But Gruss! We have information! These are not nice people! And these punks are getting no more than they deserve!
9-11 9-11 9-11 >Guardian finds Afghan witnesses US couldn't >Declan Walsh in Gardez >Friday June 30, 2006 >The Guardian > >The US government said it could not find the men that Guantánamo >detainee Abdullah Mujahid believes could help set him free. The >Guardian found them in three days. > >Two years ago the US military invited Mr Mujahid, a former Afghan >police commander accused of plotting against the United States, to >prove his innocence before a special military tribunal. As was his >right, Mr Mujahid called four witnesses from Afghanistan. > >But months later the tribunal president returned with bad news: the >witnesses could not be found. Mr Mujahid's hopes sank and he was >returned to the wire-mesh cell where he remains today. > >The Guardian searched for Mr Mujahid's witnesses and found them within >three days. One was working for President Hamid Karzai. Another was >teaching at a leading American college. The third was living in Kabul. >The fourth, it turned out, was dead. Each witness said he had never >been approached by the Americans to testify in Mr Mujahid's hearing. > >The case illustrates the egregious flaws that have discredited >Guantánamo-style justice and which led the US supreme court to declare >such trials illegal on Thursday in a major rebuke to the Bush >administration. Mr Mujahid is one of 380 Guantánamo detainees whose >cases were reviewed at "combatant-status review tribunals" in 2004 and >2005. The tribunals were hastily set up following a court ruling that >the prisoners, having been denied all normal legal rights, should be >allowed to prove their innocence. Ten of the hearings proceeded to >full trials, including that of Osama bin Laden's aide, Salim Ahmed >Hamdan, who brought the successful supreme court appeal. > >But by the time the review tribunals ended last year the US government >had located just a handful of the requested witnesses. None was >brought from overseas to testify. The military lawyers simply said >they were "non-contactable". > >That was not entirely true. > >Abdullah Mujahid was originally identified by Washington-based >reporters from the Boston Globe after trawling through thousands of >pages of testimony from the controversial military trials. US forces >arrested Mr Mujahid in the southern Afghan city of Gardez in mid-2003, >claiming he had been fired as police chief due to suspicion of >"collusion with anti-government forces", according to official >documents. Later, they alleged, he attacked US forces in retaliation. > >In the military tribunal Mr Mujahid protested his innocence. He >enjoyed good relations with American soldiers and had been promoted, >not fired, he said. The three living witnesses he requested were >easily located with a telephone, an internet connection and a few days >work. > >Shahzada Massoud was at the presidential palace, where he advises Mr >Karzai on tribal affairs. Gul Haider, a former defence ministry >official, was found through the local government in Gardez. > >The interior ministry gave an email address for the former minister, >Ahmed Ali Jalali, although he could as easily been found on the >internet - he teaches at the National Defence University in Washington >DC. > >The witnesses largely corroborated Mr Mujahid's story, with some >qualifications. Mr Jalali, the former interior minister, said Mr >Mujahid had been fired over allegations of corruption and bullying - >not for attacking the government. Mr Haider, the former defence >official, said Mr Mujahid had contributed 30 soldiers to a major >operation against al-Qaida in March 2002. "He is completely innocent," >he said. > >Other Afghans agreed. General Ali Shah Paktiawal, Interpol director of >the Afghan national police, said: "Some people have given false >information about him and that's why this problem has come up." > >Their testimonies do not necessarily exonerate Mr Mujahid but at the >very least raise serious questions about the case against him. An >Afghan government delegation that recently visited Guantánamo >estimated that half of the 94 Afghan detainees were not guilty of >serious crimes and should be released. They did not release any names. > >In Gardez, Haji Muhammad Hasan, 65, keeps a stack of Red Cross letters >as the only proof of his son's whereabouts. "I feel completely >helpless," he said in despair. Beside him the detainee's shy sons - >aged three, four and five - waited for news of a father they could >hardly recall. > >Lies and old rivalries had sent many innocent Afghans to Guantánamo, >said Taj Muhammad Wardak, a former governor of Paktiya. "You can >investigate these people here. There is no need to send them to >Guantánamo," he said. "It is a great sadness between our countries >that will last for many years. > >http://www.guardian.co.uk/guantanamo/story/0,,1809981,00.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:210553 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
