Happy Holidays.....sigh.

Gitmo in the news

I get these updates on news stories related to Guantanamo from the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) which has been the umbrella organization for the probono effort to represent the men at Guantanamo. If you have any money left in your pocket this would be the one organization I would ask you to make a donation.

Press TV: Obama furthering Bush legacy of war on terror

Truthdig: The Final Battle

The Argus: Five years in Guantanamo Bay have led Brighton man to help those in need

Lawfare: What is in the New NDAA, Why it Warrants a Veto, and Why it Probably Won’t Get One

New York Times: Acting C.I.A. Chief Critical of Film ‘Zero Dark Thirty’

Washington Post (Editorial): Mr. Obama’s inertia on Guantanamo

Aljazeera: To torture, or not to torture?

Andy Worthington: Torture, Torture Everywhere

Counterpunch: Zero Dark Thirty: Torture, Take Two

Miami Herald: Report: No imminent parole, release for Canadian ‘child soldier

Baltimore Sun: The shameful treatment of foreign children in U.S. custody

The Hill: President Obama must veto defense bill to close Gitmo

Los Angeles Times (Editorial): Free the CIA torture report

Spiegel: It's Time for the Truth about US Torture Methods

BIG SIGH... (updated)

Now the powers to be are saying that Latif had acute pneumonia....emptywheel has more here.

Jeff Kaye has more here.

European Court rules for German Man tortured by US

May this please be the start of some kind of accountability.....

LATIF LETTER EXPLAINING HOW HE WAS BEING PUSHED TOWARD DEATH

I don't know if Latif's lawyers (and the rest of us) will ever learn the truth as to how he died but they sure as hell are putting up a good fight. The question remains, how could that man have taken his own life given the security at Guantanamo. And even if he did somehow manage to deceive the military and hoard some pills (extremely unlikely) the follow-up question is -if they in fact checked on him every two or three minutes why did not one of his guards notice him dying? all disturbing questions. Truth- out has more on this man's death.

and this addendum from one of Latif's attorneys, David Remes.

The government’s storyline—that Adnan smuggled medication into his cell and used it to kill himself—defies reason. There were too many hurdles in his path. Adnan was moved three times: from Camp 6 to the psych ward, then to the hospital, and finally to his cell in Camp 5, where he died. If ordinary procedures were followed, three guards escorted Adnan every step of the way. Adnan walked in handcuffs and leg chains attached to a waist chain. He was thoroughly searched at each transfer point. He was monitored in his cell by an overhead dome camera. Guards walked the corridor. His cell was frequently searched. As Jason and Jeff show, the SOPs for administering medication to detainees are designed to make hoarding virtually impossible. Given all these controls, it is hard to see how Adnan could have smuggled medication into his cell, much less kept and used it. The military’s theory does not add up and leaves the disturbing question whether the military placed extra medication in Adnan’s cell to facilitate his suicide.

FROM ROGER FITCH AND OUR FRIENDS DOWN UNDER AT JUSTINIAN

THE 7^th Circuit, sitting en banc, has overruled a unanimous three-judge appeals panel, and given former Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld immunity for torture that he personally ordered.

Jonathan Hafetz, the Times and Kevin Gosztola comment on the case.

READ THE REST HERE.

maybe there is something here...

I received an email today from my good friends at Reprieve and they noticed something that the rest of us did not pick up on:

http://thehill.com/blogs/defcon-hill/budget-appropriations/270973-senate-passes-key-defense-policy-bill-

“The Senate bill also included a new round of Iran sanctions, a “permanent ban” on transferring detainees from Guantánamo and prohibitions on the military detention of U.S. citizens…
…The White House threatened to veto the bill over the changes to the Pentagon’s proposed budget as well as the restriction on using funds to transfer Guantánamo detainees. The administration’s veto threat came before the bill’s Guantánamo transfer restrictions became even stronger after the Senate approved an amendment from Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.).”

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/dec/4/obama-veto-possible-over-guantanamo/#ixzz2EGhHsRU8
“The Senate bill also restricts Mr. Obama’s ability to transfer detainees out of Guantanamo Bay, whether to the United States or to foreign countries…

While the provision has been in previous years’ laws, Mr. Obama this year signaled he may be willing to veto the legislation over that restriction.”

Maybe it is just smoke and mirrors but if you feel so inclined it might be a good time to send an email to the Pres...and tell him to follow through on this long overdue threat....

you can send an email here....

THE PLOT THICKENS

hmmmm. Now they are claiming that Mr. Latif died of an overdose of psychiatric medicine....and in the fantasy world of the military that proves it was an apparent suicide. Problem is that is no way on earth that Mr. Latif could have hoarded the medicine- sounds to me like they overdosed the guy -either to subdue him or kill him. anyway you can read more here.
And emptywheel has more here.
And Jeff Kaye has more here.

In other News....

In Algeria the criminal court refused to find the former gitmo detainee guilty once again- this being the second trial by prosecutors against former Gitmo detainee Sofiane Hadarbache. Both times the court found him innocent of ties to terrorism. I know very little about Mr. Hadarbache except that he had head injuries from a military strike in Afghanistan and his habeas attorney is fellow Chicagoan Tom Durkin. Funny how the somewhat dysfunctional government of Algerian can manage to have these trials when we can't.....I guess that just proves that our courts are more dysfunctional than Algerian's.
Odd thing but I had to go to Canada for that news story.....
Speaking of dysfunctional- I hope that one day my remaining Guantanamo client- who also hails from Algeria- will reach a similar fate....that is if he can ever get the hell out of Guantanamo. I have been working on his appeal over the last month and things will be slow here over the next week or so as I finalize and file his brief.

HIDING THE CAUSE OF DEATH

As Jason Leopold reported today- the government is now claiming that Latif died of apparent suicide. We do not know what makes it "apparent" after three months while at the time of his death the cause was unknown and was not an apparent suicide. We do know more about Latif's last few days and they were troubling days- he was not getting his medication and threw a rock at a spotlight. That being a big military threat the powers to be came out in full force to show their strength against Latif and the other men locked up on the Island military base -with no where to go....good show guys...Seems somehow the military was able to subdue him.
emptywheel has some commentary.

yeah ...well the election is over, after all......

Speculation was that after the election the autopsy report for Latif would be available- right on schedule I would say...
of course they aren't releasing the report publicly- not unless forced to I guess.
Anyway, click on the link and read the latest from Jason Leopold.

Emptywheel has more here.

Maybe he will live up to his 2008 promises now....?

Just wonderin....
not expecting much- but wondering...

From Roger Fitch and our friends down under at Justinian

Supreme Court timebombs

ROGER FITCH ESQ • FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2012

New term for US Supremes ... Certiorari petitions ... Critical mass theory of constitutional change ... Presidential election and the court ... Judicial techniques ... Conspiracy as a war crime ... The CIA agent who didn't torture winds-up in jail ... Our Man in Washington, Roger Fitch, reports 

THE Supreme Court's new term has started and it's well-covered, as usual, by ScotusBlog, the brainchild of Tom Goldstein.

The court has begun grants of certiorari petitions (including a rare handwritten one), but the vast majority are denied, such as the attempts by two Republican statesto thwart voters.

However, in Texas voter cases, the court could decide to use voter litigation to throw out a whole section of theVoter Registration Act, i.e. the provision that is applied to (mostly) southern states with a history of discrimination against racial and ethnic minorities.

Balkinblog has more.

One case likely to be granted certiorari is the "Pay for Delay" generic drug case.

The government wants the court to  consider the "reverse payments" drug companies make to potential competitors.

Then there's "marriage equality" cases. Eight different petitions concern the federal Defence of Marriage Act.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST

Because they can....(updated)

The drone king's "justice" department filed an appeal yesterday to Judge Lamberth's ruling in September allowing men at Guantanamo who lost their appeals to continue having visits with their attorneys under the existing protective order. I wrote about the Judge's ruling here. In a nutshell the drone king would like to turn Guantanamo back to the good old days when attorneys were not allowed- Judge Lamberth in a surprisingly strong decision shut the government's request down.
This appeal is just another example of the drone king's gutlessness.
Update:
ScotUS has more here. According to scotus sources the appeal cannot go forward unless the solicitor general approves and that hasn't happened yet? So perhaps the notice of appeal was put in as a place marker while the solicitor ponders the ramifications.....or maybe there is a little battle going on and the DOJ decided to put some pressure on the solicitor...all just speculation on my part. I never heard of this "rule" before.

Adnan Latif- though the eyes of Jason Leopold

Sorry for my delay in getting this powerful story about Adnan Latif up here on my blog. Emptywheel has a take on this article as well here.