Detainee Alleges Abuse in CIA Prison
Torture Coerced Confession, He Says
By Josh White and Ann Scott Tyson
Washington Post
GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba, March 30 -- A high-level al-Qaeda suspect who was in CIA custody for more than four years has alleged that his American captors tortured him into making false confessions about terrorist attacks in the Middle East, according to newly released Pentagon transcripts of a March 14 military tribunal hearing here.
Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, who U.S. officials believe was involved in the bombings of two U.S. embassies in East Africa in 1998 and who allegedly organized the attack on the USS Cole in Yemen in 2000, told a panel of military officers that he was repeatedly tortured during his imprisonment and that he admitted taking part in numerous terrorism plots because of the mistreatment.
"The detainee states that he was tortured into confession and once he made a confession his captors were happy and they stopped torturing him," Nashiri's representative read to the tribunal, according to the transcript. "Also, the detainee states that he made up stories during the torture in order to get it to stop."
Nashiri's allegations came just days after Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the self-confessed mastermind of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, also alleged abuse during a similar hearing before a Combatant Status Review Tribunal (CSRT) at this island detention facility, though his claims were submitted on paper and have not been released.
(Continued here.)
By Josh White and Ann Scott Tyson
Washington Post
GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba, March 30 -- A high-level al-Qaeda suspect who was in CIA custody for more than four years has alleged that his American captors tortured him into making false confessions about terrorist attacks in the Middle East, according to newly released Pentagon transcripts of a March 14 military tribunal hearing here.
Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, who U.S. officials believe was involved in the bombings of two U.S. embassies in East Africa in 1998 and who allegedly organized the attack on the USS Cole in Yemen in 2000, told a panel of military officers that he was repeatedly tortured during his imprisonment and that he admitted taking part in numerous terrorism plots because of the mistreatment.
"The detainee states that he was tortured into confession and once he made a confession his captors were happy and they stopped torturing him," Nashiri's representative read to the tribunal, according to the transcript. "Also, the detainee states that he made up stories during the torture in order to get it to stop."
Nashiri's allegations came just days after Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the self-confessed mastermind of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, also alleged abuse during a similar hearing before a Combatant Status Review Tribunal (CSRT) at this island detention facility, though his claims were submitted on paper and have not been released.
(Continued here.)
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1 Comments:
Suggested reading :
The Weekend edition of The Wall Street Journal which has a front page story about Lt. Col. V. Stuart Couch, a former marine and military prosecutor, who declined to prosecute an alleged terrorist involved in the 9/11 attack because he came to believe the man was tortured into confessing while being held at Guantanamo Bay. The case is the first known instance where a U.S. military prosecutor refused to bring charges because essential evidence allegedly was tainted by torture. It may not be the last; Guantanamo prosecutors estimate that at least 90% of their cases depend on statements taken from prisoners, making the credibility, and admissibility, of such evidence critical to any convictions.
Couch was in Navy ROTC in college and during his active duty time obtained a law degree. After 9/11, he re-enlisted. Jess Bravin writes : “When the Pentagon needed someone to prosecute a Guantanamo Bay prisoner linked to 9/11, it turned to Lt. Col. V. Stuart Couch. A Marine Corps pilot and veteran prosecutor, Col. Couch brought a personal connection to the job: His old Marine buddy, Michael "Rocks" Horrocks, was co-pilot on United 175, the second plane to strike the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.
The prisoner in question, Mohamedou Ould Slahi, had already been suspected of terrorist activity. After the attacks, he was fingered by a senior al Qaeda operative for helping assemble the so-called Hamburg cell.”
Whether Slahi was really involved, or was just a name offered by other prisoners, is in question. Slahi was captured and sent to Jordan where he claims he was tortured. When he heard he was being transferred to Gitmo, he thought the torture would end. He says it did not. At the end, he described being taken in a boat where he thought he was going to be killed. He was told his Mother had been captured and would be tortured. After that point, Slahi started to provide information.
Couch went to Gitmo and was surprised by what was going on. He had been trained as to the tactics that could be used to torture him, and now he saw those tactics being used by people representing the American government.
Couch is a religious man. After consulting his conscience, family and friends, Couch decided not to press forward with the charges because he believed Slahi's confession was delivered only under torture. The turning point was hearing a religious passage about human dignity during a baptism. Couch informed his supervisor of his decision not to pursue the case and someone else was assigned. Upon completion of his re-enlistment service, he got a commendation from Don Rumsfeld for his work ( wanna guess that Couch’s complaints never got up the chain of command?).
The Journal's Bravin writes: "These kinds of concerns will likely become more prevalent as other high-level al Qaeda detainees come before military commissions set up by the Bush administration."
It’s a thought provoking article … especially when you consider the Gonzales-8 where the message is to be a Bushie or lose your job.
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