Gitmo detainee lawyers raise torture allegations

[sabra]

Source: AP

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The attorney for a Guantanamo detainee accused of masterminding the USS Cole bombing has requested that charges be dropped following comments from a Pentagon official regarding torture.
Navy Lt. Cmdr. Stephen Reyes said Thursday that it is likely the judge who oversees the military trials was not informed about his client's treatment.

"It's either deliberate ignorance, or they just don't think what happened in CIA custody is relevant at all to these cases," said Reyes, whose client is Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri.

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Al-Nashiri is one of three terrorist suspects the CIA has said it subjected to waterboarding in secret overseas prisons.

"How does this treatment not qualify as 'torture' under Crawford's 'legal definition'?" said Nancy Hollander, who also represents Al-Nashiri.

Joseph DellaVedova, spokesman for the Office of Military Commissions, said Crawford is taking Reyes' letter "under consideration" and will respond in "due time."

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