Search Results for: Guantanamo

The US Defense Department (DoD) announced on Saturday that it will appeal a military judge’s decision affirming the validity of plea deals for Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, the alleged mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks, and two of his co-defendants. This ruling, issued on Wednesday, effectively overturns Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s prior directive to discard the plea [...]

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s recent decision to revoke the plea agreements for three defendants in the 9/11 case at Guantanamo, including alleged mastermind, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM), was at once shocking and predictable: shocking that the Defense Secretary would step in deus ex machina at the eleventh hour to scuttle a deal negotiated by the [...]

In legend, Achilles, Greek warrior and hero of the Trojan War, fought Trojan prince Hector to avenge the death of his friend Patroclus. Hector had killed Patroclus, and he planned to cut off Patroclus’ head and give his body to the dogs for food. Before the fight, Hector waits for Achilles and then proposes that [...]

On Friday, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin rejected a controversial plea deal that would have prevented three alleged 9/11 terror attack planners from facing the death penalty. Earlier this week, a letter to the families of 9/11 victims revealed that alleged co-conspirators Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Walid Bin ‘Attash, and Mustafa al Hawsawi had pled guilty to orchestrating [...]

Professor Andrew Clapham of the Geneva Graduate Institute is a leading expert in the interplay of war and international law. In his timely new book “War,” Clapham explores the modern relevance of the concept of war and how it shapes our understanding of rights and obligations in both national and international law, questioning whether the [...]

The US Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal by a Canadian-born former Guantanamo Bay detainee who was seeking to wipe away his war crimes convictions, including one for the killing of a US soldier in Afghanistan. Omar Khadr waived his right to appeal in 2010 when he pleaded guilty to murder charges. Despite a [...]

Shamima Begum, a young woman who left the UK as a schoolgirl to join ISIS in Syria, has recently lost an appeal to regain her British citizenship. This decision, leaving her effectively stateless and in a Syrian detention camp, has sparked renewed debate. In this interview, JURIST speaks with Professor Ben Saul, a UN expert [...]

The UK Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that a Guantanamo Bay prisoner held by the US can bring a claim in the English and Welsh courts against UK authorities. The detainee, Zayn al-Abidin Muhammad Husayn (Zubaydah), alleged that British intelligence services asked the  CIA to interrogate Zubaydah and sent the spy agency numerous questions to elicit [...]

This weekend marks the 75th anniversary of one of the world’s most groundbreaking global pledges: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). On December 9 we see the anniversary of the Genocide Convention, signed on the December 9, 1948, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights signed 75 years ago. It represents an an important occasion that aims to raise [...]

A US military judge ruled on Thursday that Ramzi bin al-Shibh, a 9/11 defendant detained in US custody at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is unfit to stand trial. Military Judge Colonel Matthew N. McCall’s ruling comes after a medical panel found that al-Shibh has PTSD with “Secondary Psychotic Features” resulting from his abuse in Central Intelligence [...]