Waterboarding evidence may be admissible in Gitmo trials: legal advisor

CounterVortex

The legal advisor to the Convening Authority for Military Commissions at Guantanamo Bay testified before members of Congress Dec. 11 that evidence gathered from interrogation techniques such as waterboarding may be admissible during military commission proceedings if it is “reliable and probative.” Speaking before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology and Homeland Security, Air Force Brig. Gen. Thomas W.Hartmann declined to answer senators’ questions regarding whether waterboarding is illegal when used by or against Americans.

Hartmann’s testimony came a day after retired CIA agent John Kiriakou confirmed the use of waterboarding during the interrogation of top al-Qaeda suspect Abu Zubaydah. Kiriakou said that the tactic’s efficacy in helping to disrupt “a number of attacks, maybe dozens” outweighed its harshness. An upcoming intelligence funding bill reportedly aims to restrict CIA interrogators to using only those interrogation techniques explicitly authorized by the 2006 Army Field Manual. The Washington Post has more. (Jurist, Dec. 12)

See our last post on the torture scandal.

  1. Naomi Campbell flies into rage at Led Zeppelin concert
    Gee, maybe we could actually pull in a little much-needed money if we blogged about stuff like this instead of the global oil wars. It’s up to you, folks… From the New Zealand Herald:

    Naomi Campbell launched into a furious tirade when her BlackBerry phone was stolen at the Led Zeppelin concert.

    The notoriously ill-tempered supermodel – who was watching the show at London’s O2 arena from a VIP box on Monday night – was seen screaming wildly at security when she realised her precious electronic organiser, which contains the numbers of all her A-list friends, was missing.

    She reportedly told a US journalist: “Someone stole my handbag. It had two phones in it!”

    However, her spokesperson has denied her designer bag was stolen, saying: “It is a gross exaggeration to say she was mugged. She found her BlackBerry was missing out of her bag during the show. It was a massive inconvenience for Naomi. She enjoyed the concert though.”

    Naomi – who earlier this year was sentenced to community service for throwing a mobile phone at her maid’s head – continued her rant at the after-show party at indigO2, where she even accused Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl of stealing it.

    A source said: “She started screaming and shouting and wildly pointed in the direction of where Grohl was sitting, screeching, ‘Have they got it, have they got it?’ ”

    The 37-year-old catwalk beauty is reportedly petrified the culprit will reveal the identity of a secret admirer who has sent her a number of raunchy emails and text messages.

    The source told Britain’s Daily Mirror newspaper: “She’s got a secret new love and is desperately trying to keep the whole thing quiet. This is the last thing she wants as she’s determined to keep his identity under wraps.”

    “The thought of someone rifling through all her personal and intimate emails and texts is really upsetting.”

    Please support our fund drive.

    It’s important.