A CASE OF ENTITLEMENT FOR THE DEFENDANTS IN THE 9/11 MILITARY TRIBUNALS
This report is an account of my week in attendance at the pre-trial hearings for the five (currently four) terrorists, aka defendants, accused of conspiring to murder Americans on September 11th, 2001.
THE ACCUSED:
Khalid Shaikh Mohammed (KSM) (Kuwait ) (Principle architect of the attacks, conceived the ‘planes Operation’. Also, plotter of Bojinka Operation. Uncle to Ramzi Yousef-organizer of 1993 WTC bombing and Ammar al-Baluchi-9/11 defendant).
Ammar al-Baluchi (Kuwait, Pakistan) (Transferred money from UAE to hijackers in the US. Courier to Osama bin Laden. Plotted future Karachi plane attack. Nephew of KSM, cousin of Ramzi Yousef).
Walid bin Attash (Saudi Arabia) (Training hijackers and researching fight data. Involved in East Africa Embassy and USS Cole attacks).
Mustafa al Hawsawi (Saudi Arabia) (Key travel and financial facilitator to the hijackers).
Ramzi bin al-Shibh (Yemen) (Financial facilitator and organizer of hijacker cell in Hamburg, Germany. Suspect in USS Cole bombing) (Removed from joint prosecution due to unfit mental state, August, 2023).
THE HEARING May 13-17, 2024:
May 17th wrapped up week five of the 50th pre-trial hearings in the Military Commission’s prosecution of the 9/11 case. Witnesses for the prosecution included Dr. 1/WK51, former JTF medical provider in 2006 and 2007; Special Agent McFadden of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS); and Colonel Joshua Bearden (Federal prosecutor).
The focus of these hearings was on witness testimony related to the defense motions to suppress the Letterhead Memoranda (LHM) Statements to the FBI. Letterhead Memoranda (LHMs) are summaries of derogatory information created by U.S. federal agencies, specifically in the context of counterterrorism investigations. In this case, they pertain to FBI interviews of the five detainees/defendants after arriving to Guantanamo Bay in 2006, following their CIA custody abroad from the time of their captures from 2002-2003. While in CIA custody, the detainees were subjected to “enhanced interrogation (torture) techniques.” It is this period, from 2003-2006, on which the defense motions that the death penalty and life imprisonment be removed and they be given a day-day award for pretrial punishment credit. Under the Geneva Convention, “collective punishment” is prohibited and the U.S. criminalizes acts of torture of detainees. The (confessed) criminals of the most heinous terrorist attack in history, who murdered my husband and 2,976 innocent people, sickening uncountable others, are entering plea deals based on the criminalization of their capture and detainment, pain and suffering, and PTSD. The defense argues that for their illegal detention, they should be awarded constitutional protections. The delays with no trial dates in sight are “cruel and inhumane to the level of torture.” The defense closed the first day with the statement; “the punishment continues to this day!”
The motions presented are akin to what Colonel Joshua Bearden described as “rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.” The defense motions that the Military Commissions Act of 2006 (MCA) is unconstitutional. The prosecution cites that the MCA is authorized to trial by military tribunal for violation of laws of war, justified under the United States Constitution. Colonel Bearden cites that the detainees are all “Law of War” detainees, which do not constitute pre-trial confinement nor warrant pre-trial credit. “They are being held from the battlefield as alien unprivileged belligerent captives.” He went on to say, “there has never been a case like this, in which terrorists murdered 3,000 individuals. We had to prevent further attacks. At the end of the day, decisions had to be made. The government stands behind them. The 9/11 victims had to make real decisions, faced with real fears.”
The main point of this five-week session has been to decide on trying the case against the detainees in an attempt to negate the capital sentencing scheme imposed by the MCA 2006 ruling based on ex post facto (the ruling came into effect after the detainees had already been detained), and the alleged “Torture Regime,” which took place while in CIA custody before the detainee arrivals to Guantanamo Bay. It was also argued that they were denied Miranda Rights and their right to a speedy trial, violating the 8th Amendment.
Defense statements made in the final session of the week emphasized that “Due Process,” as issued in the 5th Amendment, should be applied, and “the death penalty constitutes cruel and unusual punishment under the 14th Amendment.” They also motioned that “in a capital case, there must be an Enhanced Procedural phase in fairness. In other words, to enable a jury to reach fair reliability in order to make them Death Eligible. The defense claims that “CIA enhanced interrogation techniques equate to a mock execution, which caused the detainees to suffer and give information involuntarily. Through torture, the defendants are entitled to a fair trial in accordance with the Bill of Rights.”
Further arguments in regard to the detainees rights, were made to overstate their rights in a recitation of the 14th Amendment, “no state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States, nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
Worth pondering is the question of who is a U.S. citizen? Who is entitled to due process of law by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights? How do U.S. covenants apply to international terrorists? How are the victims of terrorism afforded due process of law? For whom is jurisprudence under Constitutional principle?
There is no attempt to deny that the evil entities detained on this U.S. island military detention center were subject to various forms of extreme interrogation methods immediately following their planning and executing the most horrific attack on U.S. citizens in history. Threat to national security was high. However, my husband is dead. My son is dead.
The defendants have 24/7 medical and behavioral health services and complementary legal representation in the most expensive U.S. assisted living facility, at $13.5 million dollars per person, per year. Hearings are adjusted to accommodate their five-times-daily prayers, with the timing changing according to the tilt of the sun. Myself, along with thousands of 9/11 families have spent 23-years advocating for justice, fairness in funding for medical and behavioral health care, and dignified values for our pain and suffering. The punishment continues to this day!
We fear we may never see this (our) case sunset.
At the end of this session, the detainees are gazing at the Caribbean Sea, reading the Quran with U.S. government provided IQRA so they may hear their voices enhanced and beautified.
My beautiful husband and son, still dead.
© Deborah Garcia 2024, all rights reserved
