Mohamed al-Kahtani
Encyclopedia
Mohammed Mana Ahmed al-Qahtani (also transliterated
as al-Kahtani) is a Saudi
citizen who is currently detained in the United States
's Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba
. Qahtani allegedly tried to enter the United States
to take part in the September 11 attacks as a "muscle hijacker
". Mustafa al-Hawsawi
, one of the alleged organizers of the September 11 attacks, referred to Qahtani in intercept
ed telephone calls as "the last one
" to "complete the group". Mohammed al-Qahtani was refused entry due to suspicions that he was attempting to immigrate.
In 2008 the Bush administration admitted that it had torture
d Qahtani. In an interview with Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward, Susan Crawford
said that the US government had so systematically abused Qahtani through isolation, sleep deprivation
, forced nudity
and exposure to cold that he was in a "life-threatening condition." Gitanjali Gutierrez
, who works for the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights
, which represents many of Guantanamo's inmates, said she thought Qahtani's torture constituted a war crime
.
Since January 2002, Qahtani has been detained at Guantanamo Bay.
family. His father served as a police officer for 28 years. His mother remained at home to raise her thirteen children. He has eight brothers and four sisters, who range in age from 42 – 14 years of age. According to family members, his favorite class in school was art. He has no criminal record and no record of any violence.
, from Dubai
. He was questioned by officials dubious he could support himself with only $2,800 cash to his name, and suspicious that he intended to become an illegal immigrant as he was using a one-way ticket. He was sent back to Dubai, and subsequently returned to Pakistan.
, Qahtani was sent to the United States Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
. He continued giving a false name, and insisting he had been in the area solely pursuing an interest in falconry
.
After ten months, U.S. authorities took a fingerprint sample and discovered that he was the same person who had tried to enter the United States just before the September 11th attacks. Seizing the airport surveillance tapes, the FBI claimed they were able to identify the car of Mohamed Atta
at the airport, ostensibly waiting to pick up Qahtani.
He was interrogated.
After details of his status were leaked, the US Department of Defense issued a press release stating that Qahtani had admitted:
Another military account stated that Qahtani was identified as someone who had previously been turned away due to visa problems -— by fingerprints, "taken in Southwest Asia".
Shortly after September 26, 2002, a Gulfstream
jet carrying David Addington
, Alberto Gonzales
, John A. Rizzo
, William Haynes II, two Justice Department lawyers, Alice S. Fisher
and Patrick F. Philbin
, and the Office of Legal Counsel
's Jack Goldsmith
flew to Camp Delta
to view Qahtani, then to Charleston, South Carolina
to view Jose Padilla, and finally to Norfolk, Virginia
to view Yaser Esam Hamdi
.
and implemented under the supervision and guidance of Secretary Rumsfeld and the commander of Guantánamo, Major General Geoffrey Miller
.
In November 2006, senior investigators with the Defense Department's Criminal Investigation Task Force (CITF) told msnbc.com
that military prosecutors said Qahtani would be "unprosecutable" because he was torture
d during interrogation
.
Susan J. Crawford
, a senior Pentagon official, stated on January 14, 2009 that "his treatment met the legal definition of torture...The techniques they used were all authorized, but the manner in which they applied them was overly aggressive". As convening authority
of military commissions, Crawford is responsible for overseeing Guantanamo practices.
magazine published the secret log of 49 days of 20-hour-per-day interrogation.
The log described how Qahtani was forcibly administered intravenous fluids, and drugs, and was forcibly given enemas, in order to keep his body functioning well enough for the interrogations to go on.
The log, titled SECRET ORCON INTERROGATION LOG DETAINEE 063, offers a daily, detailed view of the interrogation techniques used to obtain confession from him from November 23, 2002, to January 11, 2003. These include the following:
At no point during the interrogation log does Qahtani explicitly admit to being a member of al-Qaeda, although his stated reasons for travelling to the United States and Afghanistan - what the US interrogators refer to as his cover story - appear inconsistent. Furthermore, the entry for January 1, 2003 relates how Qahtani blames Osama bin Laden for deceiving the 19 9/11 hijackers ("his friends"):
When asked about his greatest sins in his life, Qahtani responded that he had not taken care of his parents properly, had not finished school and had not been able to repay $20,000 he had borrowed from his aunt.
, and name names, in order to get his "extended interrogation" to end. He had accused 30 other detainees of being former
bodyguards of Osama bin Laden.
announced that 14 detainees who had been held in previously secret overseas CIA interrogation centres, and subjected to torture techniques, like waterboarding
and mock executions, had been sent to Guantanamo.
The Washington Post reports that the new inmates will be held in conditions similar to those imposed on Qahtani, including isolation and 24 hours of continuous light.
He was charged on February 11, 2008 with war crimes and murder, and faced the death penalty if convicted.
Gitanjali Gutierrez, an attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights
(CCR), will be representing Qahtani against the war crime and murder charges. Attorneys at CCR denounce the systematic use of torture as well as challenge the validity of the military commission and the use of evidence obtained via torture in his death penalty case. In a recent press release, CCR claimed that “the military commissions at Guantanamo allow secret evidence, hearsay evidence, and evidence obtained through torture. They are unlawful, unconstitutional, and a perversion of justice.”
Commander
Jeffrey Gordon
, a Pentagon spokesman, told reporters that it was possible for the charges to be re-instated, at a later date, because they had been dropped "without prejudice".
The reasons for the dismissal were not made public.
announced that he was filing new charges against Qahtani.
When announcing the new charges Morris stated that the new charges were based on “independent and reliable evidence”. He stated:
On January 14, 2009 Crawford ruled that charges could not be laid against Qahtani because the interrogation techniques he was subjected to in Guantanamo rose to the level of torture.
Bryan Whitman, a DoD spokesman, claimed the techniques were legal, at the time they were applied.
Transliteration
Transliteration is a subset of the science of hermeneutics. It is a form of translation, and is the practice of converting a text from one script into another...
as al-Kahtani) is a Saudi
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
citizen who is currently detained in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
's Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
. Qahtani allegedly tried to enter the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to take part in the September 11 attacks as a "muscle hijacker
Aircraft hijacking
Aircraft hijacking is the unlawful seizure of an aircraft by an individual or a group. In most cases, the pilot is forced to fly according to the orders of the hijackers. Occasionally, however, the hijackers have flown the aircraft themselves, such as the September 11 attacks of 2001...
". Mustafa al-Hawsawi
Mustafa al-Hawsawi
Mustafa al-Hawsawi is a member of the militant Islamic organization al-Qaeda and allegedly an organizer and financer of the September 11 attacks....
, one of the alleged organizers of the September 11 attacks, referred to Qahtani in intercept
Intercept
Intercept may refer to:*X-intercept, the point where a line crosses the x-axis*Y-intercept, the point where a line crosses the y-axis*Interception *The Mona Intercept, a 1980 thriller novel by Donald Hamilton...
ed telephone calls as "the last one
20th hijacker
20th hijacker is a numeric metaphor concerning a possible additional terrorist in the September 11, 2001, attacks who was not able to participate....
" to "complete the group". Mohammed al-Qahtani was refused entry due to suspicions that he was attempting to immigrate.
In 2008 the Bush administration admitted that it had torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
d Qahtani. In an interview with Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward, Susan Crawford
Susan J. Crawford
Susan J. Crawford is an US lawyer, who was appointed the Convening Authority for the Guantanamo military commissions, on February 7, 2007.Secretary of Defense Robert Gates appointed Crawford to replace John D...
said that the US government had so systematically abused Qahtani through isolation, sleep deprivation
Sleep deprivation
Sleep deprivation is the condition of not having enough sleep; it can be either chronic or acute. A chronic sleep-restricted state can cause fatigue, daytime sleepiness, clumsiness and weight loss or weight gain. It adversely affects the brain and cognitive function. Few studies have compared the...
, forced nudity
Nudity
Nudity is the state of wearing no clothing. The wearing of clothing is exclusively a human characteristic. The amount of clothing worn depends on functional considerations and social considerations...
and exposure to cold that he was in a "life-threatening condition." Gitanjali Gutierrez
Gitanjali S. Gutierrez
Gitanjali S. Gutierrez is the lawyer for the defendant Mohammed al-Qahtani, who is held at Camp Delta in Guantanamo Bay by the United States Military....
, who works for the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights
Center for Constitutional Rights
Al Odah v. United States:Al Odah is the latest in a series of habeas corpus petitions on behalf of people imprisoned at the Guantanamo Bay detention center. The case challenges the Military Commissions system’s suitability as a habeas corpus substitute and the legality, in general, of detention at...
, which represents many of Guantanamo's inmates, said she thought Qahtani's torture constituted a war crime
War crime
War crimes are serious violations of the laws applicable in armed conflict giving rise to individual criminal responsibility...
.
Since January 2002, Qahtani has been detained at Guantanamo Bay.
Early life
Mohammed al-Qahtani was born in 1979 in Dalam, Saudi Arabia. He is a Saudi national from a large BedouinBedouin
The Bedouin are a part of a predominantly desert-dwelling Arab ethnic group traditionally divided into tribes or clans, known in Arabic as ..-Etymology:...
family. His father served as a police officer for 28 years. His mother remained at home to raise her thirteen children. He has eight brothers and four sisters, who range in age from 42 – 14 years of age. According to family members, his favorite class in school was art. He has no criminal record and no record of any violence.
Denied entry by US immigration
On August 3, 2001, Qahtani flew into Orlando, FloridaOrlando, Florida
Orlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States...
, from Dubai
Dubai
Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...
. He was questioned by officials dubious he could support himself with only $2,800 cash to his name, and suspicious that he intended to become an illegal immigrant as he was using a one-way ticket. He was sent back to Dubai, and subsequently returned to Pakistan.
Second capture, transfer to Guantanamo
Captured in the Battle of Tora BoraBattle of Tora Bora
The Battle of Tora Bora was a military engagement that took place in Afghanistan in December 2001, during the opening stages of the war in that country launched following the 9/11 attacks on the United States. The U.S...
, Qahtani was sent to the United States Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
. He continued giving a false name, and insisting he had been in the area solely pursuing an interest in falconry
Falconry
Falconry is "the taking of wild quarry in its natural state and habitat by means of a trained raptor". There are two traditional terms used to describe a person involved in falconry: a falconer flies a falcon; an austringer flies a hawk or an eagle...
.
After ten months, U.S. authorities took a fingerprint sample and discovered that he was the same person who had tried to enter the United States just before the September 11th attacks. Seizing the airport surveillance tapes, the FBI claimed they were able to identify the car of Mohamed Atta
Mohamed Atta
Mohamed Mohamed el-Amir Awad el-Sayed Atta was one of the masterminds and the ringleader of the September 11 attacks who served as the hijacker-pilot of American Airlines Flight 11, crashing the plane into the North Tower of the World Trade Center as part of the coordinated attacks.Born in 1968...
at the airport, ostensibly waiting to pick up Qahtani.
He was interrogated.
After details of his status were leaked, the US Department of Defense issued a press release stating that Qahtani had admitted:
- He had been sent to the US by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the lead architect of the 9/11 attack;
- That he had met Osama Bin LadenOsama bin LadenOsama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
on several occasions; - That he had received terrorist training at two al-Qaeda camps;
- That he had been in contact with many senior al-Qaeda leaders.
Another military account stated that Qahtani was identified as someone who had previously been turned away due to visa problems -— by fingerprints, "taken in Southwest Asia".
Shortly after September 26, 2002, a Gulfstream
Gulfstream Aerospace
Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation is a producer of several models of jet aircraft. Gulfstream has been a unit of General Dynamics since 1999.The company has produced more than 1,500 aircraft for corporate, government, private, and military customers around the world...
jet carrying David Addington
David Addington
David Spears Addington , was legal counsel and chief of staff to former Vice President Dick Cheney, and is now vice president of domestic and economic policy studies at The Heritage Foundation....
, Alberto Gonzales
Alberto Gonzales
Alberto R. Gonzales was the 80th Attorney General of the United States. Gonzales was appointed to the post in February 2005 by President George W. Bush. Gonzales was the first Hispanic Attorney General in U.S. history and the highest-ranking Hispanic government official ever...
, John A. Rizzo
John A. Rizzo
John A. Rizzo was a lawyer at the Central Intelligence Agency for 34 years. He was the acting General Counsel or Deputy Counsel of the CIA for the first nine years of the War on Terror, during which the CIA held dozens of detainees in black site prisons around the globe. "Enhanced interrogation...
, William Haynes II, two Justice Department lawyers, Alice S. Fisher
Alice S. Fisher
Alice S. Fisher was appointed by President George W. Bush in a recess appointment August 31, 2005, as Assistant Attorney General to head the Criminal Division in the United States Department of Justice....
and Patrick F. Philbin
Patrick F. Philbin
Patrick F. Philbin is an American lawyer and Bush administration appointee.-Academics:Philbin wrote a note in the Harvard Law Review regarding the specialty requirement in the medieval action of covenant.-Career:...
, and the Office of Legal Counsel
Office of Legal Counsel
The Office of Legal Counsel is an office in the United States Department of Justice that assists the Attorney General in his function as legal adviser to the President and all executive branch agencies.-History:...
's Jack Goldsmith
Jack Goldsmith
Jack Landman Goldsmith is a Harvard Law School professor who has written a number of texts regarding international law, cyber law, and national security law...
flew to Camp Delta
Camp Delta
Camp Delta is a permanent detainment camp at Guantanamo Bay that replaced the temporary facilities of Camp X-Ray. Its first facilities were built between February 27 and mid-April 2002 by Navy Seabees, Marine Engineers, and workers from Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg, Brown and Root...
to view Qahtani, then to Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...
to view Jose Padilla, and finally to Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....
to view Yaser Esam Hamdi
Yaser Esam Hamdi
Yaser Esam Hamdi is a now-former American citizen who was captured in Afghanistan in 2001. It is claimed by the U.S. government that he was fighting against U.S. and Afghan Northern Alliance forces with the Taliban...
.
Documented abuses while in Guantanamo
At Guantánamo, Qahtani was subjected to a regime of aggressive interrogation techniques, known as the “First Special Interrogation Plan” that were authorized by US Secretary of Defense Donald RumsfeldDonald Rumsfeld
Donald Henry Rumsfeld is an American politician and businessman. Rumsfeld served as the 13th Secretary of Defense from 1975 to 1977 under President Gerald Ford, and as the 21st Secretary of Defense from 2001 to 2006 under President George W. Bush. He is both the youngest and the oldest person to...
and implemented under the supervision and guidance of Secretary Rumsfeld and the commander of Guantánamo, Major General Geoffrey Miller
Geoffrey Miller
Geoffrey Miller may refer to:* Geoff Miller, , English cricketer* Geoffrey D. Miller , general* Geoffrey Miller , evolutionary psychologist-See also:* Jeff Miller...
.
In November 2006, senior investigators with the Defense Department's Criminal Investigation Task Force (CITF) told msnbc.com
Msnbc.com
msnbc.com is a news website owned and operated as a joint venture by NBCUniversal and Microsoft.In addition to original content from its news staff, msnbc.com is the news website for the NBC News family, with content from the cable television news channel MSNBC, NBC shows such as Today, NBC Nightly...
that military prosecutors said Qahtani would be "unprosecutable" because he was torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
d during interrogation
Interrogation
Interrogation is interviewing as commonly employed by officers of the police, military, and Intelligence agencies with the goal of extracting a confession or obtaining information. Subjects of interrogation are often the suspects, victims, or witnesses of a crime...
.
Susan J. Crawford
Susan J. Crawford
Susan J. Crawford is an US lawyer, who was appointed the Convening Authority for the Guantanamo military commissions, on February 7, 2007.Secretary of Defense Robert Gates appointed Crawford to replace John D...
, a senior Pentagon official, stated on January 14, 2009 that "his treatment met the legal definition of torture...The techniques they used were all authorized, but the manner in which they applied them was overly aggressive". As convening authority
Convening Authority
The term convening authority is used in United States military law to refer to an individual whose job includes appointing officers to play a role in a court-martial, or similar military tribunal or military commission...
of military commissions, Crawford is responsible for overseeing Guantanamo practices.
Interrogation log
On March 3, 2006, TimeTime (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine published the secret log of 49 days of 20-hour-per-day interrogation.
The log described how Qahtani was forcibly administered intravenous fluids, and drugs, and was forcibly given enemas, in order to keep his body functioning well enough for the interrogations to go on.
The log, titled SECRET ORCON INTERROGATION LOG DETAINEE 063, offers a daily, detailed view of the interrogation techniques used to obtain confession from him from November 23, 2002, to January 11, 2003. These include the following:
- Restraint on a swivel chair for long periods
- Deprivation of sleep for long periods
- Loud music and white noiseWhite noiseWhite noise is a random signal with a flat power spectral density. In other words, the signal contains equal power within a fixed bandwidth at any center frequency...
played to prevent the detainee from sleeping - Various humiliations, such as training the detainee to act as a dog and forcing him to watch puppet shows depicting sexual acts between him and Osama bin Laden at his mock birthday party
- Lowering the temperature in the room, then throwing water to the detainee's face
- Forcing the detainee to pray to Osama Bin Laden
- Various interrogation techniques described as "pride & ego down", "circumstantial evidenceCircumstantial evidenceCircumstantial evidence is evidence in which an inference is required to connect it to a conclusion of fact, like a fingerprint at the scene of a crime...
", "fear-up", or "Al Qaeda falling apart" - Threats of extraordinary renditionExtraordinary renditionExtraordinary rendition is the abduction and illegal transfer of a person from one nation to another. "Torture by proxy" is used by some critics to describe situations in which the United States and the United Kingdom have transferred suspected terrorists to other countries in order to torture the...
to countries that torture - Threats made against his family, including female members
- Strip searches
- Body searches
- Forced nudity, including in the presence of female personnel
- Forced to submit to an enema
- Prohibiting detainee from praying for prolonged times and during Ramadan
- Threatening to desecrate the Koran in front of him
- Forced to pick up trash with his hands cuffed while being called "a pig"
- Placed in prolonged stress positions
- Placed in tight restraints for many months or days and nights
- Beatings
- Exposure to low temperatures for prolonged times
- Forcible administration of IVs by medical staff during interrogation, which were described by Qahtani as "repetitive stabs" each day
At no point during the interrogation log does Qahtani explicitly admit to being a member of al-Qaeda, although his stated reasons for travelling to the United States and Afghanistan - what the US interrogators refer to as his cover story - appear inconsistent. Furthermore, the entry for January 1, 2003 relates how Qahtani blames Osama bin Laden for deceiving the 19 9/11 hijackers ("his friends"):
- 2A0780 asked how one man, Bin Laden, convince [sic] 19 young men to kill themselves, (detainee was starting to fade he was going in and out of sleep.) The question was repeated, detainee stated that they were tricked, that he distorted the picture if [sic] front of them, 2A0780 asked detainee if this made him mad, detainee stated yes, (detainee did not realize that 2A780 [sic] had not started putting detainee into the picture) 2A0780 asked detainee if he was mad that his friends had been tricked, detainee said yes. 2A0780 asked detainee if his friends knew about the plan, detainee said no, 2A0780 asked if detainee knew about the plan, detainee stated that he didn't know. 2A0780 asked detainee if it made him mad that he killed his friends, detainee stated yes. 2A0780 asked detainee if he was glad that he didn’t die on the plane, detainee stated yes. 2A0780 asked detainee if his parents were happy that he didn’t die detainee stated yes. 2A0780 stated "he killed your friends" detainee stated yes.
When asked about his greatest sins in his life, Qahtani responded that he had not taken care of his parents properly, had not finished school and had not been able to repay $20,000 he had borrowed from his aunt.
Recantation
On March 3, 2006, Qahtani's lawyer was allowed to reveal that her client had recanted the accusations he had levelled against his fellow detainees. He had told his lawyer that he was forced to falsely confessFalse confession
A false confession is an admission of guilt in a crime in which the confessor is not responsible for the crime. False confessions can be induced through coercion or by the mental disorder or incompetency of the accused...
, and name names, in order to get his "extended interrogation" to end. He had accused 30 other detainees of being former
bodyguards of Osama bin Laden.
Post interrogation conditions of incarceration
On September 6, 2006, President BushGeorge W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
announced that 14 detainees who had been held in previously secret overseas CIA interrogation centres, and subjected to torture techniques, like waterboarding
Waterboarding
Waterboarding is a form of torture in which water is poured over the face of an immobilized captive, thus causing the individual to experience the sensation of drowning...
and mock executions, had been sent to Guantanamo.
The Washington Post reports that the new inmates will be held in conditions similar to those imposed on Qahtani, including isolation and 24 hours of continuous light.
Charged before a military commission
The New York Times reported on February 9, 2008 that the Office of Military Commissions was close to laying charges against six of the more high value detainees, including Qahtani.He was charged on February 11, 2008 with war crimes and murder, and faced the death penalty if convicted.
Gitanjali Gutierrez, an attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights
Center for Constitutional Rights
Al Odah v. United States:Al Odah is the latest in a series of habeas corpus petitions on behalf of people imprisoned at the Guantanamo Bay detention center. The case challenges the Military Commissions system’s suitability as a habeas corpus substitute and the legality, in general, of detention at...
(CCR), will be representing Qahtani against the war crime and murder charges. Attorneys at CCR denounce the systematic use of torture as well as challenge the validity of the military commission and the use of evidence obtained via torture in his death penalty case. In a recent press release, CCR claimed that “the military commissions at Guantanamo allow secret evidence, hearsay evidence, and evidence obtained through torture. They are unlawful, unconstitutional, and a perversion of justice.”
Charges dropped
On May 11, 2008 the charges against Mohamed were dropped.Commander
Commander
Commander is a naval rank which is also sometimes used as a military title depending on the individual customs of a given military service. Commander is also used as a rank or title in some organizations outside of the armed forces, particularly in police and law enforcement.-Commander as a naval...
Jeffrey Gordon
Jeffrey D. Gordon
Jeffrey D. Gordon is a communications consultant to several conservative Washington, DC-based think tanks. Gordon is also a contributing columnist to Fox News, AOL News, the Washington Times and other media outlets. Previously, he was a Commander in the United States Navy.-Naval career:He was...
, a Pentagon spokesman, told reporters that it was possible for the charges to be re-instated, at a later date, because they had been dropped "without prejudice".
The reasons for the dismissal were not made public.
New charges announced
On November 18, 2008, Chief Prosecutor Lawrence MorrisLawrence Morris
Colonel Lawrence J. Morris is a lawyer and an officer in the United States Army.-Academic career:Morris graduated from Marquette University's law school in 1982.Morris had previously earned a double major at Marquette in Political Science and Journalism....
announced that he was filing new charges against Qahtani.
When announcing the new charges Morris stated that the new charges were based on “independent and reliable evidence”. He stated:
|
Crawford orders charges dropped due to torture
Susan Crawford, the senior official in charge of the Office of Military Commissions has the final authority over whether charges were laid.On January 14, 2009 Crawford ruled that charges could not be laid against Qahtani because the interrogation techniques he was subjected to in Guantanamo rose to the level of torture.
Bryan Whitman, a DoD spokesman, claimed the techniques were legal, at the time they were applied.
Qahtani's habeas case reinstated
Mohammed al-Qahtani's habeas corpus case was reinstated in July 2008 after the Supreme Court ruled on Boumediene v. Bush and al-Odah v. United States, stating that Guantanamo detainees have a constitutional right to habeas corpus.External links
- Detainee 063: serialized interrogation and torture log of Mohamed al-Qahtani December 9, 2009
- The "Ethical Interrogation": The Myth of Michael Gelles and the Qahtani Interrogation December 7, 2009
- The Final 9/11 Commission Report PDF, July 17, 2005
- The Final 9/11 Commission Report HTML, July 17, 2005
- Bill DedmanBill DedmanBill Dedman, an American journalist, is an investigative reporter for news site msnbc.com and a recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting....
, Can the ‘20th hijacker’ of Sept. 11 stand trial? Aggressive interrogation at Guantanamo may prevent his prosecution HTML, October 24, 2006 - Information from the Partnership for Public Service, 2005
- "Search began with a stubborn detainee", USA TodayUSA TodayUSA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
, June 22, 2004 - Guantanamo Provides Valuable Intelligence Information Department of DefenseUnited States Department of DefenseThe United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
Press Release, June 12, 2005 - Description of Qahtani's interrogation at Guantanamo Bay - Interview with Adam Zagorin about Qathani's interrogation log, The NewsHour with Jim LehrerThe NewsHour with Jim LehrerPBS NewsHour is an evening television news program broadcast weeknights on the Public Broadcasting Service in the United States. The show is produced by MacNeil/Lehrer Productions, a company co-owned by former anchors Jim Lehrer and Robert MacNeil, and Liberty Media, which owns a 65% stake in the...
, June 13, 2005 - Allegations of Abuse, The NewsHour with Jim LehrerThe NewsHour with Jim LehrerPBS NewsHour is an evening television news program broadcast weeknights on the Public Broadcasting Service in the United States. The show is produced by MacNeil/Lehrer Productions, a company co-owned by former anchors Jim Lehrer and Robert MacNeil, and Liberty Media, which owns a 65% stake in the...
, July 13, 2005 - interview with Senator John WarnerJohn WarnerJohn William Warner, KBE is an American Republican politician who served as Secretary of the Navy from 1972 to 1974 and as a five-term United States Senator from Virginia from January 2, 1979, to January 3, 2009...
and GeneralGeneralA general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
Bantz Craddock and General Randall SchmidtRandall SchmidtRandall Mark Schmidt was a Lieutenant General in the United States Air Force.Schmidt was appointed to conduct an inquiry into FBI reports that detainees at Guantanamo Bay were being subjected to inhumane interrogation....
. - 'Clean team' interrogated 9-11 suspects
- Human Rights First; Tortured Justice: Using Coerced Evidence to Prosecute Terrorist Suspects (2008)
- Human Rights First; Undue Process: An Examination of Detention and Trials of Bagram Detainees in Afghanistan in April 2009 (2009)