LGC Newsletter – August 2021

 Guantánamo Bay

After 18 years of US detention, first in secret CIA torture facilities and then at Guantánamo, an Indonesian and two Malaysian prisoners accused of involvement in the 2002 Bali bombings had an arraignment hearing on 30 August, at which they were to be formally informed of the charges against them. They face eight and nine charges respectively which include conspiracy, attempted murder, murder, intentionally causing serious bodily injury, terrorism, destruction of property, and attacking civilians and civilian objects. The hearing which was due to take place in early 2021 was postponed due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Ahead of the hearing, the case acquired a new judge and Indonesian prisoner Hambali’s defence lawyer for the past 4 years, Major James Valentine, retired from the US Marines and the case. In spite of the extra time to organise the hearing, it was plagued by problems with interpreters which led to it being delayed on the first day.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/31/us/politics/guantanamo-bali-bombing-charges.html

 

Ahead of the resumption of pre-trial hearings in the case of five men accused of involvement in terrorist attacks in New York City in September 2001 next month, the fourth judge in the case, which has yet to have a trial date set 20 years after the events took place, has been appointed. Lt. Col. Matthew McColl has been appointed to the case even though he only qualified to hear death penalty cases in July and has served as a military judge for two years.  https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/20/us/politics/military-judge-sept-11-trial.html

In early August, defence lawyers for the five defendants filed a motion to have the hearing set back in view of the Covid-19 restrictions and the lack of a judge in the case, among other matters. https://int.nyt.com/data/documenttools/ae-815-k-ksm-mtr-ae-815-j-scheduling-ord/a9e136e668f86605/full.pdf The new judge, however, has approved the two-week hearing set to start 6 September.

 

Extraordinary Rendition

Pakistani neuroscientist Dr Aafia Siddiqui, who “disappeared” with her 3 young children in Pakistan in 2003 and reappeared in US custody in Afghanistan several years, currently serving an 86-year sentence in the US, is reported to have been injured after being attacked by an inmate at the maximum security prison she is being held at in Texas. A cup filled with scalding liquid was thrown in her face injuring her and leaving her in serious pain; she had to be removed from her cell in a wheelchair. During her detention, Dr Siddiqui has had limited access to her family and her lawyers.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1641831

 

LGC Activities

The September monthly Shut Guantánamo! protest is on Thursday 2^nd September at 12-2pm outside the US Embassy in Nine Elms (Nine Elms Lane, SW11 7US, nearest underground: Vauxhall).  https://www.facebook.com/events/366996018133518/ If you require more details about this event, please email us at london.gtmo [at] gmail.com

LGC Newsletter – November 2018

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.

https://www.mcclatchydc.com/latest-news/article221037960.html#storylink=cpy

https://www.humanrightsfirst.org/blog/fit-court-another-medical-emergency-guantanamo

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.

https://www.mcclatchydc.com/latest-news/article221425255.html

 

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.

https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/national-security/guantanamo/article221528920.html

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?””

https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/national-security/guantanamo/article221699655.html?fbclid=IwAR2A8Le-3HXY-Z8pkc5_-YIQ2hpYKIvorHxdrv0ZMbWnyPtdqfVuheJ2Hjk

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.”

https://www.aclu.org/blog/national-security/torture/were-suing-cia-find-body-torture-victim

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.

https://www.aclu.org/blog/national-security/torture/secret-cia-document-shows-plan-test-drugs-prisoners

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.

https://tribune.com.pk/story/1842612/1-washington-promises-review-dr-aafia-siddiquis-imprisonment/

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 70^th 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/

 

LGC Newsletter – June 2018

Guantánamo Bay

In November 2017, Marine Brig. Gen. John Baker became the only person to be convicted and confined under Donald Trump at Guantánamo. As the chief defence counsel in the military commission of Abd Al Nashiri, he was convicted of contempt for disobeying an order by the judge when he refused to reinstate three civilian defence lawyers he allowed to leave the case due to an ethical breach, which was later revealed to be that they discovered a microphone hidden in the meeting room where they meet their client months before they resigned. Al Nashiri’s case itself was indefinitely suspended in early 2018 and the lawyers have not been reinstated and have not returned to Guantánamo. A federal judge ruled that the military commission judge in the case, Air Force Col. Vance Spath, lacked the authority to convict and sentence the general and acted unlawfully in his unilateral actions.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/guantanamo/article213422944.html

While no pre-trial hearings ahead of military commissions were held at Guantánamo in June, periodic review board hearings of “forever prisoners”, which can clear them for release, resumed. On 19 June, Yemeni Abd al-Salam al-Hilah had his second full review before the board. Held at Guantánamo for nearly 14 years and never charged, he pleaded that he no longer presented a “continuing significant threat” to the United States. Information about the hearings has recently become less transparent; while statements by prisoners’ personal representatives and lawyers used to be posted on the website prior to hearings, this is no longer the case. His personal representative said he simply wishes to see his wife and daughter again and live a quiet family life in Yemen.

https://www.humanrightsfirst.org/blog/after-14-years-confinement-gtmo-detainee-gets-2nd-full-review

On 26 June, the periodic review hearing of Afghan prisoner Haroon Al-Afghani was held. He has been held at Guantánamo for over 10 years and has never been charged. He and his lawyer spoke of his plans for the future and his wish to reunite with his family. https://www.humanrightsfirst.org/blog/gtmo-detainees-lawyer-review-process-unlikely-lead-transfer

However, as mentioned by Al-Afghani’s lawyer during the hearing, even if he and other prisoners are cleared by the process, there is no guarantee they will be released. Five prisoners who were cleared for release under the Obama administration remain at Guantánamo as the Trump administration has not sought to comply with the transfer of these prisoners or to seek to return them to their own countries or safe third countries. The outcome of such hearings thus appears largely irrelevant. In addition, under the Trump administration, there is less transparency in the process.

Congress has refused to pay $69 million to construct a new prison to house the defendants in the 9/11-related and other prisoners who were held in various CIA torture jails before being brought to Guantánamo, all of whom have restricted access to the outside world. The plan is to turn the top secret Camp 7 prison into a facility that can accommodate the needs of prisoners who are unlikely to ever be released into old age. The White House was not pleased that this funding request was omitted from this year’s draft defence spending law. Not much is known about Camp 7 and it is shrouded in secrecy, including how much it cost to build. However, funds have been pledged to improve facilities for US military personnel stationed at Guantánamo.

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/national/article213885419.html

Extraordinary Rendition

Following  a visit on 23 May by Pakistani Consul General Aisha Farooqui to Dr Aafia Siddiqui at the Federal Medical Center in Carswell, Texas, where she is serving her 86-year sentence after being found guilty in 2010 of attempted murder and assault and bearing a firearm when she was emerged after having “disappeared” for several years in Afghanistan, new details have been revealed about her detention and state of health. The visit was prompted by rumours in the Pakistani media that Dr Siddiqui had died. “During her two-hour meeting, Farooqui stated, she saw Dr Aafia’s nervousness and phobias, and fear of everything and everyone at the facility. It was clear that she was afraid of the jail staff, their violations of her privacy, repeatedly confiscation of her things, the rampant threat of physical and sexual abuse and institutionalised rape and bisexuality that she claimed existed at the FMC Carswell.” Dr Siddiqui told her she had no confidence in the New York-based lawyers instructed by her sister Dr Fowzia Siddiqui and wished to return to her previous lawyer Tina Foster. “Aafia also alleged that jail authorities confiscated her belongings. Her phone calls to family members were recorded and monitored. When asked why she did not call her mother in Karachi, Aafia said she didn’t feel comfortable talking to her in the presence of the jail staff.”

https://tribune.com.pk/story/1737766/1-dr-aafia-siddiqui-subjected-to-physical-sexual-abuse-in-us-detention-confidential-report/

On 25 June, following a hearing in early June, the Pakistan Supreme Court rejected a petition by Dr Siddiqui’s family to have her repatriated to serve her sentence in Pakistan. The petition also aimed to introduce a policy on protecting the fundamental rights of Pakistani prisoners abroad. The court said it could not bind a foreign authority – having been asked to order its own government to sign international treaties on the rights and transfer of prisoners – and suggested she take her case to a US court.

https://tribune.com.pk/story/1741976/1-sc-rejects-petition-requesting-aafia-siddiquis-repatriation/  

On 28 June, the parliamentary intelligence and security committee published the findings of its long-awaited report on the UK’s complicity in rendition and torture after 9/11. The investigation, which was hindered by not being given full information and not being able to conduct important interviews, confirmed a pattern of prisoner abuse by the US with the full knowledge and “tolerance” of the UK authorities, essentially confirming the UK’s wilful complicity in crimes against humanity. Not only was the UK aware, but on at least 13 incidents, UK intelligence officers witnesses torture first hand. On 128 occasions, the UK was told about told but did not act. However, the report’s finding are not a concern as it concluded that “there was not any evidence to indicate "UK agency officers or defence intelligence personnel directly carried out physical mistreatment of detainees".”

https://news.sky.com/story/uk-tolerated-inexcusable-treatment-of-terror-detainees-after-911-11419530

References to torture as “mistreatment” and media claims that the full truth has now been revealed demonstrate that the authorities are unapologetic for their wilful abuse of human rights and dignity and that much has been left unsaid. Furthermore, the fact that no policy on rendition has even been devised suggests that the practice may be ongoing.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/jun/28/uk-role-torture-kidnap-terror-suspects-after-911-revealed  

LGC Activities:

The LGC held its monthly Shut Guantánamo! demos outside the US Embassy in Nine Elms on 7 June at 12-2pm for our next monthly demonstration. Our next monthly demo for July is on Thursday 5 July at 12-2pm: https://www.facebook.com/events/184976262169585/ All are welcome to join us.

On 15 June, the London Guantánamo Campaign joined other NGOs in adding its name to a statement issued as a press release urging Donald Trump to close the Guantánamo Bay prison camp on the 6000^th day of its existence. An initiative by journalist Andy Worthington and the Close Guantánamo campaign, the statement says: “Every day that Guantánamo remains open is a black mark against America’s notion of itself as a nation founded on the rule of law, which respects the rule of law. We call on Donald Trump to close it without further delay, and to charge or release those still held.” Full statement and signatories here: https://www.closeguantanamo.org/Articles/293-Today-Marks-6-000-Days-of-Guantanamo-Rights-Groups-Including-Close-Guantanamo-Urge-Donald-Trump-to-Close-It

 

The London Guantánamo Campaign marked UN International Day in Support of Victims of Torture with a vigil outside the US Embassy in solidarity with victims of CIA in particular. Around 20 people attended. Thank you to everyone who joined us.