The Bush administration has told a federal judge that terrorism suspects held in secret CIA prisons should not be allowed to reveal details of the "alternative interrogation methods" that their captors used to get them to talk.
The government says in new court filings that those interrogation methods are now among the nation's most sensitive national security secrets and that their release -- even to the detainees' own attorneys -- "could reasonably be expected to cause extremely grave damage." Terrorists could use the information to train in counter-interrogation techniques and foil government efforts to elicit information about their methods and plots, according to government documents submitted to U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton on Oct. 26.
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The government, in trying to block lawyers' access to the 14 detainees, effectively asserts that the detainees' experiences are a secret that should never be shared with the public.
Because Khan "was detained by CIA in this program, he may have come into possession of information, including locations of detention, conditions of detention, and alternative interrogation techniques that is classified at the TOP SECRET//SCI level," an affidavit from CIA Information Review Officer Marilyn A. Dorn states, using the acronym for "sensitive compartmented information."
Gitanjali Gutierrez, an attorney for Khan's family, responded in a court document yesterday that there is no evidence that Khan had top-secret information. "Rather," she said, "the executive is attempting to misuse its classification authority . . . to conceal illegal or embarrassing executive conduct."
Joseph Margulies, a Northwestern University law professor who has represented several detainees at Guantanamo, said the prisoners "can't even say what our government did to these guys to elicit the statements that are the basis for them being held. Kafka-esque doesn't do it justice. This is 'Alice in Wonderland.' "
Kathleen Blomquist, a Justice Department spokeswoman, said yesterday that details of the CIA program must be protected from disclosure. She said the lawyer's proposal for talking with Khan "is inadequate to protect unique and potentially highly classified information that is vital to our country's ability to fight terrorism."
Government lawyers also argue in court papers that detainees such as Khan previously held in CIA sites have no automatic right to speak to lawyers because the new Military Commissions Act, signed by President Bush last month, stripped them of access to U.S. courts. That law established separate military trials for terrorism suspects.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit is considering whether Guantanamo detainees have the right to challenge their imprisonment in U.S. courts. The government urged Walton to defer any decision on access to lawyers until the higher court rules.
The government filing expresses concern that detainee attorneys will provide their clients with information about the outside world and relay information about detainees to others...
Dorn said in the court papers that for lawyers to speak to former CIA detainees under the security protocol used for other Guantanamo detainees "poses an unacceptable risk of disclosure." But detainee attorneys said they have followed the protocol to the letter, and none has been accused of releasing information without government clearance.
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In a separate court document filed last night, Khan's attorneys offered declarations from Khaled al-Masri, a released detainee who said he was held with Khan in a dingy CIA prison called "the salt pit" in Afghanistan. There, prisoners slept on the floor, wore diapers and were given tainted water that made them vomit, Masri said. American interrogators treated him roughly, he said, and told him he "was in a land where there were no laws."
if you are detained, you can't have a lawyer.
if you are detained, you can't have a lawyer.
if you are detained, you can't have a lawyer.
if you are detained, you can't have a lawyer.
if you are detained, you can't have a lawyer.
if you are detained, you can't have a lawyer.
if you are detained, you can't have a lawyer.
9 comments:
lovely. so if, for whatever reason, i'm singled out (forget about wearing either my 'designated terrorist' t-shirt or Rock's 'when it absolutely positively has to be destroyed--call the Marines' or whatever it said) i'm saying bye-bye to y'all now since i might be back on a plane to the states way sooner than i'd want--like w/i the next month.
remember that new gov site examining bloggers for subversives or whatever?
oldschool - yep, they're watching us. and yep, everyone is talking about the sleeping arrangements at gitmo.
and yeah - Reggie sure does get himself his fair share of cases these days... the Sibel case was a classic. i'm with you though, his behaviour in the libby case does seem to be mostly reasonable so far.
Welcome to our world.
Mizgin - any handy survival hints?
have y'all seen this shit yet: US citizens require clearance to leave?
Forget no-fly lists. If Uncle Sam gets its way, beginning on Jan. 14,
2007, we'll all be on no-fly lists, unless the government gives us
permission to leave-or re-enter-the United States.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (HSA) has proposed that all
airlines, cruise lines-even fishing boats-be required to obtain
clearance for each passenger they propose taking into or out of the
United States...
Rimone: I was wondering when tht was going to happen and started rooting around looking for my old expired passport this summer so I could renew it before they decide not to issue one to me, but this is worse.
If we get detained, we'll be fucked every which way and then some.
Rimone: I was wondering when tht was going to happen and started rooting around looking for my old expired passport this summer so I could renew it before they decide not to issue one to me, but this is worse.
If we get detained, we'll be fucked every which way and then some.
Kathleen, i've been waiting for this as well, but still, seeing it linked on slashdot and then reading the actual article scared the shit outta me.
i'm to visit my mom and sister, hopefully in jan or feb but possibly sooner. i'm all wondering if they'll ever let me out again.
i KNOW there are rules/laws prohibiting this shit. but the current PTB are flauting them so blatantly it's as if they somehow KNOW they'll get away w/anything they want. they have so far.
stuff like this puts my head in an even worse place than it's been these past six years...and that's all i'll say about that for now.
'bu$hCo: sucking Satan's cock since december 2000'
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