Command said the change in leadership was “due to a
loss of confidence in his ability to command”, and would “not interrupt the
safe, humane, legal care and custody provided to the detainee population” at
Guantánamo.” He had previously expressed his frustration at the lack of
resources available to him for prisoner care. He had apparently been subject to
an investigation unrelated to comments made to the media. His deputy, Army
Brigadier General John Hussey has been made acting commander.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/apr/29/guantanamo-prison-commander-fired-loss-of-confidence
Extraordinary Rendition
The US revoked the entry visa for International Criminal Court
(ICC) prosecutor Fatou Bensouda. The decision is thought to be in response to
the Court’s investigation of the US and CIA’s potential war crimes in
Afghanistan. The US has also threatened that other ICC staff working on this
investigation and an investigation into Israel’s actions in the Occupied
Palestinian Territories could be denied visas and entry to the US. The US is
not a party to the ICC having not signed or ratified the Rome Statute.
A week
later, judges at the ICC rejected Ms Bensouda’s request to open an
investigation into war crimes in Afghanistan which would cover both offences by
Afghan parties and the US and its allies. Judges cited the fact that it was
unlikely that either the US or Afghan authorities and parties would cooperate.
In a rare
public appearance at Auburn University, CIA director Gina Haspel, whose career
has recently been the subject of a whitewashing campaign by the US media, was
reminded of her role in torturing prisoners kidnapped by the CIA under the
extraordinary rendition programme. She was talking about her career when a man
in audience shouted “Tell these young children, tell them who you tortured. You
know their names — they’re still in Guantánamo Bay”.
“You’re a decrepit
human being,” he continued before being removed by security. “The only people
you should be talking to is a prison guard in a jail cell.”
LGC Activities:
The April Shut Guantánamo! demo took place on 4 April. The May
demonstration will be at 12-2pm on Thursday 2 May outside the US Embassy, 33
Nine Elms Lane, SW11 7US. Further details here: https://www.facebook.com/events/2694567797281798/ 
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