American torture

My report about the latest medical scandal at Guantánamo, as a medical team was flown in to conduct emergency surgery on Abd al-Hadi al-Iraqi, who has a degenerative spinal condition. Al-Iraqi previously had five surgical operations at Guantánamo, in 2017-18, after his condition was ignored for ten years. It is clear that his needs cannot be met at the prison, but he cannot receive urgent and more appropriate medical care on the US mainland because of an ongoing ban, imposed by Congress in the annual National Defense Authorization Act, which prevents prisoners from being transferred to the US mainland for any reason. I also look at the case of Ammar al-Baluchi, who suffered brain damage as a result of torture in a CIA “black site,” but whose calls for independent medical experts to assess him are being resisted by the Biden administration.

A world exclusive: the story of Abu Faraj al-Libi, one of 14 “high-value detainees” brought to Guantánamo from CIA “black sites” in September 2006, who appeared publicly for the first time in June this year, for his latest Periodic Review Board, which, nevertheless, approved his ongoing imprisonment without charge or trial last month, as one of the prison’s four remaining “forever prisoners.”

My reflections on Guantánamo and 9/11 on the 21st anniversary of the terrorist attacks, which led to two failed wars, the CIA’s torture program, and, of course, the establishment of the prison at Guantánamo Bay, the enduring symbol of the US’s shameful and lawless response to the 9/11 attacks, where 36 men are still held, most of whom have never been charged with crime. Also included is a video of my discussion about 9/11 and Guantánamo with Inayat Wadee of Salaamedia in South Africa. Ironically, the men held who were allegedly responsible for the attacks have still not been successfully prosecuted, because of the torture to which they were subjected, while, alarmingly for the old men who still want to keep the “war on terror” alive, no one under 25 even remembers 9/11, and in many cases don’t even know what happened that day.

Looking at the problems faced by the US government in finding a third country prepared to offer a new home to Guantánamo prisoner Majid Khan, whose sentence for involvement in terrorism ended on March 1 this year. Khan is thoroughly repentant about his actions, and has cooperated with the authorities on other terrorism-related cases, but it remains uncertain whether another country can be found that will take him in. As a cooperating witness, he should, it seems to me, be resettled with his family under a new identity in the US, but that is currently illegal under provisions in the annual National Defense Authorization Act introduced by Republicans during the Obama presidency, and maintained ever since.

The latest news in the case of Guantánamo prisoner Majid Khan, who has submitted a habeas corpus petition seeking his release, 100 days since his sentence for involvement with terrorism ended. While Khan should have the law on his side, I also compare his case to that of the 20 other men approved for release by administrative review processes, but also still held, for whom, shamefully, no legal mechanism at all exists to compel their release.

As “forever prisoner” Muhammad Rahim, an Afghan, has his ongoing imprisonment without charge or trial at Guantánamo recommended by a Periodic Review Board, I look at his case, and those of the other four remaining “forever prisoners” (down from 22 when Joe Biden took office), and the problem they represent for the president in his efforts to finally close the prison.

Linking to the video of a recent Q&A, featuring Mohamedou Ould Slahi, John Goetz and myself, following a screening of Goetz’s powerful documentary film, “Guantánamo Diary Revisited,” made available by its distributors in the US and Canada, Cinema Libre Studio. In the film, Goetz assists Slahi in tracking down some of those involved in his torture, the intention being to invite them to tea, and to let them know that he has forgiven everyone responsible for his torture.

Promoting the online screening, next week, of “Guantánamo Diary Revisited”, John Goetz’s new documentary about Mohamedou Ould Slahi, which is very generously being made available as a fundraiser to support my ongoing work on Guantánamo by the US and Canadian distributor, Cinema Libre Studio, with a Q&A session following, featuring Mohamedou, John and myself.

It’s ten years since Majid Khan agreed to a plea deal at Guantánamo, and a month since his sentence came to an end, and yet, despite it being clear throughout this entire period that he would be eligible for release in March 2022, the US government has made no plans for his release.

My report about a stunning Supreme Court dissent by Justice Gorsuch, a Conservative, in the case of Abu Zubaydah, who was seeking to compel the architects of the torture program to testify about what happened to him when he was held in a CIA “black site” in Poland. Shamefully, the government sought to block the testimony because it regards all mention of a “black site” in Poland as a “state secret,” even though it is common knowledge, and only Gorsuch, and Justice Sotomayor, who joined his dissent, disagreed.