GUANTANAMO DETAINEES: Susan J. Crawford, the Pentagon official known as the Convening Authority, has authorized that five of the six 9/11 conspirators be brought to trial. Prosecutors will seek the death penalty.

The ruling starts a legal clock that requires arraigning the five men within 30 days and starting the trial within four months. The five are accused of organizing the September 11, 2001, attacks that killed 2,973 people in the United States. The ruling has once again focused attention on the military prison Guantanamo—also known as Gitmo—and on the use of torture on foreign prisoners accused of terrorism.

Why Not the Sixth 9/11 Suspect?

The sixth man, Mohammed al-Qahtani, referred to as the “20th hijacker,” was not included in the list of those to stand trial. The Convening Authority gave no reason for not pressing charges against al-Qahtani. Two reasons are possible:

• If al-Qahtani was part of a terrorist suicide squad, he did not carry out his mission. When he tried to enter Florida, U.S. Immigration officials stopped him because he didn’t have a return ticket. He was detained and later arrested, and has been held at Guantanamo since 2002.
• If al-Qahtani’s confession was the result of torture and coercion, it cannot be used in a court of law. The government kept a detailed log of al-Qahtani’s treatment at Guantanamo. His lawyer, Gitanjali Guitierrez, said, "The dismissal of charges clearly indicates the government's awareness that any and all statements obtained from Mohammad Qahtani were extracted by torture or the threat of torture." (Time, 5/14/08) She called him a "broken man, broken by torture."

What About the Other Five Suspected Terrorists?

The five men who will stand trial have been at Gitmo for only the past year. Before that they were held in secret CIA facilities in other countries.

Khaled Sheik Mohammed, the self-proclaimed leader of the five, says that the CIA subjected him to water boarding. Water boarding makes the victim feel that he is drowning. The U.S. military says it does not subject prisoners to water boarding or other extreme physical treatments at Gitmo.

The CIA, however, says it can subject terrorism suspects to torture techniques banned by the Geneva Conventions, such as water boarding. In March, President Bush vetoed legislation that would have banned water boarding, saying it’s a useful tool in the war on terrorism.

The military has interrogated the five terrorist suspects since their arrival at the prison. Prosecutors can use information obtained during those interrogations without being accused of coercion.

Copyright © 2008 Informify

Sources

Why the Gitmo Cases Are in Disarray (Time, 5/14/08)

Five at Guantanamo to face capital charges (Houston Chronicle, 5/13/08)

Defense Department Jettisons Charges Against ‘20th Hijacker’ (The Wall Street Journal, 5/14/08)

Executions sought for 9/11 defendants (Chicago Tribune, 5 /15/08)

Question for Readers:

Do you think military prisoners should have the same legal rights as civilian prisoners in the U.S. judicial system, no matter what crime they are accused of committing?