Lawyers for two Guantánamo detainees, arguing before the European Court of Human Rights on Dec. 3, accused Poland of providing a secret torture site for the Central Intelligence Agency's "extraordinary rendition" program. The case involves 48-year-old Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, a Saudi national facing terror charges in connection with the al-Qaeda attack on the USS Cole in 2000, and 42-year-old Zain Abidin Mohammed Husain Abu Zubaydah, a Palestinian who has never been charged with a crime. According to their lawyers, Nashiri and Abu Zubaydah were victims of the CIA's "enhanced interrogation" and waterboarding techniques, as well as mock executions. Crofton Black, a researcher with the human rights organization Reprieve and witness to the closed trial, called the Polish government's investigation into the matter nothing more than a smoke-screen.
From Jurist, Dec. 4. Used with permission.
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DC Circuit affirms habeas denial for Gitmo detainee
The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Dec. 3 affirmed (PDF) a district court's denial of a writ of habeas corpus for Guantánamo detainee Abdul Razak Ali. Ali, who was captured in 2002 during an 18-day stay at a Pakistan guesthouse with al-Qaeda-associated militant Abu Zubaydah and other terrorist trainers, alleges that he mistook the location for a "public guesthouse" and asserted in his petition that the government has failed to justify his detention. This "guilty by guesthouse" argument was rejected by the court with Judge Kavanaugh stating that "This is not a criminal proceeding in which the Government asks a court to find Ali guilty and punish him," but rather a "military detention." Senior Circuit Judge Edwards, in a concurring opinion, nonetheless expressed concern over the indefinite duration of Ali's detention, stating "It seems bizarre, to say the least, that someone like Ali, who has never been charged with or found guilty of a criminal act and who has never 'planned, authorized, committed, or aided [any] terrorist attacks,' is now marked for a life sentence."
From Jurist, Dec. 4. used with permission.
Supreme Court denies review in USS Cole case
The US Supreme Court on Oct. 16 denied certiorari in a case involving the 2000 Cole attack, leaving intact the decision of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit that the military trial of Abd al Rahim al-Nashiri may proceed. (Jurist)