A Defense Department disagreement over how to bring to justice the accused mastermind of the 9/11 attacks and four others has thrown the cases into disarray.

A Defense Department disagreement over how to bring to justice the accused mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks and two others has thrown the cases into disarray and surfaced tension between the desire of some victims’ families to see a final legal reckoning and the significant obstacles that may make that impossible.

Defense lawyers and some legal experts blame many of the endless delays on what they call the “original sin” haunting the military prosecutions: the illegal torture that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his co-defendants were subjected to in CIA custody. That years-old abuse has snarled the case, leaving lawyers to hash out legal issues two decades later in the now often-forgotten military courtrooms at the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

An approved plea bargain sparing Mohammed and two co-defendants from the death penalty appeared to clear those hurdles and push the cases toward conclusion. But after criticism of the deal from some family members and Republican lawmakers, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Aug. 2 revoked the deal signed by the official he had appointed.

  • Serinus@lemmy.world
    28·
    3 months ago

    There’s also the fact that much of their evidence is “some guy in Syria”. You can’t bring that into a courtroom.

    These people will never be convicted in a fair trial.

    A plea deal where they spend the rest of their lives in prison gets us out of this stain on our democracy. And their only demands were that they could eat and pray as a group. They were never leaving prison.

    But we can’t do the right thing because it’s political suicide. Dems tested the waters, and Republicans immediately jumped on it. Dems don’t trust voters to see the nuance through the Republican soundbites.

    These aren’t the hijackers, btw. You know where they are.

    This American Life and Serial have great podcasts about this.

    • Bluefalcon@discuss.tchncs.de
      71·
      3 months ago

      Most of the people held are “close enough”. Unfortunately the American people don’t care.

      The place should be closed and allow them a public court in the US.

      • Serinus@lemmy.world
        6·
        3 months ago

        A public court is more likely to let them go free. We can’t convict them in a trial following our laws. Now that is political suicide.

        Those terrorists are the third rail. I’m surprised the Dems got this close to a plea deal just because it’s the right thing to do and the only reasonable way out.

        Maybe November or December when there’s time for nuance to sink in over soundbites.

        • Bluefalcon@discuss.tchncs.de
          51·
          3 months ago

          Honestly most should be free. I know it is political suicide like making police reform. You don’t want to sound the dog whistle for the racist

            • homura1650@lemm.ee
              8·
              3 months ago

              No, we don’t know that. First, not even the military claims that all of the detainies orchestrated 9/11 (which is a much stronger claim then merely being involved).

              Second, do we really trust the portion of military that violated domestic law, violated international human rights law, lied to congress about it, and fought for decades against bringing cases to trial?

              Is it more likely than not that a given inmate there is a terrorist? Probably. But that is not the standard for indefinite imprisonment.

            • girlfreddy@lemmy.caOP
              7·
              3 months ago

              And Shrub Sr orchestrated the Iraqi war, based on multiple lies told by him and his administration, where over 4500 Americans were killed. Yet I don’t see him in jail for life.

            • Bluefalcon@discuss.tchncs.de
              6·
              3 months ago

              There is a press video about the first drone strike on bin laden life. They believed they killed him with another man. It was two farmers that looked “Muslim.” That was our standard.

              Listen to the Pakistani kid talk to congress about how he loves cloudy day bc that is when they know they are safe.

              Our history has done countless killings to innocent people. We still haven’t deal with Saudi Arabia which supported 9/11.

              We don’t care about justice, we care about money and dog whistles.

      • orcrist@lemm.ee
        22·
        3 months ago

        You can’t use any witness testimony, because all the witnesses have been tortured or are worried about torture or death. That is unavailable. So … Better hope you have enough digital spy data. And where can you find an unbiased jury? Not in the US, that’s for damn sure.

        And the penalty for torture? The charges get dropped with prejudice. Sigh.

        So yeah, no US courts.

  • Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works
    61·
    3 months ago

    I was listening to an NPR thing and I was kind of blown away how even Biden was surprised. Apparently no one told him he was planning on making the decision before doing it.

    • girlfreddy@lemmy.caOP
      5·
      3 months ago

      When a Defense Secretary makes a decision like that without POTUS’ go ahead you know things are fucked up.

      Austin should have been dumped immediately over that shit.

  • Maggoty@lemmy.world
    4·
    3 months ago

    It’s important to realize Republicans don’t want it cleared out. They know if the last prisoners are moved to normal prisons on plea deals the Democrats will try to shut the place down. The republicans want to expand it instead.