Guantánamo Bay
On 4 June, a
military judge ruled that Guantánamo military judges can reduce the prison
sentence to be given to Majid Khan, who pleaded guilty in 2012 “to delivering
$50,000 of Qaeda money that helped finance the
2003 bombing of a Marriott Hotel in Jakarta, Indonesia, that killed 11
people, and plotting other, unrealized terrorist attacks.” His sentencing has
been delayed since then as in his plea bargain he agreed to act as witness
against prisoners to get a more lenient sentence. Under his “plea agreement,
his sentence is to end in 2031. But the judge could shorten that if he decides
Mr. Khan should get credit for having been tortured.” The evidence against
Majid Khan, 40, was obtained through severe torture he was subject to during
three years of CIA detention at various sites around the world, following his
kidnapping in 2003 in Pakistan: “During his time in the C.I.A. black sites, Mr.
Khan says, he was hung from his wrists and kept naked and hooded to the point
of wild hallucinations. He was held in darkness for a year, isolated in a cell
with bugs that bit him until he bled. A Senate investigation disclosed that in
his second year of C.I.A. detention, the agency “infused” a purée of pasta,
sauce, nuts, raisins and hummus into his rectum because he went on a hunger
strike.”
No date has been
set for sentencing, even though Majid Khan has given his witness statements.
This ruling may have an effect on other cases where defendants have been
tortured at CIA black sites, such as the five men awaiting trial for their
alleged involvement in attacks in New York City in September 2001.
“The chief
defense counsel, Brig. Gen. John G. Baker of the Marines, cast it as a
watershed decision. “It is about time that we see a means to hold the
government accountable for the reprehensible torture of Mr. Khan and other
commissions defendants in a court a law.” he said. “While it may seem obvious
that being tortured by government actors should have some effect on a
defendant’s ultimate sentence, the prosecution has disagreed every step of the
way.””
Uzair Paracha, who was convicted in
a federal court in relation to this case in 2005, for supporting terrorism, was
exonerated and released earlier in 2020.
Extraordinary rendition:
A judicial review into the decision
by former Prime Minister Theresa May’s government not to hold a judge-led
inquiry “into the involvement of British intelligence in torture and rendition
following 9/11” brought by two MPs and an NGO found that 15 more potential
cases of “torture or rendition involving British intelligence at the height of
the “war on terror” were examined last year in a secret Whitehall review”. The
files emerged in “a witness statement made by an MI6 officer known only as AA
as part of disclosure proceedings” and “might require further investigation.”
The hearing held on 9 June was to decide whether the judicial review should be
heard in secret: “The government argues that because the charity and the two
MPs are not victims, there is no need for them to hear the detail of the case
in open court” but no judgment has yet been made on this matter, with the
applicants seeking open justice.
On 11 June, Donald Trump signed an executive order imposing
sanctions and visa restrictions on International Criminal Court (ICC) officials
carrying out an investigation into war crimes in Afghanistan, including those
committed by the USA (CIA torture and rendition and others), after the ICC
appeals chamber authorised the investigation in March. The order extends to
their family members too. In announcing the order, Secretary of State Mike
Pompeo called the ICC a “kangaroo court”, with Pompeo making it very clear that
impunity for human rights violations and war crimes by its agents is US state
policy. The ICC has condemned the sanctions, calling them "unacceptable
attempt to interfere with the rule of law".
LGC Activities:
With the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the London Guantánamo
Campaign’s monthly Shut Guantánamo! demonstration will be held virtually at
12-2pm on Thursday 2 July. To take part, please email a photo/video of your
banner to us at london.gtmo@gmail.com before 12pm on
2 July or share your picture/video to our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/London-Guantánamo-Campaign-114010671973111/ or via Twitter (or just a message – some possible messages
available through the link below) @shutguantanamo between 12 and 2pm on
Thursday 2 July. More details here: https://www.facebook.com/events/949045892185085/
