FROM ROGER FITCH AND OUR FRIENDS DOWN UNDER

A little late but 4th of July greetings from our friends at Justinian (click on the title to read the entire piece):

Roger Fitch Esq • July 4, 2008

Our Man in Washington

Roger Fitch in Washington celebrates Independence Day with the latest talk on torture as Addington and Yoo front the House Judiciary Committee … No surprises in Roberts’ and Scalia’s dissents in the most recent habeas decision … The Bush-Chaney team have only 200 days left in which to wreak havoc

If you believe The New York Times a debate is still raging over how much drowning is torture – particularly in the case of the “9/11” military commission defendant Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.

According to the Times, KSM had a fairly rough trot:

“The intensity of his treatment – various harsh techniques, including waterboarding, used about 100 times over a period of two weeks – prompted worries that officers might have crossed the boundary into illegal torture.”

Happy Independence Day

Click on the title to remind yourself why it was we wanted independence... (I sure wish I knew how to put that picture on here).

And then of course there is this...

A number of you have emailed me in the last day about the "chinese torture" manual... or what my friend Seth at http://www.talkingdog.com/ refers to as "Chinese imports, or yesterday's news today!": http://thetalkingdog.com/archives2/001110.html

As Seth mentioned in the above piece, this is a bit of old news that the NY Times is finally getting around to reporting but I invite everyone to read the talking dogs take on this and also click on the title to read what balkinization has to say.

Two Algerians Released (updated)

The government announced that it released two Algerians. One is Mustafa Hamlily (705), the other is Houari (ISN 070) .

This, From Yemen on line..

There have been rumors of an agreement in the past so we don't know if this will turn out to be true or not:

YemenOnline- July 02, 2008- The United States of America has agreed to
extradite the Yemeni nationals who are being held without charge in
Guantanamo Bay. The prisoners held in the US controlled detention camp
will be returned to Yemen (about 100 Yemeni nationals). The release,
however, is conditional. The US has coordinated with the Minister of
Endowments and Guidance, Hamoud al-Hitar, to have rehabilitation
programs to discourage the former detainees from extremist Islam. The US
has acknowledged Yemen's success at rehabilitating suspected terrorists.
However, some say the inhumane hardships faced in Guantanamo Bay may be
difficult to erase from their psyche.

Several dozen Yemeni citizens were arrested by American forces and
detained in Guantanamo Bay for suspicion of terrorism. Some were and are
still being held for over six years with no trial and no charges. Their
cells are kept alight and at uncomfortable temperatures to deprive them
of sleep. They are barred from having lawyers but are subjected to
grueling interrogations. Allegations of physical torture are not
uncommon. Accounts of the desecration of the Koran are rampant. It would
be Hamoud al-Hitar's job to ensure that the extradited prisoners would
be able to recover from prison life and reestablish themselves in
society.

(Click on the title to go directly to the source.)

Gitmo Days Off

Ok, I know I have trouble separating the real from the surreal but here is the latest message from the good people at Gitmo: (By the way... my trip for the 14th is safe unless they decide to celebrate Bastille day!).


"Good afternoon
I have listed below upcoming holiday periods. Please do not request to visit with your clients during that time.
July 4 - Independence Day
September 1 - Labor Day
October 13 - Columbus Day
November 10 - 11 - Veterans Day
November 27-28 - Thanksgiving
December 25 - 26 Christmas
December 31 - January 1 - New Years Day
Also, I have again attached the habeas visit coordination form you should be using to request visits with your clients. Thank you
<>
I laughed out loud when I saw Columbus day on the list... for many reasons... but the one I was actually thinking about was when my brother (who is also an attorney) didn't show up for work his first day as an attorney. He was rudely awakened by his boss who wondered where he was. Seems no one takes that day off except students… and I guess the “folks” down at gitmo….sigh.

Obama and FISA...fading into the right wing...

The Rude Pundit (http://rudepundit.blogspot.com/2008/06/fisa-failure-and-sodomy-of-patriots.html)
on FISA: "The truly complex, difficult position is to say, 'No, you sons and daughters of bitches, you don't give up the very things that make us Americans.' See, 'Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death' isn't a conditional phrase. It ain't 'Well, Give Me the Liberties You Think I Oughta Have As Long As It's Balanced With Your Tortured Legalistic Definitions and Limitations On the Constitution, But, Hey, As Long As You Tell Me We're Still Free, It's All Cool, Yo.'" And he goes on to say what Obama should be saying.
Via http://sideshow.me.uk/
I wish I knew how to make real links so you could just click on them but I only seem to be able to do that on occasion... maybe it is a full moon thing...but you can click on the title to get to rudepundit and you can paste the link to sideshow into your browser.

Redacted Parhat Decision Released

Last week I wrote about a decision by the DC Court of Appeals in one of the Guantanamo cases. The Circuit Court ordered the release of Uigher Parhat because the Government did not show by a preponderance of the evidence that this man was/is an enemy to the United States. Click on the title to read the decision. I am still reading so I cannot comment further except to say that it looks like at least one panel of the DC Circuit Court has figured out that the DOJ has little, if any, credibility.

STOP THE FISA BILL

PLEASE HEED DAN'S PLEA:

I think it's incredibly important to make as much noise as possible between now and then to give us the best possible chance to get telecom amnesty stripped. I've also added the link to FaxZero and Senator Obama's fax # to my "Join The Fight Against Retroactive Immunity" section. Please spread the word if so inspired. Thanks, Dan Fejes Pruning Shears http://pruningshears.us

Justice Scalia and the Urban Legend

Thanks to Seton Hall for once again examining the facts surrounding the Guantanamo Myth that claims (according to Justice Scalia's unsupported and unsupportable ramblings in his Boumediene dissent) that 30 men released from Guantanamo have "returned" to the battlefield. Click on the title to read the report.

21st anniversary of the Convention against torture

Click on the title to read a little more about Thursday's anniversary on cab drollery which also noted that Friday was the U.N. International Day in Support of Victims of Torture.
So how did I celebrate these particular milestones?
I watched the confirmation of charges at the Internatioal Criminal Court in The Hague against two accused war criminals from the Congo: Germain Katanga and Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui. As I listened to the horrific crimes these men are accused of masterminding I couldn't help but think of two other men who I hope will be siting in those same seats one day: Bush and Cheney. In fact Mr. Ngudjolo Chui often sat with that same dazed and cocky expression we often see on Bush's face and Mr. Katanga sat the whole time with a sneer on his face that rivals Cheney's permanent expression.
If you want to read more about these war criminals (the Congolese torturers not the US ones) paste the link below into your browser and follow the links on that page:
http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2008/06/icc-holds-confirmation-of-charges.php

I will write more about my 3 months as a visiting professional at the International Criminal Court in the coming weeks, my visiting position ends on the 4th of July.

Canadian Court holds Canada implicated in US torture of then 16 year old Khadr

A Canadian judge released another interesting decision in the Omar Khadr saga today. Pursuant to the Supreme Court of Canada's earlier order to disclose documents to Khadr's attorneys the Judge ordered Canada to give the lawyers a document which indicates that when Canadian agents went to gitmo to interrogate Khadr in Feb 2003, a US official at gitmo described certain treatment that they (the US officials) had inflicted on the 16 year old Khadr in order to "prepare" him for the Canadian interrogations. The judge then proceeded to find that this treatment constituted torture. The Judge went on to find that Canada is "implicated" in that torture since they continued with the interrogation despite knowledge that this torture had been inflicted. The Judge does not disclose what the treatment was, but he has ordered Canada to disclose the document to Khadr's attorneys.

So basically a judge has found that the US tortured Omar at Guantanamo when he was only 16.

Decision is here, interesting part starts at para 72 and continues to at least 88:

http://cas-ncr-nter03.cas-satj.gc.ca/rss/DES-1-08%20Decision.pdf

Parhat Victory

Although we do not know the details yet there was a victory in the DC Circuit Court on friday and the order (but not the details) was released today. Click on the title to read the Order and as soon as the censors release the details I will post a link to that as well.
Listen to the NPR story here: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91819101


Thanks to PEGC for providing the link ( http://www.pegc.us )

Denied without prejudice

The Supreme Court just denied Al-Ghizzawi's original habeas petition without prejudice... meaning he is free to pursue in the District Court...
Sigh.

An Open Letter to My Senators (Obama and Durbin) on the so called "FISA Compromise"

As an attorney representing two men being held at Guantanamo I have been subjected to government surveillance of both my work and home phones. I take this so called "compromise" personally. Click on the title to see the letter that I have sent to my two senators... and please contact your representatives and senators this morning and tell them you oppose this bill strongly. Now.