Sunday, September 30, 2018

LGC Newsletter – September 2018

Guantánamo Bay
As pre-trial hearings resumed in the case of five men accused of involvement in attacks in New York in September 2001 under a new judge Marine Colonel Keith A Parrella, lawyers for the defendants called for the judge to disqualify himself from the case over bias and a possible conflict of interest. Ahead of the hearing, one of the lawyers stated that the judge lacked relevant experience and there was a potential conflict of interest in his previous counterterrorism work for the US Department of Justice. He has also never presided over any death penalty cases. However, Parrella quickly dismissed the claims, stating the defence had provided no evidence to show that he is unqualified for the job and has no connections to any of the prosecution lawyers in spite of his previous government work. There is also a possibility that he will not stay in the job for long as he was “selected for an embassy security position with the Marine Corps beginning in the summer of 2019 and announced his intention to accept the posting”, which would further delay the case.
During the same pre-trial hearing, the judge allowed the team for the defendant Ammar al Baluchi to raise a plea for the case’s dismissal on the basis that in February 2018, the Pentagon official in charge of military commissions, Harvey Rishikof, was fired for “unlawful influence” by entering into plea discussions with the defence teams to potentially avoid the death penalty. Lawyers argued that the judge had all the evidence to rule on whether there was unlawful influence, “a common concept in military justice referring to improper interference in proceedings”. The prosecution claimed that he was fired for his management style. The hearing was cut short due to Hurricane Florence but the judge asked the parties for written submissions within two weeks so that he can make a decision before the next hearing in November.
Following the end of the hearing, the judge ordered prosecutors to look for a top secret location in the Washington DC area to hold closed hearings on 7-9 November, when the pre-trial hearing resumes. This is in order to avoid a scheduling conflict at the Guantánamo court. If the hearing goes ahead elsewhere this will be for the first time in the case’s 6-year history and according to some lawyers, “could strengthen the argument that the accused terrorists are entitled to constitutional rights like confidential attorney-client conversations, to confront one’s accuser, to not be subjected to cruel or unusual punishment, to attend all portions of their trial — some of which the Bush administration sought to deny those tried at the U.S. naval base in Cuba when it set up the war court in the first place.” However, it would prevent the defendants from being able to take part in the hearing.
 
Despite the new judge’s determination to press ahead, pre-trial hearings in the case of Abd al Hadi Al-Iraqi did not go ahead in the last week of September. Marine Lieutenant Colonel Michael Libretto was due to make his first appearance at this military commission and in this case but the case was postponed each day as the defendant, “who says his real name is Nashwan al Tamir” was suffering from serious back pain and was in some cases unable to stand or even sit. Over the past year he has had surgery on his spine five times, most recently in May. After he had fallen ill the week before, his lawyer had asked for the hearing to be postponed, “arguing that it would be an enormous waste of time and resources while putting Nashwan’s health at serious risk.” Some of his back problems are linked to previous inadequate treatment at Guantánamo.

Extraordinary Rendition
US national security advisor John Bolton launched an attack on the International Criminal Court and has threatened sanctions if the court prosecutes US servicemen over war crimes in Afghanistan. Although the US is not a member of the court, Americans can be tried during the periods that Afghanistan, a member, was under US authority. A 2016 investigation by the prosecutor found that the US may have committed war crimes through the extraordinary rendition programme. The bulk of the claims in this case are against the Taliban but any revelations in court about extraordinary rendition could also reveal further details about the role of other states in assisting and facilitating CIA torture, not just Afghanistan.

LGC Activities:
The LGC held its monthly Shut Guantánamo! demos outside the US Embassy in Nine Elms on 6 September at 12-2pm. Our next monthly demo for October is on Thursday 4 October at 12-2pm: https://www.facebook.com/events/2148850955370083/ This protest is just days before the 17th anniversary of the ongoing war in Afghanistan, which led to Guantánamo opening. We will be showing solidarity with the people of Afghanistan too. All are welcome to join us.

No comments:

Post a Comment