One of the detainees at the Guantanamo Bay detention center was tortured according to the Pentagon official overseeing trials at theprison.
In remarks made to the Washington Post, Susan Crawford admitted that Saudi Arabian Mohammed al-Qahtani endured sleep deprivation, prolonged exposure to cold and isolation. "The techniques they used were all authorized, but the manner in which they applied them was overly aggressive and too persistent," Crawford regarding the alledged “20th hijacker” in the 9/11 attacks.
Crawford admitted that she had “no doubts” that al-Qahtani would’ve participated in the 9/11 attacks had he gained access to the U.S. in August 2001. Yet the use of torture/”enhanced interrogation techniques” (pick your euphuism) against him led her to dismiss the charges against al-Qahtani last May:
"His treatment met the legal definition of torture. And that's why I did not refer the case," she said…Despite Crawford’s decision, military prosecutors may file new charges against al-Qahtani supposedly based on information acquired from non-torture techniques.
Ms. Crawford said she was shocked, upset and embarrassed by the treatment he had received.
She said: "If we tolerate this and allow it, then how can we object when our servicemen and women, or others in foreign service, are captured and subjected to the same techniques?
"How can we complain? Where is our moral authority to complain? Well, we may have lost it."
Meanwhile, a separate Pentagon official claimed that 61 former Gitmo detainees have taken up terrorist activities in recent months. “There, clearly, are people who are being held at Guantanamo who are still bent on doing harm to America” said Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell yesterday.
Image- AFP (“Over the years some 800 detainees have gone through Guantanamo.”)
Online Sources- AP, Guardian UK, Washington Post, AFP, Reuters, BBC News
