Guantánamo Bay
The US Supreme Court rejected an appeal by Yemeni prisoner Moath Al
Alwi, held since 2001, for a ruling on whether the US can hold him
indefinitely. Al Alwi is a “forever prisoner”, originally accused of fighting
for Al Qaeda against the US in Afghanistan, but for which there is no evidence
and he has never been charged or tried. Nonetheless, one of the judges, Justice
Stephen Breyer, said the court should at some point decide “whether, in light of
the duration and other aspects of the relevant conflict, Congress has
authorized and the Constitution permits continued detention”. One of the
longest-held prisoners, Al Alwi has argued since 2015 in the court that he
should be released because the US war in Afghanistan has “effectively ended”.
He brought his case after President Obama declared the end of hostilities in
Afghanistan in 2014; peace talks with the Taleban are currently ongoing. His
claim has been repeatedly rejected and he faces spending the rest of his life,
without trial or charge, at Guantánamo.
The draft bill for the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for
2020, the annual military spending law, is currently being negotiated in
Congress and the Senate and for the first time could include provisions that
allow Guantánamo prisoners to be transferred to the US mainland in emergency
medical situations. The House of Representatives’ draft contains a provision
prohibiting the transfer of new prisoners to Guantánamo and extends the list of
states to which prisoners cannot be transferred, including Cuba and North
Korea, but does not include the United States mainland.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/jun/10/house-panel-bans-new-detainees-entering-guantanamo/
Air Force Col. Shane Cohen is the new judge in the long-running case of
five men accused of involvement in attacks on New York City on 11 September
2001. He was assigned to the case on 3 June. Lawyers for the men had an
opportunity to question the new judge who told them that he does not intend to
leave the case for at least the next two years. Neither the prosecution nor the
defence challenged the appointment of the new judge. It is the first time that
Cohen, who has been a judge for five years, is presiding over a death penalty
case as well as a case with multiple defendants.
Majid Khan, who was convicted through a plea bargain before the military
tribunal at Guantánamo in 2012, is still awaiting sentencing for his crimes. The
evidence against him was obtained through years of torture at secret CIA
torture facilities around the world before he arrived at Guantánamo, including being
“hung from his wrists, naked and hooded, for two straight days,
causing wild hallucinations”. Torture such as “In 2004, his
second year of C.I.A. detention, the agency “infused” a purée of pasta, sauce,
nuts, raisins and hummus up Mr. Khan’s rectum when he went on a hunger strike” was reported in
the 2014 Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture. As part of his
sentencing hearing, his lawyers plan to argue that the torture he suffered
needs to be taken into consideration in his sentencing “and
are asking the military judge in the case to grant Mr. Khan time off his prison
term as a form of credit for what the C.I.A. did to him”. The judge has
agreed to hear arguments from both the prosecution and defence in this regard
during his hearing in July before making a decision to grant the request. If
granted, it would be a major decision with a serious impact on other cases
based on CIA torture evidence and an opportunity to hold those responsible to
some form of account as well as shed more light on it. Furthermore, if granted,
Khan’s lawyer can file a clemency petition after sentencing.
On 26 June, UN International Day in Support of Victims of Torture,
the Center for Victims of Torture (CVT) and Physicians for Human Rights (PHR)
released a new report on medical care for Guantánamo’s remaining prisoners. Deprivation
and Despair: The Crisis of Medical Care at Guantánamo looks at the medical needs of prisoners and how these have
been responded to, problems with medical records which do not include “physical
and psychological trauma histories” and a lack of equipment and
medical expertise.
https://www.justsecurity.org/64691/deprivation-and-despair-the-crisis-of-medical-care-at-guantanamo/
LGC Activities:
There was no Shut Guantánamo! demo in June as the LGC joined the Guantánamo
Justice Campaign to form a ‘Close Guantánamo’ bloc on the Together Against
Trump demonstration on 4 June. The July shut Guantánamo! demo will be on 4 July
(US Independence Day) at 12-2pm outside the US Embassy, Nine Elms Lane, SW11
(nearest underground: Vauxhall): https://www.facebook.com/events/1257579677743125/
