Guantanamo prisoners

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Freed Detainee Becomes Al-Qaeda Chief

After Gitmo, suspected in bombing of US embassy in Yemen

(Newser) - As Barack Obama prepares to close Guantanamo Bay, the story of Said Ali al-Shihri provides a cautionary tale. Released from the prison camp in 2007, the Saudi has become the deputy leader of al-Qaeda’s Yemeni branch and is suspected of involvement in the bombing of the US embassy there...

Prez to Shut Gitmo, Secret CIA Prisons

Orders directing sweeping detention, interrogation overhaul expected today

(Newser) - The president will sign orders today ordering the Guantanamo Bay detention center shut down within a year—and directing the CIA to dismantle its network of secret prisons overseas, government officials tell the New York Times. The CIA will still be allowed to detain terror suspects in foreign countries, but...

Prez Orders Halt to Gitmo Trials

Prosecutors seeking 120-day delay while Obama sorts things out

(Newser) - Barack Obama ordered military prosecutors to seek a 120-day halt to legal proceedings at Guantanamo Bay—due to resume today—against five accused 9/11 conspirators, and another case against a Canadian defendant. Documents already filed said the request is made "in the interest of justice and at the direction...

2 Dozen Gitmo Prisoners Win Court Cases

All but 3 who got hearings were found wrongfully detained

(Newser) - At least 24 detainees at Guantanamo Bay have won cases in federal court or military tribunals voiding their detention in the last 3 months. While the Bush administration has insisted that the prisoners who remain at Gitmo are "the worst of the worst," there was apparently no legal...

Judge Orders Youngest Gitmo Prisoner Freed

Chadian citizen, 21, has been held at camp since he was 14

(Newser) - A judge has ordered the military to release the youngest prisoner ever sent to Guantanamo Bay, reports CNN. The judge ruled that Mohammad el-Gharani, sent to the detention center in 2002 at the age of 14, was not an enemy combatant. El-Gharani's lawyer said his client, a citizen of Chad,...

One in 5 Gitmo Prisoners On Hunger Strike

(Newser) - About one in five Gitmo detainees is on a hunger strike to catch the attention of Barack Obama, the Times of London reports. Of the 248 prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, 44 are refusing to eat, prompting the US to force-feed 33 of them through tubes. A military official also tells...

Bush Official: US Tortured Gitmo Inmate

9/11 suspect nearly died from interrogation, says Pentagon honcho

(Newser) - The US military tortured a Saudi national suspected of attempted participation in the 9/11 attacks, according to a top Bush administration official. In an interview with Bob Woodward of the Washington Post, Susan J. Crawford says the suspect endured sustained isolation, nudity, humiliation, and exposure to extreme temperatures that left...

Evidence Mess Threatens Gitmo Cases: Ex-Prosecutor

Evidence 'lost, disorganized'

(Newser) - The handling of evidence in Guantanamo Bay cases is so chaotic it may be impossible to properly convict a single prisoner, charges a former military prosecutor. Former Lt. Col. Darrel Vandeveld is supporting a federal court petition to free one detainee, Mohammed Jawad, who has been held without trial for...

Obama's Delayed Gitmo Plan Upsets Rights Groups

President-elect urged to stop tribunals before child soldier's trial

(Newser) - Human rights groups are worried about Barack Obama's plan to wait over 100 days before closing the Guantanamo Bay detenion center, reports the Miami Herald. Activists fear that Obama plans to keep the system of military tribunals going and are especially concerned about the upcoming trial of prisoner Omar Khadr,...

Who's Still at Guantanamo?
 Who's Still at Guantanamo? 

Who's Still at Guantanamo?

A significant portion of the final 110 have combat, recruiting experience

(Newser) - Before he can close Guantanamo, Barack Obama must decide what to do with the 250 detainees still there. About 80 are scheduled to be tried and will serve their sentences in their home countries, USA Today reports. The Pentagon has approved the release of 60 more, but has not found...

EU Considers Taking Gitmo Prisoners
EU Considers Taking Gitmo Prisoners

EU Considers Taking Gitmo Prisoners

Allies offer to help Obama 'clean up Bush's mess'

(Newser) - European Union countries are considering giving Barack Obama a helping hand by accepting released Guantanamo Bay prisoners for resettlement, the Washington Post reports. Requests from the Bush administration to take Gitmo detainees were flatly rejected by the EU, but Portugal has now signaled its willingness to accept some prisoners and...

Cheney: I OK'd Waterboarding
 Cheney: I OK'd Waterboarding 

Cheney: I OK'd Waterboarding

VP gave go ahead for 'remarkably successful' tactic

(Newser) - Vice President Dick Cheney personally approved using waterboarding to interrogate 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, he reveals in a wide-ranging interview on ABC News. "I was  involved in helping get the process cleared. The agency came in and wanted to know what they could and couldn't do," said...

Portugal Offers to Take Gitmo Detainees

Move may help close prison

(Newser) - Portugal is willing to resettle some detainees freed from Guantanamo Bay, and it urged its fellow European countries to do likewise. It’s a diplomatic breakthrough that could help close the controversial US prison, the New York Times reports. Of the 250 detainees still in Guantanamo, 60 have been cleared...

Born in the USA Tops Gitmo Torture Charts

Boss' anthem among tunes favored by US interrogators for disorienting prisoners

(Newser) - The music played at high volume for hours on end by US interrogators to torture prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay spanned all genres. But the military overseers did have a few favorite songs, including:
  • Born in the USA, by Bruce Springsteen
  • American Pie, by Don McLean
  • Staying Alive, by the
...

9/11 Suspects Withdraw Plea Offers in Fight for Death

Confessions could block death penalty for suspects seeking 'martrydom'

(Newser) - Five  9/11 suspects yesterday withdrew offers to plead guilty when a military judge warned them that confessions could foil their plans to get the death penalty. A death order may require a military jury conviction, he said. The men want the death penalty so they can die as martyrs. "...

9/11 Suspects Ask to Confess
 9/11 Suspects Ask to Confess 

9/11 Suspects Ask to Confess

Alleged plotters drop attempts at legal defense, face execution

(Newser) - Five men charged with plotting the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks told a military judge today they want to immediately confess at their war-crimes tribunal at Guantanamo Bay, setting up likely guilty pleas and their possible executions. The five said they decided to abandon all efforts to defend themselves against the...

Bin Laden's Driver Leaves Guantanamo

Convict transferred to Yemen to serve remainder of sentence

(Newser) - Salim Hamdan, the former driver of Osama bin Laden and one of only two suspected terrorists convicted at Guantanamo Bay, is being transferred to his homeland of Yemen. Hamdan was sentenced in August to just 5 months' detention on top of the 5 years he served at the prison camp,...

Art Classes Coming to Gitmo
 Art Classes Coming to Gitmo 

Art Classes Coming to Gitmo

Prison camp staff will offer more activities to distract detainees

(Newser) - Art class at Guantanamo Bay? Yes, it's in the works—along with geology class, Game Boys, access to newspapers, and more movie nights. The prison staff wants to keep prisoners "stimulated," Guantanamo's cultural adviser told the Miami Herald. "Once they are engaged and busy, they leave the...

5 Ordered Freed From Gitmo on Feds' Lack of Evidence

Governments' classified case insufficient to justify further detention

(Newser) - A federal judge today ordered the release of five Guantánamo Bay inmates, ruling that the US government’s evidence was not enough to justify their continued detention, the New York Times reports. The men were among the inmates who won a Supreme Court verdict in June that found they...

Defense Lawyers Let Inside Secret Gitmo Camp

First-ever visit to undisclosed locale 'helpful:' defense attorney

(Newser) - Defense lawyers were allowed for the first time into a section of the prison at Guantanamo Bay so restricted that even its location on the US base is secret. The pair of military attorneys for an alleged Sept. 11 plotter went to Camp 7 to gauge the effects of the...

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