MAJOR UPDATE: Gitmo 9/11 Detainee Trials Again Delayed Now Until August 2021

 

Gitmo: A Blot on Our Military Justice System 

(At least for 9/11 detainees)

The setbacks keep piling up in the long-delayed 9/11 terrorist cases in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. The latest trial delay update is here from NPR with this headline:

“Trial of September 11 Defendants at Guantánamo Delayed Until August 2021”

A new U.S military court judge has canceled all hearings in the case until this August (2021) and therefore has delayed the start of the trial of the five defendants charged in the September 11, 2001 terror attacks.

Jury selection had been scheduled to begin in January 2021, but the new judge — Colonel Stephen F. Keane, who began overseeing the case in September 2020 — but this new delay is necessary due to pandemic travel restrictions and his need to familiarize himself with the case.

Many Guantánamo attorneys say even the revised start date isn't realistic, given that legal proceedings there have been at a virtual standstill since February 2020, when the coronavirus began limiting access to the island.

James Connell, lead attorney for Guantánamo prisoner Ammar al-Baluchi, who is accused of funding the 9/11 hijackers said: “I do not expect that the trial will begin in August of 2021 because there's just too much ground to cover between now and then.”

This new delay order by Judge Keane, the fourth judge to oversee the 9/11 case, is the latest stumbling block at Guantánamo's problem-plagued military court and prison, which NPR found has cost U.S. taxpayers more than $6 billion since 2002. Other recent complications include:

§  The previous 9/11 judge, Air Force Col. W. Shane Cohen, left abruptly after nine months on the job, citing family concerns.

§  The former administrative head of the military court, Christian Reismeier, moved to a different role after being in his position for less than a year.

§  James P. Harrington, the lead attorney for one of the 9/11 defendants, asked to leave the case, citing “health issues and incompatibility” with his client.

§  David Bruck, the new lead attorney assigned to represent Harrington's client, said he needs 2 1/2 years to prepare for trial.

All of those personnel changes cost the court time.

Background: The military prison at Guantánamo still holds 40 men, down from nearly 800 people who have been detained there since it opened in 2002. 

Some of the 40 remaining prisoners have been held for more than 18 years without being charged, and some have been cleared for release but remain incarcerated. 

Guantánamo prosecutors have finalized only one conviction in the military court's history.

My 2 cents: This full story continues at the above NPR link. Check it out.

As noted in the article, it truly is sad to see our military justice system this bogged down. Major changes based on all this is therefore long overdue, otherwise all this to date makes a sham of our entire judicial system; both military and civilian in such cases.

Thanks for stopping by.