- Problems with Gitmo Evidence
For the first time, the National Law Journal has partnered with non-profit investigative news organization ProPublica. The esteemed pair has co-published an in-depth article about the problems the federal government is having with evidence obtained from Guantanamo Bay detainees through questionable interrogation tactics. According to ProPublica’s review of decisions resolving lawsuits filed by detainees: “The government has lost eight of 15 cases in which Guantanamo inmates have said they or witnesses against them were forcibly interrogated. “ The article concludes that in the seven cases won by the government, it wasn’t because the judges endorsed aggressive tactics but because “the detainees' stories of abuse simply weren't credible or were irrelevant to the outcome.”
ProPublica reporter Chisun Lee explains that judges are even rejecting evidence in “clean,” non-coercive interrogations on the grounds that fear generated in harsher sessions tainted the so-called clean sessions in preparation for trials. The Obama administration is appealing to the D.C. Circuit in five cases.
Lee’s article is a helpful summary of the broader issue and contains interesting tidbits from specific rulings in a number of cases.
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| 08:53 AM Aug 16, 2010 | Email the Daily Dragon | Email this Article | Post Comments |
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