Guantanamo/Detainees

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

Ex-Gitmo Prosecutor to Testify for Bin Laden Driver

The former chief prosecutor at Guantanamo Bay has raised eyebrows with his decision to testify on behalf of the former driver for Osama bin Laden. Col. Morris Davis’ testimony on behalf of Salim Ahmed Hamdan will be used to question the fairness of the military commission system, the New York…

Feb 28, 2008 7:01 PM CST

Iraq Is New Front in Detainee Battle

By David G. Savage The long legal battle over the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has succeeded in raising—but not yet answering—a basic question about American law: What is the reach of habeas corpus? Is the right to take your case before a judge limited to American citizens in…

Feb 27, 2008 9:27 PM CST

Pentagon GC Resigns, Faced Controversy Over Detainee Policies

Defense Department general counsel William Haynes III is resigning to take a job in the private sector. The Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) describes Haynes as a principal architect of the policies governing Guantanamo detainees. He helped formulate the administration’s legal response to the Sept. 11 attacks, which included new…

Feb 26, 2008 7:17 PM CST

DOJ Cites National Security Threat in Detainee Cert Petition

The Justice Department has asked the Supreme Court to review an appellate ruling requiring the government to supply extensive information about its designation of more than 180 Guantanamo detainees as enemy combatants. The government contends the decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals by the District of Columbia Circuit creates…

Feb 15, 2008 11:57 AM CST

Judge Dismisses Renditions Case, Cites State Secrets Concerns

A federal judge has cited the state secrets privilege in dismissing a lawsuit that contends a Boeing subsidiary helped the CIA transport prisoners to overseas prisons for torture. U.S. District Judge James Ware of San Jose, Calif., said the suit against Jeppesen Dataplan Inc. “would jeopardize national security and foreign…

Feb 14, 2008 2:18 PM CST

Gitmo Surveillance Tapes Overwritten; Lawyers Fear Evidence Lost

The commander of the military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay said in a court filing on Friday that he recently learned surveillance tapes of detainees were automatically overwritten. The admission by Rear Adm. Mark Buzby has defense lawyers worried that important evidence on the legality of detainee treatment could be…

Feb 14, 2008 1:50 PM CST

Gitmo Lawyers Say Hurdles Make It Difficult to Prove Taint of Torture

The U.S. government says evidence obtained through torture won’t be able to be used in the trials of six men charged this week with planning the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, but defense lawyers for other detainees say evidentiary hurdles could prevent details of harsh interrogations from being introduced in the…

Feb 13, 2008 12:09 PM CST

Capital Charges Announced Against Six Accused Sept. 11 Plotters

Updated: Charges were announced today against six men accused of planning and participating in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Prosecutors will seek the death penalty. Brig. Gen. Thomas Hartmann, a legal adviser on the prosecutions, told reporters that prosecutors have recommended that the charges be tried jointly before a military…

Feb 11, 2008 12:42 PM CST

Lawyers, Senator Suggest Treaty Bars Gitmo Trial for Child Soldier

A strong backer of the 2006 law establishing military commissions at Guantanamo Bay said this week he has reservations about using the tribunals to try juvenile detainees. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.), “I’m not comfortable on an issue like this with minors.” He suggested…

Feb 7, 2008 7:07 PM CST

DOJ Seeks Emergency Supreme Court Appeal in Gitmo Case

The Justice Department plans to file an emergency petition with the U.S. Supreme Court seeking review of a ruling requiring the government to supply more information about its designation of a Guantanamo detainee as an enemy combatant. The case, Bismullah v. Gates, concerns how much information the government has to…

Feb 6, 2008 3:15 PM CST

CIA Officials Say Three Al-Qaida Suspects Subjected to Waterboarding

CIA officials acknowledged for the first time in congressional testimony yesterday that waterboarding was used on three terrorism suspects. The officials said special circumstances justified use of the interrogation technique, and they refused to rule out its use in the future, the Associated Press reports. They identified the suspects who…

Feb 6, 2008 1:08 PM CST

Lawyer-Actor Writes Gitmo Script

An actor-turned-lawyer has written a 30-minute screenplay that imagines the deliberations of three military judges deciding whether to hold a Guantanamo detainee as an enemy combatant. Sig Libowitz played a Jewish man with mob ties on The Sopranos and a public defender on Law & Order before he attended the…

Feb 4, 2008 5:00 PM CST

Mukasey Suggests CIA Tape Probe Could Expand

Attorney General Michael Mukasey disappointed some senators when he waffled on whether waterboarding is illegal at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing yesterday, but he offered a small concession when he indicated an interrogation tapes probe could widen, the Washington Post reports. Mukasey’s remarks offered a hint that the probe into…

Jan 31, 2008 12:19 PM CST

Iraq Is New Front in Detainee Battle

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

Ex-Gitmo Prosecutor to Testify for Bin Laden Driver

Iraq Is New Front in Detainee Battle

Pentagon GC Resigns, Faced Controversy Over Detainee Policies

DOJ Cites National Security Threat in Detainee Cert Petition

Judge Dismisses Renditions Case, Cites State Secrets Concerns

Gitmo Surveillance Tapes Overwritten; Lawyers Fear Evidence Lost

Gitmo Lawyers Say Hurdles Make It Difficult to Prove Taint of Torture

Capital Charges Announced Against Six Accused Sept. 11 Plotters

Lawyers, Senator Suggest Treaty Bars Gitmo Trial for Child Soldier

DOJ Seeks Emergency Supreme Court Appeal in Gitmo Case

CIA Officials Say Three Al-Qaida Suspects Subjected to Waterboarding

Lawyer-Actor Writes Gitmo Script

Mukasey Suggests CIA Tape Probe Could Expand

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