Latest in Guantanamo Bay
We are back with an interview-focused episode! Tune in as Professors Chesney and Vladeck interview Brigadier General John G. Baker, USMC. Gen. Baker is Chief Defense Counsel for the military commissions at Guantanamo.
And, yes, there’s frivolity at the end... Bills-themed frivolity!
Last month, the military commission for the matter of United States v. Khalid Shaikh Mohammad et al. (i.e., the 9/11 trial) held a marathon three weeks of nearly back-to-back hearings. After being held up by delays in the publication and release of relevant transcripts, this post summarizes these proceedings and identifies several areas of potential interest, including testimony from two FBI special agents regarding their interviews with the defendants and their prior knowledge of alleged torture by the CIA.
September 9
The military commission trying alleged al-Qaeda commander Abd al-Hadi al-Iraqi reconvened Aug. 21-28. You can find previous Lawfare coverage here and here.
On Friday, the D.C. Circuit ruled in Qasim v. Trump that circuit precedent in Kiyemba v. Obama does not preclude Guantanamo detainees from claiming procedural due process violations. The ruling reverses the district court's ruling below and remands the case for consideration on the merits of the claim. The ruling is below.
Defense counsel on behalf of Guantanamo detainee Moath Hamza Ahmed Al-Alwi have filed a reply in further support of their petition for a writ of certiorari with the Supreme Court in Al-Alwi v. Trump. The government's brief opposing certiorari is available here.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Tuesday issued its opinion in In Re: Abd al-Rahim Muhammed al-Nashiri. The court held that Col. Vance Spath, the judge in the al-Nashiri case, should have been disqualified from his position while seeking a job as an immigration judge with the U.S. Department of Justice. The court vacated every order Spath has issued since Nov. 2015 as well as related rulings by the Court of Military Commissions Review.
The military commission for Majid Shoukat Khan, who pleaded guilty to charges related to his role as a low-level al-Qaeda operative in 2012, reconvened on April 1, after a hiatus since July 2018.
In a session cut short by a stay from the Court of Military Commission Review (CMCR), the military commission in United States v. Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, et al. (i.e., the 9/11 military commission) reconvened on March 25-27. See here for previous Lawfare coverage.
On Friday, the Court of Military Commission Review (CMCR) reversed the abatement in United States v. Al-Nashiri, and ordered that proceedings resume.
Last week, the military commission in United States v. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed et al. reconvened for pretrial proceedings, meeting in open session on Sept. 10, 11, and 12. The commission covered Col. Keith Parrella’s replacement of Col. James Pohl as the presiding military judge, began discovery motions, and interviewed witness Lieutenant Doug Newman.
Parrella’s Transition into the Role