Guantanamo/Detainees

About 270 Ex-Detainees Get ‘Deeply Flawed’ Justice in Afghanistan

About 270 detainees held by the United States have been transferred to Afghanistan where they face trials without due process rights or longtime detention without a hearing. About 50 detainees were transferred from Guantanamo and 220 from the Bagram air base in Aghanistan, the Washington Post reports. Many are being…

Apr 14, 2008 1:11 PM CDT

Former U.S. Detainees Convicted in One-Hour Trials in Afghanistan

Afghan detainees formerly held by the United States are being tried in Afghanistan in secretive trials that last one hour or less, human rights investigators told the New York Times. The detainees were housed at Guantanamo Bay and Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan before being handed over to their home…

Apr 10, 2008 3:07 PM CDT

Guantanamo Justice Moves Slowly, Frustrating Pentagon Official

Few terrorism and war-crimes detainees at Guantanamo Bay are likely to go to trial before President Bush leaves office. Military lawyers and other experts who spoke to the New York Times said military commission trials of 14 pending cases are likely to be delayed while military judges sort out some…

Apr 10, 2008 12:23 PM CDT

I’ll Be a Potted Plant, Gitmo Defense Lawyer Fears

As efforts to conduct military trials of terrorism suspects held at the Guantanamo Bay military prison inch forward, some suspects and their counsel are not optimistic about the process. One Saudi defendant today politely informed a military judge that his planned war crimes trial is a sham in which he…

Apr 9, 2008 10:01 PM CDT

Law Profs Propose New Federal Court for Gitmo Detainees

As the countdown continues toward controversial military trials starting next month for terrorism suspects being detained by the U.S. at Guantanamo Bay, two prominent law professors at major universities are proposing another approach to the problem of providing a fair tribunal yet at the same time protecting national security. In…

Apr 9, 2008 6:12 PM CDT

DOJ Memo Considered Eye-Gouging and Ear-Cutting, in Graphic But Dry Detail

Can the president authorize interrogators to gouge the eyes of a terrorism detainee? To throw acid on him or to cut his nose or ear? All those questions were considered in dry but graphic language in a recently declassified 2003 memo for the Justice Department by John Yoo, then-deputy assistant…

Apr 7, 2008 3:45 PM CDT

Two Legal Groups Offer Guantanamo Defense Help

Two legal groups have announced they will field an experienced team of lawyers to represent Guantanamo detainees charged in the Sept. 11 attacks. The American Civil Liberties Union and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers say they will offer to provide experienced lawyers to represent Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the…

Apr 4, 2008 4:56 PM CDT

New Embassy Bombing Charges Filed Against Gitmo Detainee

A Guantanamo Bay detainee was charged Monday with war crimes. Military prosecutors allege Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, who was previously held in a CIA secret prison, planned the 1998 bombing of the U.S. embassy in Tanzania. Eleven people were killed, and many others were injured in the attack, the New York…

Mar 31, 2008 7:10 PM CDT

Canada’s Top Court Considers Controversial Khadr Case

A controversial case concerning an al-Qaida terrorism suspect who has been held in U.S. custody since he was 15 years old is being argued in Canada’s highest court today, where counsel for Omar Khadr is contending that the defense should be given access to documents concerning an interview of him…

Mar 26, 2008 7:01 PM CDT

ABA President Expresses ‘Grave Concerns’ About Guantanamo Trials

ABA President William H. Neukom is expressing “grave concerns” about coerced evidence, restrictions on lawyers and other aspects of the Guantanamo trial process. In an op-ed released today, Neukom says American lawyers are “deeply troubled” by six Guantanamo death penalty cases involving alleged plotters in the Sept. 11 attacks. The…

Mar 24, 2008 6:12 PM CDT

Gitmo Lawyers Say Gov’t. Interferes With Defense

Lawyers for four Kuwaitis being held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, say government prosecutors are violating standard legal ethics rules by contacting defendants whom they know to be represented by counsel. In an emergency petition last week, they contend the chief military prosecutor says he doesn’t…

Mar 18, 2008 12:16 AM CDT

Guantanamo Detainee Can Challenge Planned Transfer to Algeria

A federal appeals court has ruled that judges can consider pleas by Guantanamo detainees that seek to block their transfers to countries where they may be tortured. The 2-1 ruling (PDF) by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said courts still have the authority to…

Mar 14, 2008 6:04 PM CDT

Human Rights Groups Sue for Access to Gitmo Transcripts

Claiming the Pentagon is covering up abusive treatment of detainees, human rights lawyers filed a federal lawsuit against the Bush administration Thursday seeking full transcripts of military hearings held for those alleged to be senior al-Qaida leaders. The Miami Herald reports that several of the detainees claim they’ve been tortured,…

Mar 13, 2008 4:13 PM CDT

Iraq Is New Front in Detainee Battle

Clash over habeas corpus rights moves from Guantanamo to Baghdad

Mar 1, 2008 7:53 PM CST

ABA Offers Gitmo Tribunal Help, UK Bar Groups Voice Fairness Concerns

The president of the American Bar Association has written the president of the United States, expressing concern that six terrorism suspects detained at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay in capital cases may not receive fair trials under current military tribunal procedures that don’t comply with established standards for…

Feb 28, 2008 7:55 PM CST