Gitmo attorneys speak out about their clients and our clueless senators.....

Two weeks ago in senate hearings two of our more ignorant senators (and believe me it is a real contest to determine who in the senate is the most ignorant...) made some comments about the men at Guantanamo. Senator Cotton thinks the men should all rot in hell (as though Guantanamo is not hell enough) and Senator Graham suggested that the men still at Guantanamo are probably still there because they are a high risk. Really senators? I mean the reason these men are still there is because Graham, Cotton and others have passed legislation making it all but impossible for Obama to release the men-- despite the fact that more than 50 of the men still held have been cleared for release by the federal agencies connected to the hell hole-- including the pentagon, homeland security, justice and national intelligence (an oximoron if I ever heard one....) Each has long ago concluded that the men were not a risk and should be released. 
But I digress....  
Read what several of the Gitmo attorneys have said in response to those senators here, here, and here....

The Military Commissions have to be shut down....

The latest revelation concerning the military commisions is that one of the interpreters working for the defense was a CIA operative and had been involved in interrogations of some of the detainees. Seems the person neglected to mention that little detail when agreeing to work for the defense-even though defense lawyers asked him if he had ever worked for the government in any capacity. This fact only came to light when he was brought in to translate for someone who had seen him translating during brutal interrogations.
This follows revelations that the defense computers files have been hacked and that secret recordings were made of meetings between defense counsel and their clients. There is nothing even remotely fair about these proceedings.
NPR has more here.

"Back to the battlefield" the republican song.....

For as long as I have been representing Guantanamo detainees (10 years now--sigh) the republican's have claimed that detainees have "returned" to the battle field- the numbers have gone up and down but the rallying cry has always been the same.So I guess we should not be surprised that this rallying cry has reared its ugly (and false) head again in senate hearings. Fortunately the pentagon is not listening as expressed by the department of defense "The question on closing the detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is not whether to do it, but rather is how to do it, a senior Defense Department official said on Capitol Hill yesterday." Read the rest here.
Al-Jazeera has more here on the "recidivists." The Guardian reports that there are six men known to have engaged in hostilities after being released. Six out of 900--- and that is reason enough for some to suggest that the remaining men should never be released.....

PRYING DOCUMENTS LOOSE FROM "THE MOST TRANSPARENT" GOVERNMENT (AKA--THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION)

Jason Leopold reports on locating a document in which the military admits that force feeding violates medical ethics and international law. Read his report here.

The Back Story on new Gitmo Book.

As I posted two weeks ago- a detainee still held at Guantanamo published a book (Mohamedou Slahi). A first time for a detainee still being held and the book shows the nonsense that the detainees and the lawyers put up with as afar as "secrecy"..... and also shows the horrors that these men have been subjected to.
Now Intercept has the back story on how the book managed to be published. Read the account here.

Chart showing Gitmo population from when Obama took office to today...January 31, 2015

Thanks to fellow Gitmo Attorney Brian Foster for keeping the numbers up to date for all of us.  You can view his complete chart here.

FROM 242 TO 122
Population as of 1/20/2009	242
Transfers to U.S. for prosecution	1 (Ghailani)
Transfers to Italy for prosecution	4 (Mabrouk, Nasri, two others)
Transfers of detainees not previously approved for transfer	5 (Afghans to Qatar)
Transfers to other countries for various purposes	103
Transfers following conviction in military commission	3 (Qosi, Khadr, Mohammed)
Deaths	4 (Hanashi, Gul, Nassim, Latif)
Population as of 1/31/2015	122

Give Guantanamo Back to the Cubans....

Cuba is asking that Guantanamo be given back to them. It is about time.
Read more here.

More on Australian David Hicks

David Hicks pled guilty to providing military support for terrorism so that he could get the hell out of Guantanamo.... Problem was that there was no such law on the books until 2006 so Hicks pled guilty to something that was not the law at the time he was "arrested."  Seems that the military now acknowledges that Hicks's conviction should not stand. You can read more here....including a link to the military brief.

Way to go Greece... UPDATED

In 2016 the wealthiest 1% will own half of the worlds wealth. Unless the people say "no."  I hope the Greek people are the first of many....

Here is a look at the first 48 hours of Alexis Tsipras--the new prime minister-- and a letter he wrote to the German People. I think this is going to be very interesting.....

From Roger Fitch and Our Friends Down Under

At Justinian......

The torture chronicles

ROGER FITCH ESQ • FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2015

Splendid properties and the good life for the CIA's leading torturers ... Rectal rehydration deemed a normal medical procedure ... Feinstein report conveniently colour coded countries that hosted torture camps ... Blue, Black, Violet and Green ... Life at the Salt Pit ... Roger Fitch files from Washington  

A NEW year brings new challenges to the justice system in the US.

At Just Security blog, Jennifer Daskal has a list of the most important "national security" cases to watch in 2015, while Steve Vladeck gives his picks for 2014's "national security heroes," i.e. human rights upholders, national security having rather a bad name at the moment. 

Indeed, some things are looking up. There's even talk of observing the Geneva Conventions, with an end to military detentions linked to the Afghan war, now officially over.  

Significantly, the Supreme Court has never ruled that Congress's 2001 "Authorisation to Use Military Force" (AUMF) applies outside the Afghan adventure. 

In the court's 2004 Hamdi decision, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor said: 

"The United States may detain, for the duration of these hostilities, individuals legitimately determined to be Taliban combatants who 'engaged in an armed conflict against the United States.' If the record establishes that United States troops are still involved in active combat in Afghanistan, those detentions are part of the exercise of 'necessary and appropriate force', and therefore are authorized by the AUMF."

It may not be easy to dispose of the remaining Guantanameros, some held over 13 years. Will Obama release them? Even his most liberal supporters continue to prattle about men "too dangerous to release" - history and Geneva be damned.

READ THE REST HERE....

Stand with Shaker....

Shaker Aamer is a british resident who has been cleared for release since 2007. The brits have refused to ask for his return and so he sits. Earlier this month Prime Minister Cameron met with Obama and I guess he finally asked for Shaker's return. According to reports Obama has now prioritized the release of Shaker. [sigh... I remember when Obama prioritized the closing of Guantanamo back in 2009...]
Anyway, the "stand with Shaker" campaign is going strong- I wanted to put the actual video of Roger Waters on this page but since I don't facebook I can only give you a link.. It's worth the watch as Roger of Pink Floyd fame reads a letter written by Shaker. Its nice to see that Shaker apparently still has a sense of humor.
And if you can check out the "stand with Shaker" campaign here and add your voice to the campaign.

Peyton Place-- Guantanamo style.....

For those too young to remember Peyton Place (a TV show from the late 60's- early 70's) google it ...(and for the many of you who were not privy to US TV back in those days.... let me just tell you it was a trashy show).. and you will soon realize that it is more than appropriate to talk about Peyton Place in relation to the recent events in Gitmo....
Seems that the military commander of the "town" of Guantanamo was having an affair with a woman who worked for him...and the woman's husband turned up dead yesterday in the waters surrounding Guantanamo..... you can read more here... if you want to....

U.S. Admits that Australian Detainee Hicks is INNOCENT....

It seems that the US government has admitted that former Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks is innocent and his conviction in 2007 for providing material support for terrorism is invalid. Read more about this development here .
Hicks was a prisoner at Guantanamo for more than 5 years- subjected to torture ( including, but not limited to long term solitary confinement) and then released to Australia under a gag order that prohibited him from criticizing his prime minister who happened to be the friend of gw bush at the time... and who was coincidently up for reelection. Fortunately he lost the election.... 

More later. 

First Published Book by Current Gitmo Inmate is out....

You can actually read the handwritten manuscript here.  Here is where you can get more information about the book and information about the purchase of the book-- it is a website dedicated to the book and the man-Mohamedou Ould Slahi.

Some commentary on the book is here.

His story is not that unusual for a Guantanamo inmate. What is unusual is that it is being told while he is still being held.

Al-Marri is returned to Qatar

The saga of Al-Marri is now over. Al-Marri was in the U.S. legally- on a student visa here in Illinois. He was first held by the military as an enemy combatant and detained in the U.S. and then turned over to the Feds for prosecution. He served 13 years in prison. Over the weekend he was returned to Qatar after completing his sentence. Read more about the Al-Marri saga here.