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October 16, 2012

Judge Bars Torture Discussion from 9/11 Trial at Guantánamo 
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In news from Guantánamo Bay, a U.S. military judge refused to allow a
discussion about torture during a pretrial hearing on Monday in the
death penalty case against five prisoners including Khalid Sheikh
Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks. Before their
transfer to the Guantánamo U.S. Naval Base in 2006, the defendants were
held for years in secret CIA prisons where all five have said they were
tortured during interrogations. David Nevin is an attorney for Khalid
Sheikh Mohammed.

David Nevin: "I'm talking about the United States of America tortured my
client for three-and-a-half years. It's a capital case. Do you think
that's something I might want to talk to Mr. Mohammed about? Well, of
course it is. But there, defined as 'contraband' in the rules [of what
detainees can talk about] is quote-unquote 'the detention of any
detainee.'"

Attorney David Nevin went on to criticize the overall court proceedings
at Guantánamo.

David Nevin: "It is a court that is designed to achieve a conviction and
to do it in such a way that the truth never comes out about what was
done to our client, who did it and why, and what it means."

 

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