- Jan 7, 2005
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Time article
The so-called "20th hijacker" has had all charges against him dropped by the military convening authority. The reason? Because he was tortured, and evidence obtained by torture cannot be used.
Looks like the military JAG's have finally gotten it together and decided to do this right, according to our laws, and not make it into a kangaroo court that Bush and his admin wanted.
Also, another judge barred the top legal military advisor from getting involved. He was the one that one JAG described as insisting on trying the "sexy" cases first, and to make sure that there were no acquittals. The judge ruled
Hopefully this will continue going forward, and everything will be above-board and according to the law.
Now the question is, what do they do now? Since government has now tainted the case against this person (and probably others as well), they can't be tried. So what now? Hold them forever without a trial?
This is what happens when Bush/Cheney decide to take matters into their own hands, and break the law.
The so-called "20th hijacker" has had all charges against him dropped by the military convening authority. The reason? Because he was tortured, and evidence obtained by torture cannot be used.
A 2005 military investigation concluded Qahtani had been subject to abuse ? which included sexual humiliation, religious humiliation, intimidation by dogs, prolonged isolation and extremes of cold that, at one point, caused his pulse to drop to 35 beats per minute, requiring immediate hospitalization. No one was ever punished for having ordered the abuse or carrying it out. "The dismissal of charges clearly indicates the government's awareness that any and all statements obtained from Mohammad Qahtani were extracted by torture or the threat of torture," Gitanjali Guitierrez, his lawyer with the Center for Constitutional Rights, told TIME.
Looks like the military JAG's have finally gotten it together and decided to do this right, according to our laws, and not make it into a kangaroo court that Bush and his admin wanted.
Also, another judge barred the top legal military advisor from getting involved. He was the one that one JAG described as insisting on trying the "sexy" cases first, and to make sure that there were no acquittals. The judge ruled
that Hartmann's statements had overstepped the bounds of neutrality required of his official role, a ruling that could limit Hartmann's oversight in other Guantanamo cases as well.
Hopefully this will continue going forward, and everything will be above-board and according to the law.
Now the question is, what do they do now? Since government has now tainted the case against this person (and probably others as well), they can't be tried. So what now? Hold them forever without a trial?
This is what happens when Bush/Cheney decide to take matters into their own hands, and break the law.