Adnan Latif- though the eyes of Jason Leopold

Sorry for my delay in getting this powerful story about Adnan Latif up here on my blog. Emptywheel has a take on this article as well here.

DC Circuit nicks away at Military Commissions

Well I am pleased that the DC Circuit did not find a way to screw this one up. In a nutshell this is what the decision means:  You can't use a 2006 law to make conduct that occurred back in 2001 criminal-UNLESS it was already a crime back then. (duh) 
Material support for terrorism was not a war crime in 2001- and it still isn't.
here is the decision...
Emptywheel has more here.

How About Shaker For the Nobel Peace Prize? UPDATED

Shaker Aamer is the last British resident held at Guantanamo. He has also been a leader to the men held at the base and an outspoken critic of Guantanamo....from the inside. I ask everyone reading this site- and there are so many of you from all over the world who read this site over the weeks and months of the year- to submit Shaker's name for the Nobel Peace Prize- this coming year. (this years nominee has already been selected).
 I will give you more details as to how you can submit his name in nomination over the coming weeks. Of course you can always go to the Nobel Peace Prize website on your own. The big thing is that we need former Nobel Peace Prize winners to submit his name- also members of government (from any country and from all levels) professors and leaders in the NGO community and just everyday people like us...the more the merrier...
For now, I ask that you read his story....through Andy Worthington.
As for me-I sent my letter to former U.S. President Jimmy Carter (and former winner of the Noble Peace Prize) seeking his support.
In time I will give you more instructions on how to get Shaker's name before the committee....perhaps this is the only real way to close Guantanamo.

The talking dog has more on this idea....an idea that actually originated from the dog after I fretted about the fact that the peace prize given to Obama could not be taken back.

GITMO BY THE NUMBERS

h/o to D. Remes

Guantánamo Detainee Numbers—october 5, 2012
Population When Obama Took Office—242
Present Population—166 ( 242 - 72 transfers - 4 deaths  = 166 )
Approved for transfer		86
Indefinite detention		46
Referred for prosecution		31
Convicted		3
Breakdown of Population of 86 Approved for transfer
DOJ list		55
–Yemenis		*26
–Non-Yemenis		29
Formerly sealed case (Ameziene)		1
Separate group of 30 Yemenis approved for transfer if outside conditions allow		30
*In January 2010, the President halted the transfer of Yemenis to Yemen.
Historical Numbers
Detainees ever at GTMO		779
Transferred		604
Died		9
Current		166
President Bush
–Transferred		532
–Died		5
President Obama
–Transferred		72
–Died		4
Military Commissions
President Bush
Convictions	Hicks, Hamdan, Bahlul		3
–Transferred	Hicks and Hamdan		2
–Currently at GTMO	Bahlul		1
President Obama
Convictions	Qosi, Khadr, Mohammed, Kahn		4
–Transferred	Qosi, Khadr		2
–Currently at GTMO	Mohammed, Khan		2
© 2012 / David Remes / remesdh@gmail.com / 202-669-6508

From Roget Fitch and our friends down under at Justinian

Epic injustice for child soldier

THE Guantánamo prisoner Omar Khadr has been repatriated to Canada, after more than 10 years of patently unlawful American detention. Here's a chronology of his life.

After a year of stonewalling, the Canadian government has agreed to the return of a citizen who is apparently the first person convicted in a military trial for simply killing an enemy combatant - an act that has always been regarded as lawful in war (see post of November 2010).

Omar Khadr's offences seem as much political as military.

In 2002, a child of 15, he found himself, at his father's direction, in an Afghan house that exchanged fire with US soldiers. He had little choice but to defend himself, but an American died.

That a Canadian should actively resist American soldiers offended both governments: he must be punished, and so he was sent to Guantánamo.

All "terror" detentions at Guantánamo have been unlawful, one way or another.

No prisoner has been provided the independent prisoner of war determination required by both the Geneva Conventions and the US Uniform Code of Military Justice.

All have been detained and/or treated in ways that violate multiple international treaties. Omar Khadr's case is one of injustice on an epic scale.

It's hard to know where to start.

First, he was a 15 year old boy caught in a war on his father's initiative. Both Canada and the US seem to have forgotten they are signatories to the "Child Soldier Protocol" that provides that children engaged in war should be regarded as victims whose rehabilitation is paramount.

READ THE FULL REPORT HERE....