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Bush administration official says torture tactics were used at Guantanamo Bay

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] A senior Bush administration official has said that torture tactics were used in the interrogation of Mohammed al-Qahtani, a suspect held at Guantanamo Bay under allegations of connections to the 9/11 attacks, according to a Wednesday article in the Washington Post. Susan Crawford, the convening authority of military commissions, made the statement after nearly two years of reviewing Guantanamo Bay practices as well as the strength of legal cases against detainees. Crawford further expanded on the torture claim, admitting that the US military engaged in such practices as, "sleep deprivation, sustained isolation, nudity and prolonged exposure to cold that 'left him in a life-threatening condition.'" As the official responsible for pursuing any criminal charges against al-Qahtani, Crawford has said that she would not allow for the prosecution of al-Qahtani precisely because he was tortured. Controversial practices and policies at Guantanamo Bay have kept the military prison in the news throughout the course of the Bush administration. Advisers to President-elect Barack Obama said Monday that he plans to issue an executive order during his first week in office closing the facility. The chairman of the US House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday published a report urging Obama to open a criminal investigation into the alleged abuses that have occurred at Guantanamo Bay throughout the Bush administration.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on January 14, 2009 (boomark / email).