Reality Radio Regarding The War on Terror under Obama

Interview with writer and journalist Victoria Brittain: the show features discussion on issues such as the use of torture, the Guantanamo and Bagram detention facilities, detainees such as British resident Shaker Aamer, and the state of the 'War on Terror' under the Obama Administration. The show can be downloaded at http://realityradio.org.uk.

Andy Worthington Updates...

Click on the title to go to Andy Worthington's introduction to his latest work: looking at the men who are still at Guantanamo. Then follow with parts one and two....

From Roger Fitch and our friends down under at Justinian

Law of war is a moveable feast

Monday, September 13, 2010
Justinian in Law of war, Roger Fitch Esq

State Department reports to UN on human rights in the USA ... Surprisingly few US civilians killed overseas by terrorists last year ... Of all the defendants before Military Commissions, only one has been charged with an actual war crime

In January, an appellate panel of the DC Circuit ruled 2-1 (in the Guantánamo habeascase of Al Bihani) that the president is not constrained by the international law of war, a Bush claim that Obama disowned.

The majority judges in that panel were Janice Rogers Brown and Brett Kavanaugh, perhaps the most extreme of George Bush's dismal appellate appointees.

A full bench of the circuit has now denied a rehearing to Al Bihani. While the decision was unanimous, seven of nine judges disclaimed the lower court's dicta on international law.

CLICK ON TITLE TO CONTINUE

RIP Steven Biko

Robben Island ("we serve with pride) .... the Guantanamo ("honor bound to defend freedom") of apartheid South Africa....

on this the 33 anniversary of Biko's murder.

The Real Way Past Gridlock

Mary takes on Goldsmith and Mary wins...Click on the title for more.

As for me...I am knee deep in preparing for my client's (Razak Ali ISN 685) habeas hearing set for October 4-5.....complete with the Government changing its entire theory for detaining him...yesterday. Yes, I said yesterday. I mean what the heck they haven't had much time to think about this...he has only been held for 9+ years without any god damn charges and they knew my client would win on the BS they were advancing up until yesterday.

I head to Gitmo on Monday for a visit with my client before his hearing and because of the dynamics of getting to and from gitmo the trip will last until Friday....

so you won't be hearing much from me except on the odd day when I come up for air and to lash out at the injustice.....

Did I mention that I was pissed off?

The Ninth Circuit (remember them? they use to be the good guys and gals...) ruled today that the state secrets doctrine bars a court action for torture.....

From the ACLU's Ben Wiznver via emptywheel.... regarding the decision:

This is a sad day not only for the torture victims whose attempt to seek justice has been extinguished, but for all Americans who care about the rule of law and our nation’s reputation in the world. To date, not a single victim of the Bush administration’s torture program has had his day in court. If today’s decision is allowed to stand, the United States will have closed its courtroom doors to torture victims while providing complete immunity to their torturers. The torture architects and their enablers may have escaped the judgment of this court, but they will not escape the judgment of history.

Well....you know what I say? Fuck history.

I am pushing for judgment from a court. A real court that is not afraid of dispensing justice.

And in case you have not notice I am persistent.

Click on the title for the full decision.....

37-16

Musical Interlude

Sorry, things are a bit crazy right now so it is time for another musical interlude.

Khadr trial continued after his attorney collapses...

According to Daphne Eviatar (click on the title above) the attorney collapsed while questioning the first witness. Being a sole practitioner myself I can imagine the stress and strain for the sole attorney for this young man (yes, Khadr does have canadian counsel and I am sure they are helping as much as they can but they are not allowed to handle courtroom duties....like examination of witnesses, etc). The case is continued for at least 30 days and of course a new jury will be empaneled at that time.
And so the saga of the US war crime in trying a child for war crimes continues........

Military Jury Selected in Khadr Trial

And so....now we have a jury selected for our war crimes trial against the young man that we picked up at age 15, which in turn makes our country guilty of a war crime in trying a child for war crimes instead of following international law....sigh.
Click on the title for more from Carol Rosenberg.
Click here for more from al jazeera.

The Cook's Two Sentences...

After reaching a plea deal the "cook" also had to sit through a sentencing hearing. Supposedly the sentence reached by the jury was just for show (14 years for being a cook...yikes) and the plea deal is two years. We shall see.
Click on the title for more.

And While We Are At It.....

Seems that the sentence for Osama Bin Laden's former cook is going to be kept a secret...except that someone seems to have spilled the beans and it seems the cook is getting two more years....
Click on the title for more....if you can bear it.

why bother to try for fairness at this point...

Obviously that is the lesson of the day coming from the military judge at the kangaroo commission for Omar Khadr....the judge held that the statements made by the 15 year old after being threatened with rape and possible death are admissible in the "trial." Yes, the judge is a disgrace but so is my country.....click on the title for a little bit more from emptywheel.

This Week in War Crimes

On Friday the U.S. Supreme Court refused to intervene in the War Crimes Trial of Omar Khadr.

So ...my country will commit yet another war crime by trying the kid (yes, he was 15 years old when we imprisoned him at Guantanamo) in a kangaroo commission this week.

Click on the title for more from scotusblog.

and click here to see what al-jazeera has to say.

Keeping detainees away from courts and lawyers

Click on the title for this AP story about how the Bush administration moved the so called "high value detainees" to Gitmo after some of the initial torture and then as it became clear that the Supreme Court was going to rule on whether the men at Guantanamo were entitled to lawyers....they moved them out again so they could not tell lawyers and the International Red Cross about the torture they were subjected to. Emptywheel has more here..... and Andy Worthington has more here and here.