Those of you who have been following this blog over the years understand that I have many complaints regarding the Obama's administration and Guantanamo (other issues too but that is beside the point...). Even though the administration was terribly slow at transferring the men who could not go back to their native countries those men were, for the most part, settled in countries where they could live a semblance of a normal life. It seems that all of that is out the window now too- In the past few weeks I started to hear from other attorneys that their clients were suddenely unaccounted for. Now this story has appeared in the New York Times. By way of background you need to understand that deals were reached to convince these countries to take the men who could not go home. It seems that the Trump administration is not abiding by those deals...and so, these men that we wrongly detained for years are now in harms way once again.
You may recall last year several of the attorneys for men being charged at the military commission raised an issue regarding the safety of the area where they were being housed and where they worked- because of an alarming cancer cluster amongst personnel assigned to those areas. When the military refused to take any action the attorneys filed a federal lawsuit.... now the judge in that case has denied a preliminary injunction:
This from the National Law Journal:
The lawyers say the
area they are required to live and work in at Guantanamo Bay could be
contaminated and unsafe.
A federal judge on Friday refused to force the Defense Department to provide defense
attorneys alternative housing at Guantanamo Bay amid fears their
current quarters are unsafe.
The four plaintiffs, U.S. Judge Advocate General’s Corps and
civilian lawyers who represent detainees before the military commission at
Guantanamo, sued
the Department of Defense, the U.S. Navy and the director of the Office of
Military Commissions and Convening Authority last year, alleging they failed to
properly investigate environmental hazards at Camp Justice.
The lawyers, who are assigned to work and sometimes live there, asked U.S.
District Judge Rosemary Collyer of the District of Columbia for a preliminary
injunction requiring the DOD to further investigate the alleged hazards and
offer alternative living and working accommodations.
In denying the preliminary injunction, Collyer wrote that the plaintiffs
failed to show a likelihood of success on their arguments because it appeared
the department had “examined the relevant data and articulated ‘a rational
connection between the facts found and the choice made.’”
Collyer added that the plaintiffs failed to show they would suffer an
irreparable injury without the injunction.
“While the alleged harm—risk of cancer—is no doubt ‘great,’ the record does
not show that it is currently ‘certain,’ ‘actual,’ or ‘imminent,’” Collyer
wrote.
The judge also dismissed the plaintiffs’ claims that the DOD unreasonably
delayed the completion of a risk assessment and implementation of controls to
address the hazards, as well as their request for a writ of mandamus requiring
the department to finish both tasks, for mootness. She said the
department fully completed its report, which is now public,
as well as completed the appropriate implementations.
“Plaintiffs’ argument does not overcome the fact that the actions sought in
their complaint have been undertaken and, to the extent demanded, completed,”
the judge wrote.
However, the judge denied the government’s motion to dismiss with respect to
the plaintiffs’ allegation that the DOD violated the Administrative Procedures
Act by arbitrarily and capriciously deciding Camp Justice is safe.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs, which include Cohen Milstein Sellers &
Toll’s Dan Small and Johanna Hickman and Venable‘s Michael Davis and Margaret Fawal, were not
available to comment Friday. The DOD did not immediately respond to a
request for comment.
The Navy assigns housing for military and civilian lawyers, as well as
support staff, when they’re working at Camp Justice. The camp is located on an
old airfield last used in the 1970s.
In July 2015, a lawyer who worked at Camp Justice asked the DOD’s inspector
general to investigate whether conditions there may be linked to seven
different cancer diagnoses of former employees. Later that year, the Miami
Herald reported nine
individuals who had worked there were diagnosed with cancer afterward.
So the person Trump would like to be the new secretary of state has said these things about Gitmo and torture.
On terrorism, prisons and interrogations:
Pompeo opposes closing Guantanamo Bay detention camp. After a 2013 visit to the prison, Pompeo said, of the prisoners who were on hunger strike, "It looked to me like a lot of them had put on weight."
Pompeo criticized the Obama administration's decision to end secret prisons and its requirement that all interrogators adhere to anti-torture laws. h/o to the mound of sound
I have been a bit busy these past two weeks.... but unfortunately so has my lunatic president. After firing the secretary or state (for speaking out against Trumps bosom buddy Putin regarding the poisoning, with a toxic weapon of mass destruction, a former spy and his daughter) Trump then moved the equally crazy head of the CIA to head the state department and moved one of the more high profile torturers to head the CIA. What could go wrong with this picture? Read more here.
And what should also not be a surprise -- another long time DOJ attorney who has worked under both democratic and republican administrations over 40 years has resigned (out of disgust but he won't say that). Read more about him here.
Oh, and lest I forget, the military is apparently working on arrest warrants for two civilian attorneys who quit because their attorney client confidences have been compromised by military spying. Read more here.
(h/o to friend Ken)
Just another day in my country under the Trump administration...
Andy Worthington has more on the efforts of Guantanamo lawyers (including myself) to get the ICC (International Criminal Court) to look into the U.S. torture program...
Read more here.
So it seems that wild fires have errupted in and around Gitmo setting off landmines that were planted around the outside of the base by the cubans many decades ago... at least that is how the story is being told.
So on friday the judge in Nashiri's case finally agreed that the case cannot continue at this point- this is the case where the defense team resigned because of illegal surveillance into their attorney client confidences leaving only one attorney- a military attorney with only six years experience and none in death penalty cases. The judge and the prosecution tried relentlessly to badger and humiliate that attorney into doing it alone but fortunately he stood his ground. Now the judge has put a halt on the case.
It's as close as we can expect to get to justice at this point....
read more here.
GUANTÁNAMO BAY, Cuba — For years, an expert legal team defended one of the most high-profile accused terrorists in a death penalty case at the military tribunals here. But a courtroom dispute involving classified snooping prompted nearly all of the team to abruptly quit this fall, leaving only a 39-year-old former SEAL turned lawyer with just six years’ experience, and none with a capital case. He agrees that he is not qualified to handle this case but the military does not care. Read the Rest here.
THE MORE THINGS STAY THE SAME...
Over the weekend, and less than a week after Trump rescinded Obama's executive order to close Guantanamo, Trump fired the man who oversaw the military commissions. Harvey Rishikof was originally put forward to oversee the military commissions by Obama- and of course Trump couldn't have an Obama person in the job. But perhaps more importantly Rishikof also is responsible for doing a few things that made sense- and Trump does not like making sense either.
READ THE REST HERE.
For example,:
"Rishikof also has recommended that the chief of the prison guard force build a new compound at Guantánamo for attorney-client meetings after Baker and others said the privileged conversations had been compromised." Rishikof was also responsible for suspending the contempt of court sentence of the chief defense counsel, Marine Brig. Gen. John Baker.
READ THE REST HERE.
GUANTANAMO BAY, CUBA—Applauding and cheering as news spread that their beloved, longtime home had been saved by executive order, the inmates of Guantánamo Bay celebrated Thursday in a spontaneous outpouring of both joy and relief. “President Trump really came through for us, my brothers—he saved the one place we’ve ever truly been able to call our own!” said 16-year prisoner and former Afghani herdsman Ghassan Abdullah al Sharbi, one of the dozens of men at Guantánamo who have been imprisoned without warrant, interrogated without restraint, and due to recent opposition, faced the possibility of having to leave the war prison where they have spent so many of their formative years as detainees. “I was worried the ACLU or Amnesty International or even the previous administration would close this unique place where I’ve spent nearly half my life and made some great friends, but now I get to stay right here. Thank you, President Trump—it’s people like you that reaffirm everything I believe.” At press time, the residents of Guantánamo Bay were holding an impromptu “block party” during their weekly 15 minutes of outdoor time.
Probably the most important book of 2014 as it gives a comprehensive look at the extent this country of mine has creeped into the bedrooms of all of us across the world-and the importance of hero EDWARD SNOWDEN- in risking his freedom to let all of us know. What we do with that knowledge will say alot about all of us...
If you have not read Ron's book then you do not have the whole story about what I have been doing to try to get my clients out ofGuantanamo. Ron kept up with my activities and even followed me around on occasion to get the full story... then he weaved my story in with the stories of other individuals who are concerned with the direction of the United States. I recommend the book to all of you out there who also care about the direction that the US has gone these past eight years and want to work to change things.
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