The U.S. military intends to conduct the trial of the alleged mastermind of the attack on USS Cole behind closed doors, much to consternation of news organizations.

 

The McClatchy Co., The Washington Post and The New York Times filed a legal protest objecting to the sequestered hearing of Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, set to begin this week at Guantánamo Bay. It will be the first military commission trial at Guantánamo in which the suspect could face the death penalty.

 

Al-Nashiri is accused of orchestrating the bombing of the USS Cole on October 12, 2000, in Yemen, killing 17 American sailors. Following his capture, al-Nashiri was held in secret prisons run by the Central Intelligence Agency in Thailand, Poland and Afghanistan, and subjected to torture.

 

The military court has said it will hold the April 11 hearing without the media on grounds of national security. The news organizations have countered that they should be able to witness al-Nashiri’s testimony because the details of his treatment are already known. The declassified details include the fact that the CIA waterboarded Al-Nashiri and held a gun and a power drill next to his head to frighten him. In a normal court of law, testimony extracted in these conditions would be considered coerced and inadmissible. Civil liberties groups suspect that the CIA used other illegal techniques that the Obama administration does not want made public.

-Noel Brinkerhoff, David Wallechinsky

 

News Organizations Protest Closure Of Guantanamo Hearing (by Matthew Schofield, McClatchy Newspapers)

Guantánamo Hearing to be Broadcast to U.S. Media and Public for First Time (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)