Lawyers for five of the alleged conspirators of the September 11 attacks on America, have asked a military judge to order that secret prisons at Guantanamo Bay be preserved as certifiable evidence of torture.
This week, a series of pretrial hearings are set to begin at the U.S. Naval Base in Cuba. There, defense lawyers will ask the military judge to order the U.S. government turn over all White House or Justice Department documents that authorized the CIA to move suspected al Qaeda captives across borders without judicial review, and interrogated them in secret prisons after the 9/11 attacks.
In 2006, President George W. Bush announced the defendants were among a group of "high value" captives sent to Guantanamo from the secret prison. The CIA has acknowledged that enhanced interrogation techniques were employed; for instance, Khalid Sheikh Mohammad was subjected to the drowning simulation technique (aka water boarding) as well as to sleep deprivation, various threats, as well as chained in painful positions.
Defense lawyers will argue that their clients' treatment could be constituted as "outrageous government misconduct" that could lead to dismissal of their charges, or at least spare them from execution if convicted. "By its nature, torture affects the admissibility of evidence, the credibility of witnesses, the appropriateness of punishment and the legitimacy of the prosecution itself," the defense lawyers wrote in court documents.
Even after 11 years since 9/11, there remain numerous legal issues that must be resolved before their trial begins on charges against their clients, including murder, hijacking, terrorism and attacking civilians.
The chief prosecutor, Brigadier General Mark Martins, said the prosecution does not plan to introduce any evidence obtained from the defendants or anyone else via torture, cruelty or inhuman treatment, strictly prohibited by U.S. law and international treaty.
Article was based on a Reuters report
