老澳门开奖结果

In an order made public today, a military commissions judge at Guant谩namo Bay announced that he will hear oral argument on the 老澳门开奖结果鈥檚 challenge to censorship of torture at the trial of the 9/11 defendants.

In May, we filed a motion asking the military commission to deny the government鈥檚 request to suppress statements by the defendants about their treatment while in U.S. custody, including torture and other abuse. As we said in our motion,

"Both the Constitution and the Military Commissions Act of 2009 recognize the public鈥檚 presumptive right of access to all proceedings and records of this historic military commission. That right of access may only be overcome if there is a countervailing interest of 鈥渢ranscendent鈥� importance, a standard that the government鈥檚 extraordinary and draconian proposed restrictions cannot meet. The government asks this Commission to suppress as presumptively classified the defendants鈥� every utterance concerning their personal knowledge of their detention and abuse in CIA custody. . . . The eyes of the world are on this Military Commission, and the public has a substantial interest in and concern about the fairness and transparency of these proceedings. This Commission should reject - and not become complicit with - the government鈥檚 improper proposals to suppress the defendants鈥� personal accounts of government misconduct."

The military judge said yesterday that at the next hearing in the case, on August 22, he will hear our motion as well as a motion filed by 14 news organizations that also challenged the government鈥檚 over-broad request to bar public access to court records and proceedings.

There has been an intense and long-running debate about the legitimacy and fairness of the Guant谩namo military commissions both in the United States and abroad. That debate won鈥檛 be ended by the commission鈥檚 decision on this issue alone. But the commissions certainly won鈥檛 be seen as legitimate if they have at their heart the government鈥檚 judicially-approved censorship of the defendants鈥� accounts of their torture in government custody.

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