A videotape of a detainee being questioned at the US prison camp in Guantanamo Bay has been released for the first time on July 15, 2008. It shows 16-year-old Omar Khadr being asked by Canadian officials in 2003 about events leading up to his capture by US forces. The Canadian citizen is accused of throwing a grenade that killed a US soldier in Afghanistan in 2002. He is seen in a distressed state and complaining about the medical care. The footage was made public by Mr Khadr's lawyers following a Supreme Court ruling in May that the Canadian authorities had to hand over key evidence against him to allow a full defence of the charges he is facing. Mr Khadr, the only Westerner still held at the jail, was 15 when he was captured by US forces during a gun battle at a suspected al-Qaeda camp in Afghanistan. During the 10-minute video of his questioning in Guantanamo a year later, he can be seen crying, his face buried in his hands, and pulling at his hair. He can be heard repeatedly chanting: "Help me."
The military judge overseeing the first war crimes trial against a terrorism
suspect at Guantanamo Bay agreed Monday July 21, 2008, to bar some evidence
against Osama bin Laden's former driver because it was obtained in "highly
coercive environments and conditions." The exclusion of evidence considered
coerced could set a standard for admissibility in other war crimes cases due
before the tribunal in the coming months, including that of the self-proclaimed
September 11 mastermind. During his imprisonment at Bagram, Hamdan was reportedly
beaten, deprived of sleep and informed by other prisoners and guards that
at least one suspect had been beaten so badly that he died.
On July 22, 2008, former driver of Osama Bin Laden pleaded not guilty at the
first war crimes trial to be held in the US prison in Guantanamo Bay. Yemeni
national Salim Hamdan, 37, is accused of conspiracy and supporting terrorism,
and faces life in prison if he is convicted. The right of the military tribunal
to try him was earlier unsuccessfully challenged by his lawyers. About 270
suspects remain in detention in Guantanamo Bay.
A jury of six U.S. military officers convicted Osama bin Laden's former driver of supporting terrorism but cleared him of conspiracy Wednesday August 6, 2008, in the first war crimes trial at Guantánamo Bay.
Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist, was ordered to be held without bail by a US federal court judge in Manhattan on Tuesday august 5, 2008, on charges that she tried to kill an American soldier and an FBI agent while in US custody in Kabul. Ms Siddiqui, wearing a maroon headscarf, gingerly walked into the courtroom with the help of her lawyers. Looking frail and in pain recovering from a gunshot wound she received in what the prosecution lawyers described as an encounter in Afghanistan after police claimed they discovered suspicious documents about explosives and landmarks from her handbag.
On August 7, 2008, Osama Bin Laden's former driver, Salim Hamdan, has been sentenced to five-and-a-half years in prison at the first US military trial in Guantanamo Bay. Prosecutors had demanded a sentence of not less than 30 years. On time served Hamdan could be released in five months but the Pentagon has said he will still be retained as an "enemy combatant". The US has always argued it can detain such people indefinitely, as long as its so-called war on terror continues. The Pentagon said Hamdan would serve his sentence and then be eligible for review.
On August 12, 2008, a judge has ordered the government to provide a doctor for a Pakistani neuroscientist and mother of three who is charged with assaulting and trying to kill her American interrogators in Afghanistan. Aafia Siddiqui, 36, who was educated in the United States and who mysteriously disappeared in Pakistan five years ago around the time American officials said they wanted to question her on suspicion of ties to al-Qaeda, sat in a wheelchair in court Monday, appearing fragile, with a white veil covering her hair. Her lawyers said that she has not seen a doctor since arriving in the United States a week ago and that her health is worsening since she sustained bullet wounds July 18 during the encounter with FBI agents and US troops. They also listed other potential health problems including brain damage and loss of a kidney and said she lacked painkillers and antibiotics. US Magistrate Judge Henry B. Pitman agreed to postpone her bail hearing until September.
Jailed Pakistani scientist Aafia Siddiqui, charged with trying to murder US officials in Afghanistan, is a "terrorist Mata Hari" and "treasure trove" of information on Al-Qaeda we were told on Tuesday August 12, 2008. She is the most significant capture in five years and she lives up to her reputation as an "alleged terrorist Mata Hari."
On August 21, 2008, a UK resident detained at Guantanamo Bay won a High Court ruling that the UK government should disclose material which he says backs his torture claims. Binyam Mohamed, who is facing terrorism charges, says the documents support his case that the evidence against him has been obtained through torture. Mr Mohamed, 30, has been held at the US military prison in Cuba for four years. The judges said the information relating to him was "not only necessary but essential for his defence".
After seven years in detention, five of six Algerian terror suspects at the US prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba have been ordered freed by a federal district judge on November 21, 2008. In his decision, Judge Richard Leon noted that the government had provided enough evidence to continue holding the sixth Algerian, Belkacem Bensayah, who is accused of helping others travel to Afghanistan to join al-Qaida in its attacks on US interests. Washington attorney Annemarie Brennan pointed out that government prosecutors failed to show that the other defendants had assisted in the subversion campaign.
Osama Bin Laden's former driver is being moved from Guantanamo Bay to serve
the remainder of his sentence in his native Yemen, the Pentagon said on November
25, 2008. The transfer of Salim Hamdan would take place in the coming hours
or days. Hamdan was given a 66-month sentence in August for providing material
support to terrorism. He was the first detainee sentenced by a US military
commission. His sentence ends on 28 December taking into account time already
served. Military prosecutors had called for a minimum sentence of 30 years.
US agents at Guantanamo Bay tortured a Saudi man suspected of involvement in the 11 September attacks we were told on January 13, 2009. Mohammad al-Qahtani had been left in a "life-threatening condition" after being interrogated. The Pentagon said their methods were legal in 2002, when the interviews took place -though some were now banned. Mr Qahtani remains at Guantanamo, but all charges against him were dropped.
The military trial of an inmate held at Guantanamo Bay has been suspended on January 21, 2009, after a request by US President Barack Obama. In one of his first acts as president, Mr Obama asked for a temporary halt to all tribunals to review the process. There are 21 pending cases, including those against five men accused of plotting the 11 September 2001 attacks.
On February 6, 2009, the judge overseeing Guantanamo Bay hearings, Susan Crawford, has dropped the charges in the last trial there. President Barack Obama had ordered a delay to conduct a review of all cases. But the request was refused by Judge James Pohl, who was trying Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, a suspect in the bombing of the USS Cole in 2000. The row could have damaged Mr Obama's plan to close the detention centre.
Four Iraqi prisoners have been transferred from the US military detention centre in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, to Iraqi custody we were told on Monday February 9, 2009. The men had been arrested in Afghanistan, and then transferred to Guantánamo before eventually being released to the Iraqis for questioning.
On February 12, 2009, a government official says four Iraqis transferred
from the Guantanamo Bay detention centre to Iraq can be held for up two weeks
while they are being investigated. Iraq is holding the four men to ensure
they don't pose a threat. They are not wanted for crimes in Iraq but a judge
approved their continued detention and interrogation for up to two weeks.
The men were arrested in Afghanistan and held at Guantanamo before being handed
over to the Iraqis last month.
US President Barack Obama is expected to announce on Friday May 15, 2009, that he is reviving military trials for some of the detainees at Guantanamo Bay. But legal rights for defendants facing the military commissions will be significantly improved. President Obama halted the trials as one of his first acts on taking office in January, saying the US was entering a new era of respecting human rights. The decision to revive the military trials has angered civil rights groups.