Attorneys produced a 25-page motion charging the CIA with having tortured their client during his agency captivity. Appeals Court Orders Bush To Preserve Any Evidence Of CIA TortureBy Cliff Montgomery – Dec 12, 2007A Washington, D.C. federal appeals court on Tuesday ordered the Bush Administration not to destroy any evidence which may reveal the torture of a former Baltimore resident during the three years he was secretly held captive by the CIA.The preliminary order, issued by a three-judge committee of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, allowed the Bush White House until Dec. 20th to submit a response to last week’s court filing that charged the CIA with having tortured Majid Khan, 27.Khan is one of 15 ‘high-priority’ detainees who at one time was imprisoned by the CIA, and who now is in U.S. military custody at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp for accused terrorists in Cuba.Khan’s lawyers called for the order last week, on the heels of an admission from CIA Director Michael Hayden that the department had destroyed the interrogation videotapes of two other Guantanamo inmates, who also spent years as secret captives of the CIA.Khan, a former legal American resident and suburban Baltimore high school graduate, has yet to be charged with any crime. Defense Department officials claim they have evidence that Khan worked as a lackey for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed–the reputed “brains” of the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks. Khan’s job, they claim, was to investigate “the poisoning of U.S. water reservoirs and the possibility of blowing up gas stations.”If this evidence is legitimate, then Khan certainly deserves his current imprisonment. But if the Pentagon’s evidence is indeed legitimate, then why hasn’t Khan been properly charged?To leave any prisoner–citizen or non-citizen–in a legal limbo bestows career government officials with an unchecked power to determine who shall have liberty, and who shall not. And in such a state, the government itself becomes a terrorist of the people.It may be instructive to note that Khan is the only former CIA captive now at Guantanamo who has been allowed to meet his attorneys face-to-face.With these meetings as a basis, Khan’s attorneys produced a 25-page motion charging the CIA with having tortured their client during his agency captivity. Stating that they possess ample proof of their charge, they then asked the court to issue an order barring the Bush Administration from destroying evidence of possible torture.The appeals court order commands Bush Defense Secretary Robert Gates to “take all measures necessary to preserve the material described in the motion for preservation of torture evidence pending the remainder of briefing on that motion and further order of the court.”But those looking for evidence of possible torture in the filing from Khan’s attorneys will be disappointed. Intelligence officers censored major portions of the attorney filing before its public release, thus perhaps once again hiding the Bush Administration’s more nefarious activities from the American people.That Khan’s case has gotten this far is something of a miracle. Last year’s Military Commissions Act made the Washington, D.C., appeals court the sole civilian court with the power to rule on detainee issues.The judges who issued the preliminary order were Merrick Garland, Judith Rogers and Thomas Griffith. President Clinton appointed Garland and Rogers to the D.C. appeals court; George W. Bush appointed Griffith.Like what you’re reading so far? Then why not order a full year (52 issues) of thee-newsletter for only $15? A major article covering an story not being told in the Corporate Press will be delivered to your email every Monday morning for a full year, for less than 30 cents an issue. Order Now!
How Necessary Laws Are Killed These Days
Lawmakers generally only fight to protect the things they care about – and all too often, that just doesn’t include the lives of most of their constituents.
