Court Again Rejects Shawali Khan's Habeas Petition

I had the honor of helping in Shawali Khan's habeas hearing and the fact that Mr. Khan is still being held at Guantanamo is a travesty. 

"In a 26-page decision dated Sept. 26, U.S. District Judge John D. Bates acknowledged that “the government’s case for continued detention of Khan has been weakened slightly by recent developments.” In particular, the government has stopped relying on statements once made by Khan following his capture."  [I would just note that it would be more accurate to say that the government stopped relying on statements that Mr. Khan disputed every saying....."] Read more here.

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2014/09/29/241359_court-rejects-again-challenge.html?rh=1#storylink=cpy

Mori's book is out.....

Michael Mori, the former US Marine lawyer who spent four years defending David Hicks released a book this week:

In the company of cowards: Bush, Howard and injustice at Guantanamo, "a compelling and sobering account of a western democratic government losing its head and sacrificing principles in the cause of national security."

Read more here.

Good luck trying to buy it in these United States....

Kafkaesque is really the only name for it...

And like my remaining client who will never be tried in the military commission or in a criminal trial....--

 “The more guilty you are, the better off you are,” says Bogucki. “The more innocent you are, the worse your situation is. If the government has no evidence against you, they won’t take you to court. You stay in Guantanamo forever.”

Read the whole story at the link...

Daily Beast: A Navy Lawyer Cries Foul on Gitmo’s Kafkaesque Legal System

Jose Padilla- an american citizen tortured on american soil

I would be amiss in not addressing the disgraceful decision of the Judge in Jose Padilla's case to increase his sentence to 30 years. I will let Andy Worthington tell the story while I hang my head in shame at all of the judges involved in this case. Every American should be ashamed of what happened to this man but instead the American public just keeps the blinders on...

Obama's new rules on detainee detention--- giving a thumbs up on abusive tactics

Jeff Kaye has this summary of new department of defense directives for prisoners like the Guantanamo prisoners. The last version was dated back in 2006 so if anyone had doubts that Obama does not own Guantanamo this should put that assertion to rest.

A summary of Jeff's article by Jeff--

The new directive expands upon what “humane treatment” means for those caught in its “detainee program.” It also adds an item about the collection of biometric identification information (BII). Such information “will be collected from all detainees in accordance with DoDD 8521.01E.” In addition, it includes a statement of how long a detainee can be held, which appears to operationalize Obama’s policy of indefinite detention of detainees. Finally, the directive greatly expands on the issue of who can be held, how charges can be brought against detainees, and what procedures are necessary for a detainee’s release. (This article will not cover the very last item.)

Steve Vladek at Just Security has more here.

More on the Gitmo nurse who refused to force feed detainees....

Jeff Kaye has an update on the nurse who refused to violate the oath he took as a medical provider---seems the military has decided not to court martial him but they are doing an "administrative review"-- so his worries are not over and he could still be discharged and lose all benefits. Read more about his plight here

Lest we forget....

September 12, 1977.

9-11

(SORRY ERASED THIS BY MISTAKE).  As usual I turn to the talking dog for the 9-11 message as he was a block from the twin towers at the time (as opposed to Mr. Obama and the other hysteria mongers).  Here is what the talking dog has to say.

More news on torture

While we wait for the redacted torture report to finally be released there is this news about some of the torture we might read about in that report. It is unclear if the leak was made to start getting us ready for what we may be allowed to know from the heavily redacted report--or if perhaps some of the report is getting into the hands of people who might actually let us read the whole thing-- unredacted.
I for one am hoping for the latter.

Limbo and Cruelty at Guantanamo

Many of us Gitmo attorneys are concerned about a deafening silence and the complete halt to the review committee. Is there a deal underway to move the men to the US? I shudder at the thought--not of course because I think these men are dangerous-- quite the opposite. I fear moving these men to maximum secure prisons here in the US--where the legal battles will begin anew.
Meanwhile the NYT has more on the never ending plight of these men.