ACLU Asks Guantánamo Tribunal Not to Censor 9/11 Defendants’ Accounts of Torture

[Solly Mack]

The American Civil Liberties Union has asked the Guantanamo Bay military commission to reject the government’s attempts to censor any statements by defendants in the 9/11 military commission proceedings about their detention and treatment in U.S. custody.

The defendants are scheduled to appear on May 5 before the military commission at Guantanamo for an arraignment, where they will be formally charged with terrorism-related crimes that could bring the death penalty if the defendants are convicted.


In a filing made public on May 2, the government contended that any statements by the defendants’ concerning their “exposure” to the CIA’s detention and interrogation program were presumptively classified as “sources, methods and activities” of the United States and could be withheld from the public.


“The government’s claim that it can classify statements based on a prisoner’s own knowledge and experience of illegal government conduct is chillingly Orwellian and has no basis in law,” said Hina Shamsi, director of the ACLU National Security Project and lead counsel on the motion. “Our nation’s civilian and military courts have historically recognized that the truth, no matter how ugly, is better aired than concealed from the public. The most important terrorism trial of our time should not be an exception to the rule of public access as its legitimacy depends in part on its transparency.”

[marmar]

1. k/r