FBI/CIA

The second part of my transcript of the powerful statement that Guantánamo prisoner and CIA “black site” torture victim Majid Khan read out at his sentencing hearing, with its powerful combination of contrition, on the one hand, and the brutality of his torture on the other, which seemed to be undertaken with no regard for discovering the truth, as he had persistently showed a willingness to cooperate with his interrogators.

A transcript of the first part of Majid Khan’s statement at his recent sentencing hearing at Guantánamo, in which he recounted his early life, how he was preyed on by al-Qaeda supporters following the death of his mother, and the horrendous torture to which he was subjected in a number of CIA “black sites”, despite having made it clear from the time of his capture that he intended to be as cooperative as possible.

My report about the sentencing of former CIA “black site” torture victim and Guantánamo prisoner Majid Khan, finally and belatedly following his plea deal in 2012, his powerful statement during his hearing, and the unprecedented request for clemency from seven of his eight military jurors.

My report about this week’s Supreme Court hearing in the case of torture victim and Guantánamo prisoner Abu Zubaydah, involving efforts by his lawyers to secure testimony from his torturers regarding what happened to him Poland. In oral argument, however, what emerged most forcefully was the Justices’ surprise that Abu Zubaydah himself has not been allowed to testify about what happened to him, and that he has had a habeas corpus petition pending for 14 years, as well as their concern that he is still being held at all, given the end of the war in Afghanistan.

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 assessment of two recent articles, in the New York Times and the Observer, about Joe Biden and Guantánamo, and what we might expect from the new administration regarding the decrepit state of Camp 7, reserved for the “high-value detainees”, the broken nature of the military commissions, and the need for action on releasing six men already approved for release, and the inappropriate imprisonment, without charge or trial, and with no end in sight, of numerous “low-value detainees.”

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.

Promoting “The War on Journalism: The Case of Julian Assange”, a 38-minute film directed by Juan Passarelli, which provides a powerful summary of what the extradition case against Julian Assange is all about, and why it is such a chilling effort to both silence one man and to restrict press freedoms. I was interviewed for the film along with many other people including John Pilger and UN torture rapporteur Nils Melzer.

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.