Guantanamo/Detainees

Casio Watch Suspicions, Wrong Gitmo Detainee Assessments Among Leaked WikiLeaks Docs

Nearly 800 classified WikiLeaks documents about Guantanamo detainees and al-Qaida have been obtained by news organizations. The documents contain intelligence assessments of the detainees and information about the location of the Sept. 11 plotters on the day of the attacks in New York in Washington, D.C., report the Washington Post…

Apr 25, 2011 12:13 PM CDT

Chinese Muslims Detained at Gitmo Turned Away from High Court

The U.S. Supreme Court today turned away a plea from five Chinese Muslims being held at Guantanamo Bay. The five, who have previously declined an offer to be resettled in Palau, have been held at the U.S. naval base for nearly nine years. Six other Chinese Muslims, or Uighurs, have…

Apr 18, 2011 3:46 PM CDT

Pentagon GC Regrets Seminole / Al-Qaida Analogy in Guantanamo Sentence

The Seminole Tribe of Florida recently received a letter from Pentagon general counsel Jeh Johnson, stating that he regretted his staff likening 1800s history involving the Native American group to al-Qaida in a recent Guantanamo war court filing. The brief in question defended the life sentence of Yemeni Ali Hamza…

Apr 11, 2011 7:48 PM CDT

In Setback for Gitmo Detainees, Supreme Court Turns Down Three Appeals

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to hear three appeals by detainees at Guantanamo Bay who are challenging their detention. The cert denial is a setback for detainees and a victory for the Obama administration, the Christian Science Monitor reports. The detainees were appealing decisions by the U.S. Court…

Apr 5, 2011 3:18 PM CDT

Alleged 9/11 Mastermind to Be Tried by Military Commission

In an about face, the U.S. Justice Department has announced that accused Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed will be tried by a military tribunal rather than civilian courts. Mohammed will be tried at Guantanamo along with four alleged co-conspirators, according to the New York Times and ABC News. The…

Apr 4, 2011 4:35 PM CDT

No Quick Miranda Warning Needed for Domestic Terror Suspects Under New FBI Rules

Domestic terrorism suspects may be questioned without an immediate Miranda warning under FBI rules adopted in December. The Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) obtained a copy of the FBI memorandum outlining the policy. It allows the delayed warning in “exceptional cases” when interrogation is needed “to collect valuable and timely…

Mar 24, 2011 11:31 AM CDT

President Obama Lifts Ban on Gitmo Trials, Says New Safeguards Are In Place

President Barack Obama still intends to close the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. But in the meantime, he has eliminated a ban he imposed nearly two years ago on conducting military trials of detainees held at the facility. His executive order today apparently anticipates that military tribunals…

Mar 7, 2011 9:59 PM CST

Yale Law Grad Credits ‘Stolen’ Law School Chair for Literary Success

Looking at the chairs in the Yale Law School dining hall, Brandt Goldstein had to admit that the banged-up wood-and-leather chair left in the apartment he rented during his second year there was stolen property. But it became an old friend as he realized, even before he earned his juris…

Jan 18, 2011 5:06 PM CST

Wikileaks Reveals Why US Declined to Implant Chips in Released Gitmo Detainees

Counterterrorism adviser John Brennan wasn’t enthusiastic when King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia suggested a way to keep track of Guantanamo detainees who are released to foreign countries where terrorist groups operate. The king suggested implanting the detainees with tracking chips, similar to chips used in horses and falcons, the New…

Nov 30, 2010 12:37 PM CST

Detainee Acquitted in Civilian Court of All But One Charge in U.S. Embassy Bombings

In a blow to the Obama administration Wednesday, the first former Guantanamo Bay detainee to face civilian trial was found not guilty of all but one of 285 counts he faced for his role in the 1998 bombings of U.S. Embassies in Tanzania and Kenya. The verdict puts in doubt…

Nov 18, 2010 1:01 AM CST

Appeals Court Blocks Release of Guantanamo Detainee Who Claimed Torture

A federal appeals court has blocked the release of a Guantanamo detainee whose lawyers claim he was tortured by interrogators. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said the lower court should reconsider its decision to free Mohamedou Ould Salahi, the Associated Press reports. The lower…

Nov 5, 2010 3:23 PM CDT

Big Difference in Two Sentences for Al-Qaida Soldier Captured at 15

A Canadian youth who pleaded guilty in the grenade death of a U.S. soldier was sentenced Sunday to eight more years in custody. A military jury had recommended a 40-year sentence for Omar Khadr, who was captured in Afghanistan at the age of 15, according to the Associated Press and…

Nov 1, 2010 2:27 PM CDT

US Secretly Recorded Detainee’s Guantanamo Conversations

The U.S. government secretly recorded conversations of Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani as he spoke to a fellow detainee at Guantanamo Bay. The recordings have not been mentioned to jurors in Ghailani’s civilian terrorism trial in Manhattan, the New York Times reports. They were cited in a report by a psychiatrist who…

Oct 27, 2010 12:30 PM CDT

Omar Khadr, Captured in Afghanistan at Age 15, Pleads Guilty to Terrorism Charges

A Canadian youth captured in Afghanistan when he was 15 years old pleaded guilty today to terrorism charges in the death of a U.S. soldier. Omar Khadr, now 24, was accused of throwing a grenade that killed the soldier. In court today, he admitted he had received terrorist training from…

Oct 25, 2010 3:27 PM CDT

Welcome to the ‘Parallel Universe’: Opinion Releasing Gitmo Detainee Was Extensively Rewritten

Legal observers are agog over two very different versions of a ruling in a habeas corpus case ordering the release of a Guantanamo Bay detainee who was held nearly eight years without being charged. In the initial version provided by Pro Publica, which was briefly made available online in March,…

Oct 15, 2010 12:32 PM CDT