Happy New Year??

Well, not to put a damper on things, but things aren't looking too good here in the U.S. of A. We elected a maniac as president and despite the fact that he doesn't take office for another couple of weeks he just does not seem to be able to wait his turn to fuck things up.
things are not looking too good in much of the rest of the world either. So, instead of starting off the year with something hopeful, I will be more realistic this time around.
 

Gitmo by the numbers---

While we await final word on transfers that are rumored to be in the works let me bring you up to date with the numbers as of December 23, 2016:

New chart attached, reflecting that after a second hearing, the PRB has approved for transfer Mohammed Al-Ansi (ISN 29), a Yemeni whom the 2009 Task Force had slated for indefinite detention.

The prison population remains at 59:

·         23 are cleared, 26 are awaiting clearance, and 10 are in the military commission system (of those, 7 are in “active” “trial” proceedings while 3 have been “convicted”).

·         Of the 23 cleared, 14 (60.9%) are Yemenis and 9 are non-Yemenis. 

·         Of the 26 awaiting clearance, 10 (38.5%) are Yemenis and 16 are non-Yemenis.

PRB Data

The PRB has approved for transfer 38 of the 64 detainees for whom it has issued decisions (59.4%).

·         38 detainees were cleared.  22 of these men have been released; 16 remain.  (See “Cleared Detainee Data” below for details.)

o   31 detainees were cleared after a first hearing.

§  19 have been released; 12 remain.

o     7 detainees were denied after a first hearing, granted a second hearing via file review, and cleared after the second hearing.

§  3 have been released; 4 remain.

·         26 detainees were denied clearance and are in the file review/second hearing process.

o     2 detainees were denied after a first hearing, were granted a second hearing via file review, and are awaiting decision from the second hearing (ISNs 27, 28).

o     1 detainee was denied after a first hearing, was apparently fast-tracked for a second hearing without file review, and is awaiting decision from the second hearing (ISN 841).

o     3 detainees were denied after a first hearing, were granted a second hearing via file review, and are awaiting the second hearing (ISNs 1017, 1094, 1457).

o     2 detainees were denied after a first hearing, have received initial file review, and are awaiting decision (ISNs 1463, 10025).

o     1 detainee was denied after a first hearing, was denied after a third file review, and is awaiting a fourth file review (ISN 242).

o     2 detainee were denied after a first hearing, were denied after a first file review, and are awaiting a second file review (ISNs 569, 1453).

o     6 detainees were denied after a first hearing and are awaiting initial file reviews, which have been scheduled (ISNs 63, 682, 685, 708, 1460, 3148).

o     9 detainees were denied after a first hearing and are awaiting initial file reviews (ISNs 1456, 1461, 10016, 10017, 10019, 10021, 10022, 10023, 10029).

For more details, see the PRB web pages tracking detainees’ initial hearings, file reviews, and second hearings.

Cleared Detainee Data

7 of the 23 remaining cleared detainees currently at the base were cleared by the Obama Task Force.  The other 16 were cleared by the PRB, which means 22 PRB-cleared detainees have been released.

Specifically, of the 23 cleared:

·          5 are Yemenis approved for “conditional detention” by the Obama Task Force (ISNs 240, 440, 498, 550, 893)

·          2 are non-Yemenis approved for transfer by the Obama Task Force (ISNs 38 (Tunisia), 309 (unknown/UAE))

·          4 are Yemenis approved for transfer after a second PRB hearing (ISNs 29, 131, 508, 522)

·          5 are Yemenis approved for transfer after a first PRB hearing (ISNs 44, 128, 434, 839, 840)

·          7 are non-Yemenis approved for transfer after a first PRB hearing (ISNs 244 (Morocco), 560 (Afghanistan), 694 (Algeria), 696 (Saudi Arabia), 702 (Russia), 753 (Afghanistan), 975 (Afghanistan))

h/o to Brian Foster for keeping track of all of this.

catching up....

Going through all the news of the last month and I will try to get a post up this week. Meanwhile, on the edge of the cliff with Trump about to take over, but pleased and proud that our justice system is still alive and well.

Yes, Hell is even hotter....

 As I was heading down to the base Mr. Slahi- the author of the Guantanamo diary was heading out. He has alot of healing to do and I wish him well. Read more here.

After I left the base I learned that Abu Zubaydah was denied clearance. Not a big surprise but definitely disappointing.  Of course the military does not admit mistakes and releasing Abu Zubaydah would require a major admission. Read more here.

More torture stories....

And then there is Saudi detainee Mustafa Ahmad al-Hawsawi. My government sodomized him as part of his torture. As his attorney has described- they used the largest objects they could find to insert into his rectum as part of his torture.  We have heard for years now about the fact that he has come to court hearings with a pillow to sit on became of the ongoing pain. Now, after all of these years, my government is finally going to allow surgery for this man.
You can read about the debilitating effects of this torture over the many years and the utter lack of regard by my country for this torture...  here, here and here .

The fact that we have allowed this to happen and then continued the torture all these years is unconscienable.

The after effects of torture... depression and much more.

I am sorry that I am on a string of stories about those that we have tortured. In a way it seems only fitting as I head back to our little Gulag in the sunny south. Let me just say that I report all of these accounts that I discover because I think it is important to have these in one place and it is with sorrow that I lay all of this out on these pages.

First this---

More to come.

The Heartbreaking Saga of Abu Zubaydah is Even More Heartbreaking....

I have talked about Abu Zubaydah many times on this blog. He is the man that my government wrongly thought was a member of al-qaeda so we used all of the torture techniques on him... and then a few more just because we could. But it turned out he was a nobody but since we did all of those horrible things to him we do not want to release him.
As part of the dog and pony show the government conducted a "periodic review" to see if he could be cleared for release.

Read more about it here.

U.S. Torture left long lasting damage

The New York Times has an article up today about the long lasting damage to the men who were tortured by my government.

Beatings, sleep deprivation, menacing and other brutal tactics have led to persistent mental health problems among detainees held in secret C.I.A. prisons and at Guantánamo.

Read the article hear.

Hurricane Matthew

With Hurricane Matthew eyeing Gitmo many of us are wondering if mother nature will do what Obama has been unable to do.....close Gitmo.

More here.

Radar here.

More Forms of Torture Exposed- UPDATED

The Guardian reports that the techniques used by the CIA in torturing detainees also included a "modified" electric chair. These revelations came out in interviews of two Tunisian men who were released in 2015.
Read more here.

And still more here.

Andy Worthington Takes a Look back at Gitmo as the Obama Years End

I remember how excited one of my clients was when I went to visit him in the weeks after Obama was inaugerated. Obama announced that one of the first items on his to-do list was to close Guantanamo and he promised to close the place in one year. As the year went by it was clear to many of us that Gitmo was not going to be closed by January 2010. Obama was not heeding the advice of those who had practical ideas as to how to close the place- he was listening to the military. And the military has never wanted to close Guantanamo.
Obama's promise was more than 7 1/2 years ago and although more of the men have been released the place is from from closed and one of my clients still remains with no prospect of going anywhere- you see he is "too dangerous to release" but there is nothing to charge him with. He has sat in prison for 15 years and he has never been charged with a god damn thing. And he never will be charged- he has done nothing wrong.

Andy Worthington looks back over the years and looks forward to what is to come in this blog post.

Gitmo's Periodic Review Board....

The Miami Harold has put together a nifty "guide" to the periodic review board decisions.The "guide" is broken down into sections- who is cleared, who is not. Who is still there, who is not. Etc.
Click here to read the guide.

From Roger Fitch and Our Friends At Justinian

*   *   *

Cellular world at Guantánamo (photo Matt Sprake)

As Mr Obama continues his (feeble) efforts to close Guantánamo, the military jail for proxy prisoners taken - or purchased - in the "war on terror", the New Yorker has reviewed the earlier use of America's Devil's Island by Bush Snr and Bill Clinton. 

Many of those presently detained are symbolic hostages in a rhetorical war, held by mistake or in violation of the laws of war; indeed, many Pentagon "profiles" presented to Periodic Review Boards artlessly admit these "law of war" prisoners have no connection to 9/11 or the Afghan war that ostensibly authorises their confinement. Not one of them has been provided appropriate Geneva Convention rights.

Only five percent of the Guantanameros were actually captured by Americans on a battlefield, a fact that goes unremarked by the media, as well as politicians who read the Pentagon's "transparency reports."  

The 779 men and boys have been gradually released - some through death - and after the latest mass  expatriation, the count stands at 61, leaving a staff-to-prisoner ratio of 33-1 and an annual per capita cost of $6 million. 

With the initial PRB hearings now complete, Marty Lederman has a report on all the prisoners not subject to military commissions; the Intercept has more.  

Read the rest of Fitch's report here.

Who is left at Guantanamo?

Intercept has an article that looks at the men that remain at Guantanamo.
You can read more here.
One of those men is my client.

Lest we forget.....

Stephen Biko was an anti-aparthied activist in South Africa. He was murdered in police custody on September 12, 1977. You can read more about Biko here.
You can blow out a candle but you can't blow out a flame.....