Justices Gorsuch and Sotomayor Demand 'Straight Answer' About Whether Guantnamo Prisoner Can Testif

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Source: Law & Crime

Testify About Torture at CIA ‘Black Sites’

The Supreme Court of the United States heard oral arguments Wednesday in United States v. Zubaydah, a case begun by the Donald Trump administration and continued under President Joe Biden‘s Department of Justice over whether the federal government must disclose information about secret overseas CIA prisons known as “black sites.”

Zayn al-Abidin Muhammad Husayn, better known as Abu Zubaydah, is the first CIA prisoner to undergo extensive torture. The Guantánamo Bay prisoner, a Palestinian, was alleged to have been an al-Qaeda operative involved in the planning of the 9/11 terror attacks, but his attorneys claim that the uncharged allegations against him derive from false, coerced confessions. The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence stated flatly: “The CIA later concluded that Abu Zubaydah was not a member of al-Qaida.” The so-called “torture report” chronicled his waterboarding, stress positions, sleep deprivation and other harsh treatment extensively.

Zubaydah was captured in 2002 in Pakistan, then moved around CIA “black sites” around the globe where he was subjected to “enhanced interrogation techniques” before being moved to Guantánamo Bay where he has been held in a military prison since 2006. Zubaydah spent ten months in a location said to have been in Poland, where he was allegedly subjected to repeated torture.

Zubaydah, through counsel, seeks a court order in conjunction with a Polish case to compel the U.S. government to turn over discovery materials about the involvement of two former CIA contractors—psychologists James Mitchell and Bruce Jessen—who worked on the CIA program. The federal government, however, argues that the information is protected by the “state secrets privilege,” which allows the government to keep secret information that would compromise national security interests.

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/justices-gorsuch-and-sotomayor-demand-straight-answer-about-whether-guant%c3%a1namo-prisoner-can-testify-about-torture-at-cia-black-sites/ar-AAPd1qd?li=BBnb7Kz

[ShazamIam]

1. Since the WBush Adm claimed this was legal and since it has been in the public domain for

years now, the gain would be that the CIA can be compelled to release information.

By, "in the public domain," weren't details about the torture provided during those years and following various document leaks, this can no longer be claimed to be secret.

I don't see how it can be claimed as secret when the WBush adm made arguments that it was legal.

But obviously I am not an attorney nor a legal scholar, please add your own opinion.


Edit: some typos

[Drum]

2. Kicking. For visibility!

[Renew Deal]

3. Sounds like Sotomayor, Breyer, and Gorsuch kicked his ass.

Then Roberts threw him out. lol

I'm glad they're making something of it. The Gitmo situation is a disgrace.

[NullTuples]

4. I remember thinking when Bush Jr was in office...

That the free & unquestioned use of "state secrets privilege" was going to quickly turn into abuse.

I hope soon all evidence comes to light to prove this correct. A democracy cannot survive if its government can operate in secrecy from its citizenry.

[malthaussen]

5. Sure, let him testify. No one will be held accountable anyway.

Well, maybe some low-level grunts who were following orders from the protected classes above.

-- Mal

[Solly Mack]

6. K&R