Guantánamo Dispatch

Updates and analysis from ACLU attorneys in Cuba observing the proceedings of the Guantánamo Bay military commissions.

Pentagon Should Reverse Gitmo Reporter Ban

By Jennifer Turner, Human Rights Researcher, ACLU Human Rights Program at 3:04pm

In a group letter sent today, the ACLU, Human Rights First, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and the National Institute for Military Justice called for the Department of Defense to reverse its decision banning four reporters from covering future military commissions proceedings at Guantánamo. All five groups monitor the military commissions on a regular basis.

Interrogator One

By Jennifer Turner, Human Rights Researcher, ACLU Human Rights Program at 12:08am

(Originally posted on Daily Kos.)

Bombshell Testimony from Bagram Interrogator Convicted of Abuse, Reporters Banned from Gitmo for Reporting his Name

On Thursday, pretrial hearings continued in the case of Canadian Omar Khadr, who has spent a third of his life in U.S. detention since he was captured at age 15. Though the Obama administration has claimed it intends to erase the taint of torture and abuse from the Bush-era Guantánamo military commissions, the government is trying to use evidence coerced out of the teenage boy in an illegitimate trial eight years later.

The Monster of Bagram

By Jennifer Turner, Human Rights Researcher, ACLU Human Rights Program at 1:40pm

(Originally posted on Daily Kos.)

On Wednesday pretrial hearings continued in the case of Canadian Omar Khadr. Captured at age 15 in Afghanistan and now held for fully a third of his life in U.S. detention, Khadr is currently scheduled for trial by military commission in July. Unless a plea bargain is reached, Khadr's case will be the first prosecution in U.S. history of a person for war crimes allegedly committed as a child.

Taxi to the Dark Side

By Jennifer Turner, Human Rights Researcher, ACLU Human Rights Program at 12:40pm

Hearings continued Monday and Tuesday in the case of Canadian Omar Khadr, the last Western national still being held at Guantánamo. Now 23, Khadr was 15 when he was captured by U.S. forces in Afghanistan for allegedly throwing a grenade that killed a U.S. medic. Unless a plea bargain is reached, Khadr will be the first person prosecuted in a military commission under President Obama.

We have long known, since the creation of the military commissions, that the question of torture is at the heart of these proceedings. Since Omar Khadr first announced he had been abused while detained at Bagram and Guantánamo, we've faced the shameful possibility that he could be convicted using confessions extracted through torture and abuse. This week the commission is examining whether self-incriminating statements Khadr made to interrogators should be excluded from trial because of torture and other abuse.

Enough is Enough

By Jennifer Turner, Human Rights Researcher, ACLU Human Rights Program at 1:17pm

(Originally posted on Daily Kos.)

Hearings continued Friday and Saturday in the case of Canadian Omar Khadr, who again was absent from the proceedings. Accused of throwing a grenade that killed an American medic and participating in a terrorist conspiracy beginning when he was only 10 years old, Khadr literally has grown up at Guantánamo.

"Eyes and Ears"

By Jennifer Turner, Human Rights Researcher, ACLU Human Rights Program at 9:30pm

(Originally posted on Daily Kos.)

Yesterday was day two of pretrial hearings in the case of Toronto-born Omar Khadr, who has been in U.S. detention for a third of his life, since his capture at age 15 in Afghanistan.  The hearing was sidetracked by Khadr’s refusal to come to court because of a medical condition and marred by the military judge’s lack of concern—even though, according to his lawyers, he's in significant pain.

Making It Up As We Go Along

By Jennifer Turner, Human Rights Researcher, ACLU Human Rights Program at 6:25pm

(Originally posted on Daily Kos.)

At least 30 journalists and human rights observers descended on Guantánamo this week to witness the pretrial hearings in the case of Canadian Omar Khadr. Now 23, Khadr was 15 when he was captured by U.S. forces in Afghanistan for allegedly throwing a grenade that killed a U.S. medic. Khadr will be the first person prosecuted in a military commission under President Obama, and the second person selected for military commissions trial who was a juvenile at the time of his alleged offenses.

One Step Forward; Two Steps Back

By Nusrat Choudhury, Staff Attorney, ACLU National Security Project at 4:25pm

(Originally posted on Daily Kos.)

An unavoidable consequence of creating a new and ad hoc justice system on the fly is that issues that would be simple and routine in an ordinary criminal trial end up raising questions that are novel and highly contested. This has been a regular feature of the Guantánamo military commissions. We travel here to observe "pre-trial proceedings" with the expectation that the cases will be moving towards trial — only to find out that, because of some arcane dispute about what the new rules mean, trial has become even more remote.

Changing the Charges. Changing the Game.

By Nusrat Choudhury, Staff Attorney, ACLU National Security Project at 3:32pm

(Originally posted on Daily Kos.)

Yesterday, I observed proceedings in the case of Ibrahim Ahmed Mahmoud al-Qosi, a Sudanese man who has been detained at Guantánamo for nearly eight years, and one of the detainees Attorney General Holder has decided to prosecute in the military commissions rather than in federal court. In February of 2008, al-Qosi was charged with conspiring with Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda and providing material support for terrorism. Those of us who came to Guantánamo to observe the proceeding in al-Qosi's case walked into court thinking that these charges formed the basis for the government's prosecution.

Maintaining the Status Quo

By Jennifer Turner, Human Rights Researcher, ACLU Human Rights Program at 2:15pm

(Originally posted on Daily Kos.)

It seemed to be business as usual Wednesday, as we filed into the courtroom at Guantánamo Bay for Afghan Mohammed Kamin's pre-trial hearing before the military commission here. Attorney General Eric Holder simultaneously was testifying before Congress that the decision, announced last Friday, to transfer the five accused 9/11 co-conspirators to federal court to stand trial, represents a step closer to closing Guantánamo (even as President Obama announced that his administration will miss its deadline to do so).

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