McClatchy: As Guantanamo trials near, Pentagon limits what can be reported

[babylonsister]

As Guantanamo trials near, Pentagon limits what can be reported
By Carol Rosenberg | Miami Herald

* Posted on Thursday, April 3, 2008



GUANTANAMO BAY NAVY BASE, Cuba — A defense lawyer lets slip at the war court convening here that a battlefield commander changed an Afghanistan firefight report in a way that seemed to help a U.S. government murder case. Reporters hear the field commander's name but are forbidden to report it.

In another case, a judge approves the release of a captive's interrogation video showing the blurred face of an American agent. But a federal prosecutor on loan to the Pentagon withholds it ``out of an abundance of caution.''

Even as the U.S. government edges toward full-blown, war-crimes trials by military commission here, with more hearings next week, all sides are grappling with what information can be made public and what must be kept secret.

Consider: A new courtroom here sequesters Pentagon-approved spectators behind a soundproofed window. If a terror suspect tries to shout about his treatment in U.S. custody, a military censor can mute the audio feed that observers hear.

Under rules that protect interrogation techniques, the Pentagon's war court won't let the reputed 9/11 architect, Khalid Sheik Mohammed, say he was waterboarded — something the CIA director, Air Force Gen. Michael V. Hayden, confirmed on Feb. 5.

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http://www.mcclatchydc.com/226/story/32532.html

[mmonk]

1. They shouldn't be allowed to go forward.

We live in a true fascist country and that just confirms it to the world. It makes a sham of Nuremberg.

[Richard Steele]

2. They've got the wrong people on trial for "war crimes" there. nm

[TomInTib]

3. They hanged those Germans for lesser stunts.

We are so fucked on the World Stage.

[zonmoy]

4. cant have the press exposing the kangaroo court for what it is.

[mmonk]

5. I'm going to kick this. It should cause outrage among everyone here.

This is a disgrace to us all and to my father's memory who was a World War II where we set better standards for the world at Nuremberg.

[babylonsister]

7. So much outrage, so little being done about it. nt

[mmonk]

9. You're so correct.

At least Amnesty International and others are still fighting this. I'm still stunned at congressional inaction and lack of comment.

[ThomWV]

6. Secret trials by secret people in secret places. Secret evidence, secrete transcrips.

Secret executions.

[Disturbed]

8. The Justice System?

These Trials are a mockery of any form of Justice.

[hisownpetard]

10. K&R.