PERIODIC REVIEW BOARDS TO BE CONDUCTED IN SECRET

In keeping with our transparent government the reviews of the men who are not cleared for release will be conducted in secret. My remaining client is one of those men who will be reviewed in the secret proceeding. I have not received notice of my client's review and from what I understand from other counsel is that the proceedings are moving at a snails pace... Carol Rosenberg reports on the attempts by the press to witness the proceedings-- "WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon has begun notifying would-be observers that it plans to hold the first session of the long-awaited parole-style boards at Guantánamo in secret. President Barack Obama ordered his administration to set up the so-called Periodic Review Boards March 7, 2011. In July, Defense Department officials said the boards would review the files of 71 Guantánamo prisoners’ cases — 46 so-called “indefinite detainees” and 25 men once considered candidates for war crimes trials. Now, as the administration is poised to hold the first hearing — on Nov. 20 at Guantánamo, with 33-year-old captive Mahmud al Mujahid’s plea for release — the Pentagon says it’s unprepared to let reporters watch. Read the rest here.

And on to the next anniversary....

The anniversary of the first men being held at the gulag is January 11th. In 2014 that will be the 12th anniversary and the articles are starting to come out: RT in Gitmo: Is there end in sight for US ‘Gulag’ 12 years after opening?

A not so nice anniversary-----

As Moe Davis points out in this article "Twelve years ago, on 13 November 2001, President George W Bush signed an order authorizing the detention of suspected al-Qaida members and supporters, and the creation of military commissions. To borrow a line from the Grateful Dead: "What a long, strange trip it's been."

The Guided Tour...

An explanation of the guided tour given to journalists and politicians at Guantanamo. I would just point out that the photo's that the journalist claims are of camp IV are really camp V.....other than that mistake it looks pretty much like the tour given over the years at our little gulag. Read the article here.

Guantanamo - an over view

For those of you who need a primer about the early days of guantanamo this is a good overview by the BBC.

Missing the point at Guantanamo...

"Two recent stories about Guantánamo from two of the country's most respected news organizations highlight just how little attention the American press has paid to the facts about the extralegal prison, and the general lack of understanding about the core legal and Constitutional issues involved." Read the rest of this important article by Tom Wilner here.

Khadr To Appeal Judges stupid ruling....

Read more about the lower court's decision and his upcoming appeal here.

The Torture Doctors...

Scott Horton discusses the report by an expert panel that concluded that the Pentagon and the CIA ordered physicians to violate the Hippocratic Oath. Read his account here. And read the actual report here.

David Hicks fights back....

David Hicks---The Australian man whose only way out of Guantanamo was to plead guilty to a crime that wasn't even a crime when he supposedly did "it" is now trying to clear his name. If there was any justice out there this would not be a difficult job but well- enough with justice, aye? Read about David's lawsuit here. and here.... and here and finally here. Best of luck David.

"Please, we are tired...."

"Either leave us to die in peace ---or either tell the world the truth. Let the world hear what's happening." Those are the words uttered by Guantanamo detainee Shaker Aamer to a CBS television crew. His words are not as amazing as the fact that this was not subjected to the usual U.S. government censorship. Pretty sad that the biggest news is not what Shaker is saying but the fact that we can hear his voice. Anyway---read the rest here.

U.N. Reviews Military Tribunals...

GENEVA, Switzerland, Oct. 29 (UPI) -- Military tribunals, convened outside the civilian justice system, need to conform to basic standards for due process, a U.N. rights official said from Geneva.

Gabriela Knaul, U.N. special envoy on judicial independence, said U.N. member states need to enact tighter principles to govern military tribunals.

"Irrespective of their military status, these tribunals must be an integral part of the general judicial system," she said in a statement Monday. "It is also essential to ensure that military tribunals are compatible with human rights standards, including the respect of the right to a fair trial and due process guarantees."

Amnesty International in June said a military tribunal in Indonesia was being used to shield human rights violators from the rule of law. The rights group said a trial for 12 soldiers accused of the extrajudicial execution of four detainees was a sham.

Human Rights Watch, in a separate statement, said it's "convinced" the use of military commissions to try suspected terrorists at the U.S. Navy's detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is a serious error. It said the justice system there is "substandard."

Knaul did not single out any particular system in her statements. She served as a Brazilian judge before starting service with the United Nations in 2009.

Read more: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2013/10/29/UN-reviews-military-tribunals/UPI-82601383059792/#ixzz2jE3QVrJC

Khadr's doctor speaks out....

Khadr's doctor, retired U. S. General Stephen Xenakis, spoke out about the treatment of his patient Omar Khadr in Edmonton yesterday. The whole notion that this young man who was arrested at age 15 and had to plead guilty to charges- some of which were not even a crime at the time- to get out of the hell hole commonly known as Guantanamo is beyond the pale. My Canadian friends---Please don't let your country start mimicking the worst of our traits here in the U. S. ---or I guess I should say Please don't let your country continue to mimic our worst traits....
Read more about the good general here.

General and Systematic violation of Human Rights.......

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Monday demanded the United States explain abuses allegedly committed at Guantanamo prison, especially its practice of force-feeding inmates on hunger strike.

“The information we have indicates that there was a general and systematic violation of human rights” in Guantanamo, said Rodrigo Escobar Gil, one of the Washington-based body’s seven commissioners.

The allegations of forced feeding of Guantanamo prisoners on hunger strike constituted “cruel and inhumane treatment,” he added.

Read the rest HERE

ohhhhh Canada....

Shame on you.

Court denies former Guantanamo detainee's transfer

(AFP) – 3 days ago  

Ottawa — A Canadian court on Friday denied former Guantanamo inmate Omar Khadr's transfer from a maximum to a minimum security prison where he might be eligible for parole.

Khadr, now 27, sought to have his detention in a federal penitentiary for dangerous criminals in Edmonton declared illegal.

His lawyer Dennis Edney argued that because Khadr was 15 at the time of his offenses he should be jailed in a more comfortable provincial correctional facility for petty criminals and youth offenders.

But Canada's government opposed the move, calling it an attempt to lessen his punishment.

In his ruling, Judge John Rooke said the case was "not about any determination of the level of punishment," but rather a simple interpretation of legislation on housing prisoners transferred from abroad.

"The interpretation by the CSC (Correctional Services of Canada) that Mr. Khadr should be placed in a penitentiary is the correct statutory interpretation," he said.

The broader implication for Khadr is that it will be harder for him to obtain early release as long as he is classified a maximum-security risk by his jailers.

Edney told public broadcaster CBC that he would appeal the decision.

He noted that the United States and others have deemed Khadr to be a minimum security risk, and "posed no violent threat to anybody."

The lawyer lamented that as long as Khadr is designated a maximum security risk by Canadian authorities "that he will never get out of prison before his time's up."

Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney welcomed the ruling, saying Khadr had "pleaded guilty to heinous crimes."

Khadr was repatriated to Canada in September 2012 after spending 10 years in the US military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba following his arrest in Afghanistan as a teenager in 2002.

He was sentenced to eight years in 2010 following a military hearing in which he agreed to plead guilty to murder in violation of the law of war, attempted murder, conspiracy, providing material support for terrorism and spying.

The murder charge related to a grenade attack that killed a US soldier.

Fed's decide not to oppose habeas petition for Sudan prisoner

Ibrahim Idris has been held for 11 years- he has severe physical and mental illnesses and the government has known this for 11 years. Finally the government has agreed to "not oppose" his habeas petition--Read more HERE.

And congrats to the lawyer team at Debevoise for their hard fought battle.