AND WHAT ABOUT THAT DETAINEE LIBRARY???

For many years I tried to explore the so-called "35,000 library books" for the detainees. One funny thing is that the number has not changed over the last 7 or 8 years, despite the fact that books are regularly donated to the library. The other funny thing is that the books are not generally available to the men. Although my information is a little out dated it still appears that a small number of books are rotated through to the men. If I send a book I can notify my client and he can ask for it. But if I don't notify him he of course will not know the book and will not see the book.
And the standards for what books can be made available at the "detainee library" are crazy. We can't have the men reading "The Gulag Archipelago"  (too much similarity to the soviet system) or "The Trial"- (again too many parallels to our system which allows the men to be held for unknown crimes.)
But it is quite OK to have the Harry Potter series.

Well anyway, someone has tried to figure out the warped and secretive library for the men at Guantanamo. You can read about it here. And maybe the books that make it to the library pass this test "the library only allowed materials that were “culturally sensitive, non-extremist in nature, and generally non-controversial.”

But mostly it seems that the people doing figuring out which books the men can read and which are too "controversial"... havent read the books themselves.

Medical perils for Gitmo Attorneys

I reported on this last year- a number of the attorneys working on the commission cases have been diagnosed with cancer- three have died. It seems that the location of the housing and offices for the attorneys is in close proximity to a toxic waste dump.
Now several of the attorneys have sued. You can read about the lawsuit here and review the complaint here.

The military has refused to do a legitimate study of the contaminated area because- the military like my president- doesn't make mistakes and should not be questioned.

No one should have to risk their life while representing these men.

TALKING DOG INTERVIEWS JEFF KAYE

Earlier this week I posted a review of Jeffery Kaye's book "Cover-up at Guantanamo." Now the talking dog has interviewed Jeff.

read the interview here.

A MUST READ...

Jeffrey Kaye is a psychologist in private practice in California. . Over the years our paths have crossed as he investigated and wrote about Guantanamo- torture and interrogation abuses. Now he has a book out- which you can get as an ebook or in paper: "Cover up at Guantanamo: The NCIS investigation into the "suicides" of Mohammed Al Hanashi and Abdul Rahman Al Amri."

The book is as riveting as it is disturbing. Many of us have looked into the questionable deaths of the three men that died together in 2006 but sparse attention has been paid to these two men. Now with Jeff's book their deaths raise more questions than answers-- and as usual with the military-- the cover up runs deep. We will probably never know the full story surrounding any of these deaths but it is not for Jeff's lack of trying.

You can read more about the book at Guantanamotruth.com which also has many of the underlying documents that Jeff uncovered.

You can also visit Jeff's Blog: Invictus

You can order the book here.

 As we monitor the new war crimes by our current lunatic in the white house we cannot lose focus of the war crimes that preceded him.

My thanks to Jeff for sticking with this investigation and helping to spread the truth.

GORSUCH DOESN'T LIKE ME AND 'MY KIND'

It seems that Trumps new supreme court nominee doesn't like alot of things about the attorneys who stepped to the plate to represent the men at Guantanamo- not only did he disparage us back when we started our representation in the 2004-1005 time period- but he claimed that we were engaged in a campaign of fabricating abuse and torture. He apologized this week for some of the comments that he made... but not all of them. He has not apologized for his comments claiming that we (the attorneys representing the men at Gitmo) were fabricating the abuse and torture of our clients. I guess that is not too surprising given his role in both the abuse and torture of those men but he is certainly not a man that I want to see in the supreme court.
Read more here.

Gitmo Petition in the Supreme Court

One of the men who has long been before the military commission has filed a Petition with the Supreme Court asking to have his case moved to the federal court system -- for many reasons-- including the torture he was subjected to over the years while in CIA and military custody.

This article explains the Petition and also links to the actual documents- some of the documents are redacted but the Petition itself seems to be fairly readable.

Trumps Supreme Court Nominee....

Just in case anyone really thought that Trump made a mistake and appointed someone who would be fair and just.... Read this.

TRUMP SPEAKS....

Or I guess more accurately-- Trump Tweets....
Up until now Trump has been pretty quiet about Guantanamo. That ended in the wee hours of the morning today.

"  122 vicious prisoners, released by the Obama Administration from Gitmo, have returned to the battlefield. Just another terrible decision! "

So where does one start when you are dealing with a lunatic? I guess with the facts.

First, the total number of men released by the Obama administration is 161. For Trump to suggest that 80% of the men released by Obama have "returned" to the battlefield is ludicrous.

Second, 96% of the men held at Guantanamo were never on a battlefield.

Finally (for now- because I will get back to this) what my military considers to be the "battlefield" is an ever expanding view- men who publicly condemn and protest my government and its policies are considered to be on the battlefield. The battlefield is public opinion.

Trump is a dangerous person but unfortunately he is not the only dangerous person in this here country of mine. 

Torture Summay in Graphic Novel...

The 2014 torture report (summary) released by the Senate Intelligence Committee is a 500-plus-page denunciation of the CIA’s use of EITs, or enhanced interrogation techniques, during George W. Bush’s presidency. Now Sid Jacobson and Ernie Colón, the pair behind the best-selling graphic novel adaptation of the 9/11 Commission Report, have illustrated the torture memo in powerful, disturbing detail. Here’s an excerpt from their haunting book.
Take a look here.

Could one of the remaining Algerians be on his way home?

There are two Algerians still at Guantanamo- one is Mr. Barhoumi who was cleared for release and set to be sent home but unfortunately the Obama administration couldn't get their collective act together prior to the end of Obama's administration. The other is my client. Both were arrested the same day at the same guesthouse. Mr. Barhoumi was cleared for release but my client was not. The answer to the question as to why my client was not cleared would require the reading of tea leaves or maybe a ouiji board. Neither man had any ties to any terrorist activity or organization. Both were held all of these years because they were staying at the same guest house in Pakistan where another individual- a person our government thought (incorrectly) was a terrorist- was also staying. (makes you want to check the guestlist when staying at B&Bs!) Anyway, there are rumors that the Algerian government is in talks about one of the two men- if I were to guess I would guess Barhoumi since he has been cleared...but I can always hope maybe my client is being discussed too!

More here.

LIFE AFTER GUANTANAMO

I read with sorrow the life of Hedi Hammami- a Tunisian that was held in Guantanamo for 8 years before being released to the country of Georgia in 2010. Mr. Hammami and my client Al-Ghizzawi were released to Georgia at the same time- there was also a third man released to Georgia at the same time. I met the other two men when I went to visit my own client in the days following their release. All of them were hopeful they could get their lives back together and the country of Georgia was a very gracious host but none of the men felt comfortable in that country. I think my client lasted the longest- 4 years. Hedi left for Tunisia first- about a year and a half after his release to Georgia and the third man left for his home country shortly after Hedi.

The New York Times has a follow up on the struggles of Mr. Hammami in Tunisia.
Read the story here.

ON STRIKE

NEW YORK—The National Lawyers Guild (NLG) is organizing a day of action for the legal community to express our solidarity with the growing movements against the new regime and its white supremacist agenda. On February 17 at 1 PM EST, lawyers, legal workers, law students, and law professors will gather in front of courthouses across the country in coordination with the nationwide #GeneralStrike planned for the same day.

“We are facing unprecedented attacks on our most fundamental human rights and are seeing the unfolding of authoritarianism before our eyes. The legal community has no choice but to show up, to defend our communities and to fight back by holding our institutions accountable,” said NLG President and LatinoJustice PRLDEF Associate Counsel Natasha Lycia Ora Bannan.

In the three weeks since Donald Trump has taken office, we have seen a flurry of executive orders targeting immigrants and intensifying law enforcement; racist, unqualified millionaires appointed to the nation’s highest positions; assaults on the press, and “alternative facts” presented as truth. However, we have also witnessed communities engaging in profound organizing and direct action—from the streets to airports and schools—to reject the current administration and disrupt business as usual. On February 17, we’re taking the resistance to courthouses.

“It is crucial for the legal community to come together to provide support for resistance movements against the current administration. We must fight back against the legitimization of racial and religious bigotry, xenophobia, Islamophobia and misogyny that violate the core principles of democracy,” said NLG Executive Director Pooja Gehi.

UGH......

Well as we welcome the 4th week of the Trump presidency I guess the only question is, Why did this take so long?

"Eleven Republican senators are calling on President Donald Trump to expand the use of the Guantanamo Bay prison facility.

The group, led by Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas, is also urging the new administration to suspend the review board set up by the Obama administration to approve prisoner transfers out of the facility.

"We want to express our support for maintaining and expanding the utilization of the detention facility during your administration by detaining current and future enemy combatants who pose a threat to our national security," the senators write."

Read the rest here.

Rumor has it that Trump is readying a new executive order....

And that the executive order is about his plans for Guantanamo, and like everything else he has done this is not good!

We will have to wait to see but reportedly his plan is to start sending ISIS prisoners to Gitmo so he can torture them and learn "information."

I blame Obama for not holding any of the war criminals accountable thereby leaving the door open for the next criminal president-- Trump.

Andy Worthington has more on the executive order here.

STILL AT A LOSS...

as to what to do. I mean fuck he has only been president for two weeks and look at this mess.