Today's Article
Attorneys produced
a 25-page motion
charging the CIA
with having tortured
their client during his
agency captivity.
a 25-page motion
charging the CIA
with having tortured
their client during his
agency captivity.
The American Spark
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Appeals Court Orders Bush To Preserve Any Evidence Of CIA
Torture
By Cliff Montgomery - Dec 12, 2007
A Washington, D.C. federal appeals court on Tuesday ordered the Bush Administration not to destroy any
evidence which may reveal the torture of a former Baltimore resident during the three years he was secretly
held captive by the CIA.
The preliminary order, issued by a three-judge committee of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of
Columbia Circuit, allowed the Bush White House until Dec. 20th to submit a response to last week's court filing
that charged the CIA with having tortured Majid Khan, 27.
Khan is one of 15 'high-priority' detainees who at one time was imprisoned by the CIA, and who now is in U.S.
military custody at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp for accused terrorists in Cuba.
Khan's lawyers called for the order last week, on the heels of an admission from CIA Director Michael Hayden
that the department had destroyed the interrogation videotapes of two other Guantanamo inmates, who also
spent years as secret captives of the CIA.
Khan, a former legal American resident and suburban Baltimore high school graduate, has yet to be charged
with any crime. Defense Department officials claim they have evidence that Khan worked as a lackey for
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed--the reputed "brains" of the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks. Khan's job,
they claim, was to investigate "the poisoning of U.S. water reservoirs and the possibility of blowing up gas
stations.''
If this evidence is legitimate, then Khan certainly deserves his current imprisonment. But if the Pentagon's
evidence is indeed legitimate, then why hasn't Khan been properly charged?
To leave any prisoner--citizen or non-citizen--in a legal limbo bestows career government officials with an
unchecked power to determine who shall have liberty, and who shall not. And in such a state, the government
itself becomes a terrorist of the people.
It may be instructive to note that Khan is the only former CIA captive now at Guantanamo who has been
allowed to meet his attorneys face-to-face.
With these meetings as a basis, Khan's attorneys produced a 25-page motion charging the CIA with having
tortured their client during his agency captivity. Stating that they possess ample proof of their charge, they then
asked the court to issue an order barring the Bush Administration from destroying evidence of possible torture.
The appeals court order commands Bush Defense Secretary Robert Gates to "take all measures necessary to
preserve the material described in the motion for preservation of torture evidence pending the remainder of
briefing on that motion and further order of the court.''
But those looking for evidence of possible torture in the filing from Khan's attorneys will be disappointed.
Intelligence officers censored major portions of the attorney filing before its public release, thus perhaps once
again hiding the Bush Administration's more nefarious activities from the American people.
That Khan's case has gotten this far is something of a miracle. Last year's Military Commissions Act made the
Washington, D.C., appeals court the sole civilian court with the power to rule on detainee issues.
The judges who issued the preliminary order were Merrick Garland, Judith Rogers and Thomas Griffith.
President Clinton appointed Garland and Rogers to the D.C. appeals court; George W. Bush appointed
Griffith.
Like what you're reading so far? Then why not order a full year (52 issues) of the The American Spark
e-newsletter for only $15? A major article covering an story not being told in the Corporate Press will be
delivered to your email every Monday morning for a full year, for less than 30 cents an issue. Order Now!
Torture
By Cliff Montgomery - Dec 12, 2007
A Washington, D.C. federal appeals court on Tuesday ordered the Bush Administration not to destroy any
evidence which may reveal the torture of a former Baltimore resident during the three years he was secretly
held captive by the CIA.
The preliminary order, issued by a three-judge committee of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of
Columbia Circuit, allowed the Bush White House until Dec. 20th to submit a response to last week's court filing
that charged the CIA with having tortured Majid Khan, 27.
Khan is one of 15 'high-priority' detainees who at one time was imprisoned by the CIA, and who now is in U.S.
military custody at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp for accused terrorists in Cuba.
Khan's lawyers called for the order last week, on the heels of an admission from CIA Director Michael Hayden
that the department had destroyed the interrogation videotapes of two other Guantanamo inmates, who also
spent years as secret captives of the CIA.
Khan, a former legal American resident and suburban Baltimore high school graduate, has yet to be charged
with any crime. Defense Department officials claim they have evidence that Khan worked as a lackey for
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed--the reputed "brains" of the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks. Khan's job,
they claim, was to investigate "the poisoning of U.S. water reservoirs and the possibility of blowing up gas
stations.''
If this evidence is legitimate, then Khan certainly deserves his current imprisonment. But if the Pentagon's
evidence is indeed legitimate, then why hasn't Khan been properly charged?
To leave any prisoner--citizen or non-citizen--in a legal limbo bestows career government officials with an
unchecked power to determine who shall have liberty, and who shall not. And in such a state, the government
itself becomes a terrorist of the people.
It may be instructive to note that Khan is the only former CIA captive now at Guantanamo who has been
allowed to meet his attorneys face-to-face.
With these meetings as a basis, Khan's attorneys produced a 25-page motion charging the CIA with having
tortured their client during his agency captivity. Stating that they possess ample proof of their charge, they then
asked the court to issue an order barring the Bush Administration from destroying evidence of possible torture.
The appeals court order commands Bush Defense Secretary Robert Gates to "take all measures necessary to
preserve the material described in the motion for preservation of torture evidence pending the remainder of
briefing on that motion and further order of the court.''
But those looking for evidence of possible torture in the filing from Khan's attorneys will be disappointed.
Intelligence officers censored major portions of the attorney filing before its public release, thus perhaps once
again hiding the Bush Administration's more nefarious activities from the American people.
That Khan's case has gotten this far is something of a miracle. Last year's Military Commissions Act made the
Washington, D.C., appeals court the sole civilian court with the power to rule on detainee issues.
The judges who issued the preliminary order were Merrick Garland, Judith Rogers and Thomas Griffith.
President Clinton appointed Garland and Rogers to the D.C. appeals court; George W. Bush appointed
Griffith.
Like what you're reading so far? Then why not order a full year (52 issues) of the The American Spark
e-newsletter for only $15? A major article covering an story not being told in the Corporate Press will be
delivered to your email every Monday morning for a full year, for less than 30 cents an issue. Order Now!