Federal Judiciary

War crimes charges dropped in torture case

By Akin Gump Supreme Court Practice Group

The top Pentagon official who approves war crimes charges agreed on Thursday, at the request of the Obama Administration, to drop the accusations against Abdal-Rahim Hussein Muhammed Abdu Al-Nashiri — a Guantanamo Bay detainee who has been subjected to torture.  The charges are based on his alleged role in the bombing of the U.S.S. Cole in 2000. The decision by Susan J. Crawford, who is the “Convening Authority” for the Pentagon’s military commissions, announced her decision in a brief statement, which can be downloaded at this site.

When President Obama last month moved to halt all war crimes proceedings at Guantanamo, military prosecutors sought 120-day delays in all of the pending cases, including Al-Nashiri’s, so that a complete study of the future of Guantanamo and the detainees can be made.  However, the military judge presiding over Al-Nashiri’s case refused a delay, setting up a potential showdown with higher Pentagon officials.  The decision by Crawford to withdraw the charges — with an opportunity later to reinstate them — averted that confrontation.

A Miami Herald story discussing this and other Guantanamo developments Thursday can be found here. (Thanks to Howard Bashman of How Appealing blog for the link.)

Statements from Al-Nashiri’s lawyers at the American Civil Liberties Union are here.

Full post as published by SCOTUSBLOG on February 06, 2009 (boomark / email).