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Guantánamo

Actress Caroline Lagerfelt showing her Guantánamo artwork at her home in Santa Monica, Calif. She is getting it re-framed to show the prison stamp of approval for release on the back.

Guantánamo

Did Pentagon ban on Guantánamo art create a market for it? See who owns prison art.

A year after the Pentagon halted the release of artwork by Guantánamo, there are signs that the hundreds of works of art that were already released have taken on a certain cachet.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions greets new immigration judges after outlining Trump administration policies, in Falls Church, Va., Monday, Sept. 10, 2018. To Sessions’ right is former Guantánamo war court judge Vance Spath..

Guantánamo

War court judge pursued immigration job for years while presiding over USS Cole case

Air Force Col. Vance Spath, the former judge in Guantánamo’s USS Cole death-penalty trial, spent more than half his tenure on the war court bench seeking a job as an immigration judge in the Department of Justice.

In this Pentagon-approved sketch by court artist Janet Hamlin, Abd al Hadi al Iraqi at his June 18, 2014 arraignment on on war crimes charges at the U.S. Navy Base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. At left are members of his defense team at the time. All three defense team members have been replaced, twice, and this week he was represented by civilian Brent Rushforth and three new U.S. military lawyers.

Guantánamo

About the war crimes trial of the alleged al-Qaida commander

The U.S. government alleges that fighters who answered to the Iraqi committed a series of war crimes, including shooting at a U.S. military medevac helicopter, setting roadside charges that killed allied troops, and attacking civilians in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

File-This July 6, 2017, file photo shows former Guantanamo Bay prisoner Omar Khadr, 30, in Mississauga, Ont. A Canadian judge on Friday, Dec. 21, 2018, denied the former Guantanamo Bay detainee’s request for relaxed bail conditions and a Canadian passport. Justice June Ross ruled there’s no evidence of hardship or conditions that are needlessly onerous. The Canadian-born Khadr was 15 when he was captured by U.S. troops after a firefight at a suspected al-Qaida compound in Afghanistan that resulted in the death of U.S. Army Sgt. First Class Christopher Speer. Khadr was suspected of throwing the grenade that killed Speer.

Guantánamo

Canadian judge denies Omar Khadr eased bail conditions

A Canadian judge has denied former Guantanamo Bay detainee Omar Khadr’s request for relaxed bail conditions and a Canadian passport.

Khalid Sheik Mohammed, at left, in a photo released by the CIA soon after his March 2003 capture in Pakistan. At right, a never-published mug shot soon after his September 2006 transfer to Guantánamo, shows dramatic weight loss during his time in CIA custody. The mug shot, which also shows the arms of two soldiers in camouflage holding him, was taken from a chart of cell assignments at the covert Camp 7 obtained by McClatchy.

Guantánamo

Lawyer floated life-sentence plea deal for alleged 9/11 plotter. The deal vanished.

Under questioning from a Marine judge, the lawyer for accused 9/11 plot mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed said he had a written, proposed plea deal in the summer of 2017 and had it delivered to the Pentagon official overseeing the war court. Another defense lawyer in the death-penalty case said it subsequently vanished.

Khalid Sheik Mohammed, at left, in a photo released by the CIA soon after his March 2003 capture in Pakistan. At right, a never-published mug shot soon after his September 2006 transfer to Guantánamo, shows dramatic weight loss during his time in CIA custody. The mug shot, which also shows the arms of two soldiers in camo fatigues holding him, was taken from a chart of cell assignments at the covert Camp 7 obtained by McClatchy.

Guantánamo

At Gitmo 9/11 trial, prosecutor gives lurid details of CIA prisons. Defense says: Not enough

Lawyers tackle fundamental pretrial hearing issues at Guantánamo with a new judge in the Sept. 11 mass murder trial. One of them: What level of detail will be heard on secret CIA prisons?

Abu Wa’el Dhiab, from Syria, sits in front of the U.S. embassy on May 5, 2015 in Montevideo, Uruguay. Authorities reported on Monday, July 24, 2017, that Dhiab has returned to Uruguay after being deported from Morocco.

Guantánamo

Trump closed an office that tracked ex-Gitmo inmates. Now we don’t know where some went

The Obama administration struck deals to scatter cleared Guantánamo detainees across the globe. Under Trump, the office that tracked where those inmates went was shut down.

Guantánamo

CIA considered using ‘truth serum’ on post-9/11 detainees

CIA considered giving a ‘truth serum’ to post-9/11 detainees, creating another ethical dilemma for medical personnel.

From left, Mustafa al Hawsawi, Ammar al Baluchi, Ramzi bin al Shibh, Walid bin Attash and Khalid Sheik Mohammed pray at their Guantánamo war court arraignment on May 5, 2012. This sketch was reviewed and approved for release by a U.S. military security official.

National

Defense lawyers’ moldy offices don’t delay start of 9/11 hearing

Judge plunges ahead in pretrial hearings in the Sept. 11 case at Guantánamo despite the discovery of mold in defense lawyers’ top-secret work spaces.

Attorney Cheryl Bormann, representing an alleged 9/11 plotter, said she returned to the U.S. Navy base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, on Nov. 10, 2018 to find her team’s office caked in mold on “the files, the carpet, all of the furniture,” and also on the black traditional Muslim abayas she wears to court in consideration of her client’s cultural sensitivity. Lawyers were prohibited from sharing photographs of the moldy offices because that part of the makeshift war court complex built on nan abandoned airfield is rated Top Secret.

Guantánamo

9/11 trial lawyers find mold in their top-secret offices: Could it snarl Gitmo hearings?

Defense lawyers in the 9/11 case arrived at Guantánamo for a week-long pretrial hearing to find a mold infestation in their top-secret work spaces. Health and safety inspectors were on the scene Sunday, Veterans Day.

The path between the court and holding cells at Camp Justice on the U.S. Navy base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, in a military-approved June 19, 2014 photo.

Guantánamo

Unusual accommodation at Gitmo war court: A hospital bed for an al-Qaida suspect

Prison guards set up a hospital bed inside Guantánamo’s expeditionary war court so a new Marine judge could get through the preliminaries in a pretrial hearing for an alleged al-Qaida commander on painkillers.

Guantánamo prisoner Abd al Hadi al Iraqi, who says his true name is Nashwan al Tamir, poses for the International Red Cross in a 2014 photo taken for his family, and provided by his attorneys.

Guantánamo

Alleged al-Qaida commander taken by ambulance from Guantánamo war court

A Guantánamo hearing for an Iraqi accused of leading al-Qaida’s army in Afghanistan abruptly ended after the captive, who is recovering from 5 spine surgeries, had back spasms in court, was administered opiates and taken to the prison acute care unit by ambulance.

A view of the entrance to the original military commissions courthouse building at Guantánamo’s Camp Justice, where the judges now have offices.

Guantánamo

Colonel who responded to ’80s Berlin bombing named Guantánamo’s chief war court judge

An Army colonel from Texas who as an enlisted MP responded to the 1980s Berlin nightclub bombing has been chosen to be Guantánamo’s chief war court judge. He replaces the retired 9/11 trial judge.

A display at the Guantánamo public library Thursday, Sept. 27, 2018, not far from the thrift shop, gas station and McDonald’s, sought to educate patrons about the American Library Association’s annual Banned Books Week. This year’s theme: “Banning Books Silences Stories.” This photo was screened by a Navy base official, who approved its release to the public.

Guantánamo

How Guantánamo, the Navy base with book-banning prison, marks Banned Books Week

The base library at Guantánamo, the outpost with the war-on-terror prison, celebrates freedom of expression with Banned Books Week. The 34,000-item war prison library is a different matter.

Mullah Mohammed Fazl and Khairullah Khairkhwa, right, were among the Taliban leaders who were sent to Qatar in 2014.

Guantánamo

Taliban: 5 freed from US military prison at Guantánamo now in Qatar office

Five members of the Afghan Taliban who were freed from the U.S. military prison at Guantánamo Bay in exchange for captured American army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl have joined the insurgent group’s political office in Qatar.

Private First Class Matthew A. Cox, who joined the Army Oct. 11, 2017, was part of a Military Police company at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Guantánamo

Iowa soldier dies swimming off Guantánamo base beach

Fellow troops reported Army Private First Class Matthew A. Cox, 19, of Leon, Iowa, missing after he was overpowered by a strong current off a Guantánamo beach. His remains were recovered Wednesday.

The padded cell for psychiatric patients at Camp 5, a health clinic serving about two dozen low-value detainees, as shown to reporters for the first time on Oct. 16, 2018 in a photo approved for release by the U.S. military. One of three psychiatrists on the staff of the 40-captive prison said at-risk captives at the psychiatric ward, called a Behavioral Health Unit, can opt to go in the cell stripped off bed, sink and toilet for 10-20 minutes if they are feeling overwhelmed.

Guantánamo

Two Guantánamo detainees refused to leave. Now they’re stuck there, commander says.

Prison commander, cultural adviser say two of Guantánamo’s 40 detainees had ‘Get out of Gitmo’ passes but wouldn’t leave their cells.

At left, Air Force Col. Vance Spath, now an immigration court judge. At right, Marine Brig. Gen. John Baker, chief defense counsel for military commissions.

Guantánamo

Military court rules against accused USS Cole bomber’s lawyers in ethics standoff

A military review panel has upheld a ruling by the retiring USS Cole case judge that defense attorneys couldn’t unilaterally quit the case over their perception of an ethical issue, potentially ending an impasse in the Guantánamo war crimes trial.

The path between the court and holding cells at Camp Justice on the U.S. Navy base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, in a military-approved June 19, 2014 photo.

Guantánamo

Could secret 9/11 hearings near Pentagon clarify role of U.S. Constitution at Guantánamo?

Hearings in the 9/11 death-penalty trial may be held in the Washington, D.C, area for the first time since the case began, a move some lawyers say would bolster the argument that alleged terrorists are entitled to greater Constitutional protections at Guantánamo trials.

At sunrise on Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2018, troops lowered the flag above Camp Justice, the compound where the alleged 9/11 plotters face trial, in commemoration of the 9/11 attacks.

Guantánamo

Captive’s surgery recovery thwarts judge’s weeklong bid to hold a Guantánamo hearing

The new Marine judge tried for five days to hold a half-day hearing in the al-Qaida commander war crimes case. Friday, he gave up, ordered prosecutors to figure out how to hold a hearing with the captive who has had five spine surgeries in eight months at Guantánamo Bay.

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