Guantánamo Dispatch

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

05/07/2010

Guantánamo

The Monster of Bagram

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

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.

05/05/2010

Guantánamo

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.

05/03/2010

Guantánamo

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.

04/30/2010

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.

04/29/2010

Guantánamo

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.

12/07/2009

Guantánamo

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.

12/03/2009

Guantánamo

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.

11/19/2009

Guantánamo

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).

10/07/2009

Guantánamo

The End of the Beginning? Or the Beginning of the End?

By Ben Wizner, Director, ACLU Speech, Privacy & Technology Project at 4:04pm

Nearly four years have passed since I first traveled to Guantánamo to observe proceedings in the military commission prosecution of Canadian Omar Khadr, who was 15 years old when seized in Afghanistan and has now spent fully a third of his life in captivity. In an ordinary justice system, Khadr's trial – and very likely any possible sentence – would have been completed long ago. Here at Guantánamo, we were back to square one with the dismissal of one of Khadr's lawyers and the introduction of two new defense lawyers – numbers 10 and 11 by my count – who are unfamiliar with the case and will need quite a bit of time to get up to speed. In other words, it's déjà vu all over again.

06/02/2009

Guantánamo

In a Dignified and Professional Manner

By Alexander Abdo, Staff Attorney, ACLU National Security Project at 10:49am

The circus-like atmosphere of the military commissions in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, carried on yesterday in top form. Although the primary issue addressed – selection of counsel for the accused – routinely arises and is professionally dealt with in federal court, the hearing today left the proceedings against Omar Khadr in tatters. When all was said and done – and most of it was said and done by the presiding judge, Colonel Parrish, who made little effort to conceal his anger and frustration with Khadr's lawyers – the judge had slashed Khadr's trial team of three lawyers to a provisional one, depending on the outcome of yet another hearing set for July.

American Civil Liberties Union