musical interlude

Staying alive in the U.S. of A....difficult if you are black.

Once released from Guantanamo --you are never really free

 The men released from Guantanamo, for the most part, are never really free. They carry the stigma of having been kept at Guantanamo and labeled a terrorist -- and they carry the scars. Scars from the torture, isolation and years of captivity. When they are released they know little about any deals that were made between the U.S. government and their host country. They are provided little, if any, support.

This is the story of one such man --Lutfi bin Ali. Unfortunately, it is a story that is all to familiar.

CAMP 7 IS NO MORE...

 Some time in the last 60 days Camp 7 was closed. Camp 7 was the super secret prison at Guantanamo where the so-called "high value" detainees were held. High value of course took on new meaning for many of these men as they were never charged with a crime. But all were tortured. Tortured, over and over again. 

The 14 or so men who were all held at Camp 7 were moved to Camp 6. Camp 6 was the "new" prison built by a subsidiary of Haliburton circa 2007 (I will have to look up my notes to see if I have the year correct but it was around that time). Camp 6 and Camp 5 are adjoining structures and most of the rest of the men are held at Camp 5, unless they are given a time out for one reason or another, and then they would be moved over to Camp 6 as punishment. I will have more to say about the two prisons once this place is finally closed.

A short article about the move can be found here.

The first men at Gitmo and where they are now...

 As Carol Rosenberg notes -- the first 20 men were called "the worst of the worst..." 18 of them were released long ago and of the two that remain one is cleared for release -- and has been cleared for a very long time. The other-- I believe I am correct in that he pled guilty to war crimes but has serious mental health issues and was unrepresented by counsel. I might be confusing him and if so I will update this but I am pretty sure this is the case.

Read the whole article here.

h/o to Devin and Don who tied in sending this article to me!

Free Showing of The Mauritanian on March 6th (for the first 300 to rsvp)

  Code Pink and World Can't Wait are doing a joint showing of the movie on March 6. The first 300 to RSVP will get to see the film free-- the rest of you will get a link to rent the movie. 

You're invited to watch the film, The Mauritanian without payment
Meet Mohamedou Slahi and Nancy Hollander
Saturday March 6 3:00 - 6:15 pm EST
Organized by CodePink & co-sponsored by World Can't Wait
>> Facebook event you could share
>> Here's where to RSVP for a free ticket and get the Zoom link

Join with the movement to #CloseGITMO and be part of a conversation about The Mauritanian, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Shailene Woodley, Tahar Rahim, and Jodie Foster. Based on a true story, The Mauritanian follows attorney Nancy Hollander, her associate and a military prosecutor who uncover a far-reaching conspiracy while investigating the case of Mohamedou Ould Slahi, tortured over three years during the Bush administration, and unjustly imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for fourteen years.

Special guests will introduce the film at 3:00 pm EST. Following the screening we will have a live Q & A with Mohamedou Ould Slahi, the author of Guantanamo Diary, and Nancy Hollander who represented him -- the real people played by Tahar Rahim and Jodie Foster.

RSVP to receive your link to the community Zoom gathering and Q & A session here. The first 300 people to RSVP will receive a free ticket to watch the film; you can watch the film before Saturday or between the introduction and the Q and A. Those who RSVP after the first 300 will receive a link to rent the film to watch and will also receive the link to the live intro and Q & A.

The Mauritanian...

 I guess the movie is coming out soon. And yes, maybe it will rekindle interest in closing the place but please remember that it was the Obama administration that appealed the release of this man -- causing him to stay in Guantanamo for another six years - while that played out. So, although I remain somewhat hopeful that the place might actually close under Biden - I am only somewhat hopeful.

Read an account of the movie here.

h/o to Walt for the link.

And if you do not have the book yet, what are you waiting for? or better yet buy it from your favorite independent book store- they can order it if they don't have it in stock.

It is a step forward anyway...

 On Friday (Feb. 12), White House press secretary Jen Psaki, when asked whether President Biden will close Guantánamo by the end of his presidency, told reporters, "That certainly is our goal and our intention,” and announced that there would be "a robust interagency policy" to work out how to do so.

Haven't heard that in a while (that someone wants to close the place.

Read more here

Musical Interlude

 It has been a while since I have done one of these but what better time? And so I dedicate this to the  criminal trump team as they start the defense of the criminal former president.

From Roger Fitch and our friends down under at Justinian...

 It seemed to some a redneck revival, a white trash liberation movement with a Confederate battle flag as standard and MAGA hats as the uniting and distinguishing symbol: people that the US class system used to sort-out. 

No longer. Racist thugs, fake patriots and the religiously-deluded now get a pass. 

The insurrectionary rabble comprised more than ignorant buffoons and the usual hate-group suspects. It provided cover for real villains: rogue police, Army reservists, and serving and retired soldiers (including with sniper training). About 20% of those charged had military training.

The attacking mob also contained a lawless lawyer, a disturbed doctor and intruders who knew the capitol layout, e.g, the woman who stole Nancy Pelosi's laptop with a view to selling it to the Russians. 

Indeed, there's evidence that "foreign actors" may have helped fund the rally-riot, in addition to shell companies and dark money connected to, well, Donald Trump. Was it all an autogolpe?

Incredibly, the rally that set-off the Capitol assault was promoted by the Republican Attorneys General Association, proof of the bad lawyering in Republican circles. 

The insurgents may have had inside help (more here), e.g, from Congresswoman Lauren Boebert of Colorado; there was suspicious reconnaissance inside the Capitol on the day before the attack. Boebert is one of congress's two QAnon supporters (the other: barking-mad Georgian Marjorie Taylor Greene).

Even saner members of congress are in legal peril, if they conspired with the Capitol attackers: some congressional ties to extremists are under scrutiny.

*   *   *

"People who say Trump has no empathy are wrong. He has the utmost empathy for degenerate, corrupt, disgraced politicians who perhaps remind him of himself" - Preet Bharara, former Manhattan US Attorney.

Trump's last days offered his venal band a final feeding opportunity, and enterprising mates like Rudolph Giuliani offered themselves as brokers in the business of pardon-trafficking.

On the morning of January 20th, the outgoing president issued 143 pardons and commutations, many as sleazy as expected (more here), including crooked Republican politicians and the odd bent Democrat, e.g, the former mayor of Detroit, Kwame Kilpatrick; Trump had previously commuted the sentence of Rod Blagojevich, the Democrat governor of Illinois serving time for trying to sell Barack Obama's senate seat.

Prosecutors were outraged: pardons included commutation of sentences and foregone restitution in Medicare rort convictions that took years to obtain.

Can pardons be undone? Sometimes. President Biden might have tried to recall pardons not yet accepted, from January 20th. In any case, given Trump's incompetence, some of his pardons may turn out to be ineffective.  

*   *   *

READ THE REST HERE

An Open Letter to Biden from former detainees at Guantanamo

 I joined with several attorneys to write a letter to Biden about Guantanamo last week and I hope next week to have a link to that letter. But a group of former detainees joined together to write their own letter. 

(h/o to Walt)

President Bush opened it. President Obama promised to close it, but failed to do so. President Trump promised to keep it open. Now, it is your turn to decide.  

Read the rest here

And Biden's first moves...

 offering a glimpse of hope to the men at Guantanamo we have learned this today:

February: Restoring America’s Place in the World

Biden will sign an EO to direct agencies to “recruit and retain employees to confront 21st Century challenges, including through reskilling, professional development, and possible reserve corps to fill mission-critical gaps” … He will sign a “forever wars'' executive order, which will initiate a “review of CT operations and options to [responsibly] reduce such operations; reinstates transparency measures on civilian casualties; reinstates the policy of closing GITMO; initiates a process to migrate substantial use of force operations to Title 10” … He will sign a memorandum to strengthen U.S. efforts to promote human rights of LGBTQ people overseas … He’ll hold an NSC meeting at the State Department.

trumps last mark on Gitmo...

 I guess his criminal and failed presidentcy would not be complete unless he could do one last thing. So the pentagon has now blocked a rule that would have allowed an independent medical exam of one of the men tortured and held at Guantanamo. Read the rest here and h/o to Walt for sharing the link.

Late news... Andy Worthington event...

 Maybe it will be recorded. But here is the link.

From Roger Fitch and his friends down under at Justinian.

 As America prepares to inaugurate a lawyer president, it's time to reflect on the 32 lawyers - all men - among the shameful cohort of 126 House Republicans who supported the Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (under indictment himself) in his failed attempt to overthrow the election in the supreme court.

The AGs of the four defendant states, all with Republican legislatures, forcefully responded to the disgraceful supreme court litigation brought by the attorneys general in 18 other Republican states.

Above the Law catalogued the craziest things in the Texas AG's nutty lawsuit, where even fake states filed a brief. All the motions from 26 other parties were dismissed as moot when the Texas motion was denied. The Post identified the various villains who pleaded.

Ultimately, nearly 90 judges rejected the claims of election fraud brought by Trump and his followers. Nevertheless, the litigation strategies and public statements of Trump's lawyers exposed the collateral damage his refusal to acknowledge the rule of law has caused to the legal profession itself. 

In many of the federal cases (certainly, the supreme court stunt), Republican lawyers may have violated Rule 11, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. That's the rule that forbids frivolous proceedings and requires attorneys to shun litigation without legal foundation or valid evidence. 

The fact that the chief legal officers of 18 states were prepared to risk violating Rule 11 is a professional scandal. Sanctions and even disbarment should be an option.

Civilian lawyers behind the Republicans' spurious and bad-faith court actions in multiple jurisdictions should also face disciplinary action. One such action was a last-hour lawsuit against the Vice President in his capacity of Senate President. 

Gohmert: among the dimmest of Republican representatives 

It was brought by Representative Louis Gohmert, who's often described as "the most offensive and ignorant person in congress". The case was speedily dismissed by a Trump-appointed judge. 

Finally, Trump voters in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, and Arizona sued Vice President Pence; both houses of Congress; and even the Electoral College itself, seeking to preliminarily enjoin the counting of electors certified by their states. Their motion was denied in scathing terms by the DC judge, who added:

"… at the conclusion of this litigation, the Court will determine whether to issue an order to show cause why this matter should not be referred to its Committee on Grievances for potential discipline of Plaintiffs' counsel."  

READ THE REST OF FITCH HERE. 

Some of the latest news...

 Well I received two separate inquiries about what is going on at Guantanamo right now so I am providing these links which in turn were sent to me by CCR. So h/o to CCR for collecting all of these:

Amnesty International issued a report, Right the Wrong, Decision Time on Guantanamo. They also launched a global petition;

Al Jazeera English: Al-Qahtani must be released and Guantanamo closed

 

Al Jazeera English: Will Joe Biden close Guantanamo Bay?

 

Common Dreams: As 'Dark Stain' of Guantánamo Begins 20th Year, Groups Demand Biden Close Offshore Prison

 

Newsweek: Biden Must Succeed Where Obama Failed, and Finally Close Guantanamo | Opinion (Mohamedou Slahi)

 

Open Society Foundations: Torture’s Terrible Toll

 

Just Security: On Guantanamo’s 19th Anniversary, A Renewed Call to Close It

 

UN News: Close ‘disgraceful’ Guantánamo camp – UN experts urge incoming US administration