Guantánamo trials plunged into deeper discord as confidence in court wanes

[alp227]

Source: The Guardian

The battered credibility of the Guantánamo trials has been further dented by revelations of hidden microphones, intelligence service interference with court proceedings and protests from lawyers who say the US military is preventing a proper defence of the alleged organisers of the 9/11 attacks.

The increasingly chaotic pre-trial hearings for the alleged mastermind of the attacks on the World Trade Center, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and four co-accused have slowed progress toward the full trial, to the point where it will now not start until at least 2014. But the latest developments also further undermine confidence in a military court whose legitimacy has long been questioned.

In recent days, the commander of the Guantánamo prison, Colonel John Bogdan, was forced to admit on the witness stand that secret listening devices disguised as smoke detectors were installed in the cell where lawyers met their clients, and that he knew nothing about them.

The eavesdropping was revealed in court by one of the defence lawyers, Cheryl Bormann, who said she became suspicious about the supposed smoke detectors during a meeting with her client, Walid bin Atash, who is accused of training some of the 9/11 hijackers.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/feb/17/guantanamo-trial-microphone-revelations

[sabrina 1]

1. People should cringe at the mere mention of that hellhole which will go down

in history as part of this most shameful period of our history. And everyone associated with it will live throughout time as all 'evil doers' do to quote the creator of that horrific dungeon where our Constitution died.

We are the laughing stock of the world with our torture chambers and denials of due process as we laughingly continue to proclaim ourselves to be a 'democracy'.

I cannot see the word 'Guantanamo' without trembling with anger and sadness that it ever existed in our name and that it still does.

[dixiegrrrrl]

15. Well said

so I will add only
DITTO!

[mountain grammy]

2. Truth, justice and the American way?

[DallasNE]

3. I Have Always Assumed That These Would Be Tough Trials

With defense attorney's challenging the admissibility of much of the evidence because it was illegally gathered and contaminated. Jurisdictional issues are sure to surface on appeal for those that are somehow found guilty. Keep in mind too that nearly all of those still held have gone 10 years or more without a trial and that doesn't square with our Constitution. And on top of all of this is malfeasance in the form of illegal eavesdropping. Good Lord. How many more ways can they screw this up.

[msanthrope]

11. The eavesdropping may not be illegal...the expansion of 28 USC 501.3

allows for SAMs that include monitoring of attorney-client meetings with limited court oversight.

I'm not saying I support that expansion--I think it's an impermissible encroachment of both a/c privilege, and the 6th amendment. But the case of Lynn Stewart is illustrative of these SAMs.

[DallasNE]

16. Not Carte Blanche However

The governing language limits who may have access to this information so custody can be challenged. There is supposed to be a wall of separation between prosecution and access of a "privilege team" as the prosecutions access is limited to being "reasonably necessary for the purpose of deterring future acts of violence or terrorism". Defense strategy is specifically excluded. There are also provisions to require notification of such recordings and it doesn't appear that those were given. There is certainly ample opportunity for abuse.

http://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/28/501.3

[msanthrope]

17. No--not carte blanche, but certainly an inroad that is easily abused. nt

[OnyxCollie]

4. "Wanes?"

I didn't know there was something worse than a Kangaroo court.

[msanthrope]

10. An inept Kangaroo court?

On a serious note, one wonders if Boumediene v. Bush needs a revisit, or if the presiding federal judges (of the various Memorandums) just need to crack down.

Attorney-client confidentiality is a basic--it only gets broken in extreme cases, and with court oversight pusuant to 28 US 501.3.

[annm4peace]

5. we need more kicks and likes

there is so much to this story. So many innocent people tortured at Guantanamo.

[hedda_foil]

6. k&r. nt

[Mojorabbit]

7. One gets better news in the foreign papers than in our own. nt

[msanthrope]

8. It was on the AP wire..but you can get a daily GITMO update on this blog--

http://www.lawfareblog.com/author/wells/

Here--I found a copy of the AP newsire I had read, but it's reprinted on a fox site....

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/02/11/lawyers-for-11-suspects-fear-us-government-is-eavesdropping-at-guantanamo/


The lawfare blog is excellent.

[Mojorabbit]

14. Thanks! nt

[Solly Mack]

9. K&R

[blkmusclmachine]

12. Kangaroo Court.

G'day, mate.

[newfie11]

13. K&R