YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAH so what.
Government admits filming torture of Gitmo inmate, alleged 9/11 plotter
By Stephen C. Webster
Monday, October 5th, 2009 -- 3:38 pm
The United States government admitted on Monday that the torture of a Saudi man alleged to be part of the 9/11 plot was recorded on video, according to court do ents procured by the Center for Cons utional Rights.
The tapes, allegedly showing the torture of Mohammed al Qahtani, 31, have long been kept under wraps, but a discovery motion for video of his interrogations led the court to acknowledge their existence and order their release.
"The videotapes the government is required to produce will reveal the time period at the end of three months of intensive solitary confinement and isolation that immediately preceded the implementation of the 'First Special Interrogation Plan,' a regime of systematic torture techniques approved by former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld for use against Mr. al Qahtani," claimed a CCR media advisory.
Lawyers with the Center for Cons utional Rights have represented Qahtani since 2005. The accused 9/11 plotter has been a Guantanamo inmate since 2002.
According to Susan Crawford, convening authority at the Office of Military Commissions, "We tortured Qahtani."
Crawford's statements to The Washington Post in Jan. 2009 made her the first senior Bush administration official to publicly state that a detainee was tortured.
"His treatment met the legal definition of torture. And that's why I did not refer the case" for prosecution said Crawford.
She added that US military interrogators repeatedly subjected Qahtani to sustained isolation, sleep deprivation, nudity and prolonged exposure to cold, leaving him in a "life-threatening condition."
"The techniques they used were all authorized, but the manner in which they applied them was overly aggressive and too persistent," she said.
"This was just a combination of things that had a medical impact on him, that hurt his health. It was abusive and uncalled for. And coercive. Clearly coercive. It was that medical impact that pushed me over the edge" to call it torture.
"Military prosecutors said in November that they would seek to refile charges against Qahtani [...] based on subsequent interrogations that did not employ harsh techniques," noted The Washington Post. "But Crawford, who dismissed war crimes charges against him in May 2008, said in the interview that she would not allow the prosecution to go forward.
"After the intense scrutiny of the government’s torture and interrogation of Mr. al Qahtani, it is shocking that the government has hidden the existence of these tapes from the public for so many years," said CCR Attorney Gitanjali S. Gutierrez. "The government’s interrogation of him has been the topic of multiple military, Justice Department and congressional investigations. These tapes should have been acknowledged long ago."
"Mr. al Qahtani’s torture is already well-established, with a clear paper trail that leads all the way up the chain of command to the desk of Donald Rumsfeld," said CCR Executive Director Vincent Warren. "The revelation of these tapes indicates the government carefully do ented horrific evidence of torture and abuse at Guantánamo. The only question that remains is whether the people ultimately responsible for it will be held accountable for breaking the law and breaking faith with our system of justice."
The judge's order acknowledging the existence of the tapes and ordering their release may be read here (PDF link).
YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAH so what.
naked in the tropics. big ing deal.
Now he's got an inkling of what it is like being a woman in Saudia Arabia.spanky spanky
Well, you can't say there wasn't any torture now.
Too bad our interrogation rendered Al Qatani unprosecutable. How incompetent.
yeah but look how much fun it was..and who knows what he talked about while he was shivering....well while he was slightly coolish...well why he was sweating naked in the tropics.
"torture was the right decision then. It is the right decision now. And it's the right decision ever!"
Creepy.
Whenever the tape is released, micca, feel free to fap off to it.
Don't know unless we see the tape.
How long before Obama releases these tapes to Al Jazeera?
According to Susan Crawford, convening authority at the Office of Military Commissions, "We tortured Qahtani."
"His treatment met the legal definition of torture. And that's why I did not refer the case" for prosecution said Crawford
Big ing deal. After they got all the information they wanted they should have cut his head off and sent it home in a burlap bag.
If we'd minded our p's and q's, Al Qatani could be tried in court and sentenced to death.
Because we tortured him, this will probably never happen.
yeah that'd work.
I love the morals of the conservatives. And of course, WC with his usual BS "We can't possibly know if it was really torture, even though the head of the Commissions Authority stated it was such".
And yet, these people will wrap themselves in the flag, speaking about how awfully IMMORAL and UNFAIR it is that rich people pay a greater percentage of taxes.
It honestly boggles my ing mind.
I wonder how long before these tapes suddenly go missing?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/0...u_n_85473.html
Can you say with certainty that she isn't using her position to reinforce opinion rather than fact?
This has become such a heated topic relying on opinion rather than facts. Like Global Warming. I'm sorry if I'm skeptical until I see more.
Ms. Crawford was the convening authority for the military commissions. It was her job to refer detainees for prosecution. One presumes the pressure to refer a 9/11 plotter to the commission must have been particularly intense, and it is reasonable to infer that she must have wanted badly to do so on her own account. Al Qatani almost surely is one of the worst of the worst.Can you say with certainty that she isn't using her position to reinforce opinion rather than fact?
That she could not bring herself to do it underscores how just badly the Al Qatani case was compromised by the abusive conditions of his confinement and interrogation.
Tell me WC, why do you suppose that she would do something like that?
Yeah, well I find it mind boggeling apoligists like you can get outraged about some insane following a barbaric code that was discredited half a mellinium ago, while you remain at best silent, at worst supportive of a party that promotes child sex slavery.While you wrap yourself in the rainbow flag.
so.....the war is about child sex slavery now?
is that right, micca?
What the are you talking about? The Geneva Convention is a barbaric code? A party that promotes child sex slavery?
I mean, really, you've gotta be just trolling.
Another micca meltdown. Can't discuss a thing with anyone. He just melts down.
Denial
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