老澳门开奖结果

Bombshell Testimony from Bagram Interrogator Convicted of Abuse, Reporters Banned from Gitmo for Reporting his Name

On Thursday, pretrial hearings continued in the case of Canadian Omar Khadr, who has spent a third of his life in U.S. detention since he was captured at age 15. Though the Obama administration has claimed it intends to erase the taint of torture and abuse from the Bush-era Guant谩namo military commissions, the government is trying to use evidence coerced out of the teenage boy in an illegitimate trial eight years later.

Thursday brought much-anticipated testimony from Khadr鈥檚 primary interrogator for the three months the teenager was detained at Bagram, before his transfer here in October 2002. Referred to only as 鈥淚nterrogator One,鈥� a military judge issued an order protecting the interrogator鈥檚 name, though his identity has been widely reported. Two years ago, he gave an on-the-record interview with the Toronto Star, in which he discussed his intention to testify in Khadr鈥檚 case and consented to the publication of his name.

Interrogator One said he interrogated Khadr about 20-25 times, more than anyone else, totaling about 50-100 hours of interrogation. He added that he first interrogated Khadr when the 15-year-old was sedated and lying handcuffed on a stretcher, about two weeks after he was brought to Bagram with multiple gunshot and shrapnel wounds.

In bombshell testimony, Interrogator One described a 鈥渇ictitious story鈥� he told the 15-year-old about an Afghan they sent to prison in America because he was lying. Interrogator One said he told Khadr that 鈥渁 bunch of big black guys and big Nazis,鈥� patriotic and angry about the 9/11 attacks, 鈥渘oticed the little Muslim鈥� because he 鈥渟peaks a different language, prays five times a day.鈥� He said he told Khadr, 鈥淭his poor little kid, away from home, kind of isolated,鈥� was 鈥渋n the shower by himself and these four big black guys show up, and say 鈥榳e know about you Muslims.鈥� They caught him in the shower and raped him. The kid got hurt and we think he ended up dying.鈥�

Interrogator One also explained the approved interrogation techniques he used on Khadr to extract information, including 鈥渇ear up,鈥� 鈥渇ear up harsh,鈥� 鈥渇ear of incarceration,鈥� 鈥減ride and ego down,鈥� and 鈥渓ove of family.鈥� During interrogations, using the 鈥渇ear up鈥� technique, he flipped a bench to terrify Khadr, 鈥済ot in his face, screamed at him,鈥� and 鈥渃ussed because I knew he didn鈥檛 like it.鈥� For the 鈥渓ove of family鈥� technique, he threatened Khadr with being 鈥渟tuck in a cage鈥� and barred from seeing his family again or returning home to Canada if he didn鈥檛 provide information.

In 2005, Interrogator One pled guilty to prisoner abuse at Bagram, in connection with the death of a detainee two months after Khadr was transferred to Guant谩namo. He was convicted of forcing a detainee to roll around on the ground and kiss interrogators鈥� boots. He also pled guilty to twisting the bottom of a hood around another prisoner鈥檚 neck and forcing him to drink a bottle of water, causing him to gag and choke. He was sentenced to five months鈥� imprisonment. It was revealed in Thursday鈥檚 hearing that he had received this reduced sentence because of a 2006 clemency recommendation by the prosecutors in Khadr鈥檚 case, in exchange for his assistance in that case.

Clearly an experienced witness, Interrogator One replied, 鈥淚 don鈥檛 specifically recall鈥� to most of the defense鈥檚 questions about abuse he may have inflicted on Khadr. Observing his testimony, I felt that his evasiveness and fading memory probably thwarted a full accounting of Khadr鈥檚 treatment at Bagram. If so, the military commissions have yet again allowed the government to conceal details of its mistreatment of prisoners from the public.

After Thursday鈥檚 hearing, four reporters were banned from future military commissions proceedings for reporting Interrogator One鈥檚 name in articles written the day before he testified. A letter from the Office of the Secretary Defense press affairs division informed them they are banned from returning to Guant谩namo because they violated Pentagon ground rules by reporting the name of a protected witness.

The four banned journalists, Carol Rosenberg of the Miami Herald, Michelle Shephard of the Toronto Star, Paul Koring of the Globe and Mail and Steven Edwards of Canwest News Service, were the most dogged reporters of Khadr鈥檚 case. Shephard wrote the most comprehensive account of Khadr鈥檚 life, the book Guant谩namo鈥檚 Child. Rosenberg is the most tenacious reporter covering the Guant谩namo military commissions 鈥� she has spent more time at the base than any other reporter. All four had already written and filed the stories naming Interrogator One before the military judge issued a warning from the bench that reports shouldn鈥檛 disclose the interrogator鈥檚 name. In articles submitted after the judge鈥檚 warning they did not name him.

The banning of the four journalists most committed to reporting on Khadr鈥檚 case makes these discredited military commission proceedings even less transparent. Ironically, over the course of the last two weeks of proceedings the military judge, Col. Patrick Parrish, repeatedly mentioned his commitment to transparency.

That reporters are being punished for disclosing information that has been publicly available for years is absurd. And it is ridiculous that the Pentagon would retroactively censor information that has been in the public domain for years. Interrogator One鈥檚 name is a matter of public record. Banning the use of his name now鈥攚hen it was widely reported long ago鈥攕erves no apparent purpose other than to raise more questions about the transparency and illegitimacy of the Guant谩namo military commissions.

The banning of reporters from Gitmo is yet another entry to the long list of reasons why the military commissions ought to be shut down for good.