American torture

News of an important complaint filed with the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, on behalf of Abu Zubaydah, held in CIA “black sites” for four and a half years, and at Guantánamo since September 2006, without ever being charged. The complaint is not only against the US, but also against Thailand, Poland, Morocco, Lithuania and Afghanistan (the five countries in which he was held in “black sites”), as well as the UK, which is regarded as complicit in his torture.

My review of “The Mauritanian,” the film based on the best-selling memoir “Guantánamo Diary” by Mohamedou Ould Slahi, who, based on nothing more than suspicion, was subjected to a horrendous torture program at Guantánamo in 2003, and, despite the case against him collapsing, wasn’t released until 2016.

An open letter to Joe Biden and the US Congress opposing the nomination of Mike Morell as CIA Director, and Senate approval of Biden’s nominee Avril Haines as Director of National Intelligence, because they both have a history, under Barack Obama, of having been torture apologists. I’m a signatory to the letter, along with numerous other individuals, including five former Guantánamo prisoners.

A link to, and discussion of my interview with the indefatigable US radio host Scott Horton about my statements in support of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange that were read into the court’s evidence during his extradition hearings in London. My statements were based on my work with WikiLeaks as a media partner on the release of classified military files from Guantánamo in 2011, and I was pleased to have the opportunity to explain why the release of these files was so important.

An update in the case of Guantánamo prisoner Mohammed al-Qahtani, who, notoriously, was subjected to torture at the prison in 2002 in relation to claims that he was the intended 20th hijacker for the 9/11 attacks. Al-Qahtani has long-standing severe mental health issues, exacerbated by his torture, and earlier this year the District Court ordered a mixed medical commission for him, to assess whether or not he should be returned to Saudi Arabia to receive appropriate treatment. The government appealed for a stay, but the good news is that now the appeals court, the D.C. Circuit Court, has refused to go along with the government’s wishes.

As Julian Assange’s extradition hearing continues at the Old Bailey, I cross-post, with my own introduction, an analysis and appreciation of my work on the Guantánamo files released by WikiLeaks in 2011 (on which I worked as media partner), as written by Patrick Lawrence for Consortium News.

To mark the 19th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, I reflect on its long and bitter legacy, via the US’s endless wars, the continuing existence of Guantánamo, and, as recently revealed, the shockingly large number of people displaced by the US’s many wars waged over the last 19 years.

Good news as a US judge upholds a ruling from March requiring the US government to allow a US doctor and two foreign doctors to assess the mental health of Mohammed al-Qahtani, a Saudi national who was subjected to a vile torture program at Guantánamo when he was suspected of being the intended 20th hijacker for the 9/11 attacks, even though the US authorities knew that he had serious pre-existing mental health issues.

In the long quest to hold accountable the US officials responsible for the rendition and torture of prisoners in the “war on terror”, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights recently delivered a historic ruling, agreeing to investigate the cases of four of these men, including two British nationals, Binyam Mohamed and Bisher al-Rawi, who, as well as being held in CIA “black sites”, were also held at Guantánamo.

An important update from the military commissions at Guantánamo, normally a ‘Groundhog Day’ of broken justice, where a judge has ruled that Majid Khan, a “high-value detainee” who agreed to a plea deal in 2012, should be allowed to have his sentence reduced because of the torture he was subjected to in CIA “black sites.” This is the first time such a decision has been taken, and it is to be hoped that Khan will now be released before the previously agreed date of 2031.