torture

A letter dated October 29, 2021. It reads, “From: Panel ICO U.S. vs. Khan; To: Convening Authority; The panel members listed below recommend clemency in the case of Majid Shoukat Khan. Mr. Kahn committed serious crimes against the U.S. and partner nations. He has plead guilty to these crimes and taken responsibility for his actions. Further, he has expressed remorse for the impact of the victims and their families. Clemency is recommended with the following justification: 1) Mr. Khan has been held without the basic due process under the U.S. Constitution. Specifically, he was held without charge or legal representation for nine years until 2021, and held without final sentencing until October 2021. Although designated on ‘alien unprivileged enemy belligerent,’ and not technically afforded the rights of U.S. citizens, the complete disregard for the foundational concepts upon which the Constitution was founded is an affront to American values and concept of Justice. 2) Mr. Khan was subjected to physical and psychological abuse well beyond approved enhanced interrogation techniques, instead being closer to torture performed by the most abusive regimes in modern history. This abuse was of no practical value in terms of intelligence, or any other tangible benefit to U.S. interests. Instead, it is a stain on the moral fiber of America; the treatment of Mr. Khan in the hands of U.S. personnel should be a source of shame for the U.S. government. 3) Mr. Khan committed his crimes as a young man reeling from the loss of his mother. A vulnerable target for extremist recruiting, he fell to influences furthering Islamic radical philosophies, just as many others have in recent years. Now at the age of 41 with a daughter he has never seen, he is remorseful and not a threat for future extremism. It is the view of the penal members below that clemency be granted based on the points above, as well as Mr. Khan’s continued cooperation with us efforts in other, more critical, prosecutions. Panel #1, Panel #8, Panel #5, Panel #9, Panel #12, Panel #4, Panel #11.”

Military Officers’ Handwritten Clemency Letter at Guantanamo – What It Says About Who We Are

"A long step toward the ultimate freedom: the realization that there is no them, there is only us."

Nov. 8, 2021 Joseph Margulies

A sign for Camp Justice in Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba. Five flags waive from posts.

A Torture Survivor Speaks at the Guantanamo Military Commissions

Majid Khan described his torture by the United States for the first time in a case that also shows how plea agreements are the only realistic path for those charged in Guantanamo…

Nov. 4, 2021 Scott Roehm

The main gate at the prison in Guantanamo at the US Guantanamo Naval Base on October 16, 2018, in Guantanamo Base, Cuba. A tower with an American flag is seen behind barbed wire fencing.

What Comes Next After a Guantanamo Detainee’s Habeas Win

Afghan national Assadullah Haroon Gul won his habeas case at the D.C. District Court. The United States must expeditiously arrange for his transfer to Afghanistan.

Oct. 21, 2021 Tess Bridgeman

A screenshot from C-SPAN showing headshots of the Supreme Court justices. The caption underneath reads, “State Secrets, Torture & CIA Black Sites; Oral Argument; United States v. Zubaydah”

Ruminations on the Abu Zubaydah Supreme Court Oral Argument: Three Surprising Turns

“The Supreme Court oral arguments in U.S. v. Husayn (Abu Zubaydah) took a number of surprising but welcome turns."

Oct. 18, 2021 Joseph Margulies

Colombian United Self Defense (AUC) right-wing paramilitary guerrillas stand in rows holding their hands over their hearts during the demobilization ceremony 10 December, 2004 at Camp Two base camp in Tibu, north of Santander, Colombia.

New Ruling Sheds Light on State-Paramilitary Cooperation in Colombia – and on the TVPA

A US court held that Colombian paramilitaries indisputably had a symbiotic relationship with the Colombian state and are therefore liable under the TVPA.

Oct. 15, 2021 Daniel McLaughlin

US Attorney General Merrick Garland, Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco and Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta arrive for a press conference on Civil Enforcement Action at the Department of Justice in Washington, DC on September 9, 2021.

Reopen the Obstruction of Justice Case Against Trump

A key item in Attorney General Merrick Garland’s inbox is gathering dust: Volume 2 of the report by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, whose team investigated possible obstruction…

Oct. 14, 2021 Mark Medish and Jonathan M. Winer

A Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) stands among hundreds of shell casings August 6, 2003 in Monrovia, Liberia.

Historic Judgment in Liberian Massacre Case Advances US Law

A landmark case offers justice for victims - and new specificity on TVPA, ATS claims for crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Oct. 11, 2021 Elise Baker, Ela Matthews and 1 more

Flanked by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, U.S. President Joe Biden attends a virtual meeting with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on March 1, 2021 in Washington, DC.

How an Internal State Department Memo Exposes “Title 42” Expulsions of Refugees as Violations of Law

Before leaving his post as Senior Legal Advisor to the State Department, Harold Hongju Koh penned a strongly-worded criticism of President Biden’s pandemic border policy and…

Oct. 5, 2021 Jaya Ramji-Nogales

Side by side images of the speakers from the event “Roads Not Taken – Reflections on the 9/11 Anniversary” hosted by Just Security and the Knight First Amendment Institute. Jameel Jaffer, Elisa Massimino, Anthony D. Romero, Kenneth Roth, and Linda Sarsour.

Video: Roads Not Taken – Reflections on the 9/11 Anniversary

Assessing the Work and Impact of U.S. Human Rights Organizations Since the 9/11 Attacks

Sep. 14, 2021 Jameel Jaffer and Ryan Goodman

Two tall greyscale rectangles cast dark shadows representing the Twin Towers. Text reads, “How Perpetual War Has Changed Us: Reflections on the 20th Anniversary of 9/11”

How to Responsibly End Three Key Rights-Abusing Post-9/11 Policies

Accountability needs to include reckoning with Guantanamo, state-sanctioned U.S. torture, and secretive and unlawful lethal strikes.

Sep. 9, 2021 Hina Shamsi, Priyanka Motaparthy and 1 more

In the “War on Terror,” What Did Rights Organizations Get Wrong?

A leading human rights lawyer raises provocative questions about track record of U.S. human rights organizations. An essay in advance of a live event on Thursday night to discuss…

Sep. 7, 2021 Jameel Jaffer

Former chief prosecutor Benjamin Ferencz addresses guests during the inauguration of the new information and documentation center "Memorial Nuremberg Trials", in Nuremberg, southern Germany, on November 21, 2010.

Nuremberg Prosecutor says Guantanamo Military Commissions Don’t Measure Up

In an upcoming filing, the last living Nuremberg prosecutor, Benjamin B. Ferencz, says there is "very limited comparison" between the Guantanamo military commissions and the Nuremberg…

Aug. 24, 2021 Alka Pradhan and Scott Roehm