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Destroying Key Records Was Standard at Gitmo

US interrogators told to 'minimize certain legal issues' in questioning detainees

By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff

Posted Jun 9, 2008 9:30 AM CDT
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(Newser) – Guantanamo Bay interrogators were urged to destroy notes from interviews with detainees, including Canadian Omar Khadr, documents suggest. Minimizing interrogation records “can minimize certain legal issues,” reads a Guantanamo operational manual for intelligence teams shown to Khadr’s lawyers. The case against Khadr is thought to be based largely on information from the interrogations, the Globe and Mail reports.

“The government's case against Omar is based almost entirely on statements interrogators extracted from him,” Khadr’s lawyer said. “If handwritten notes were destroyed, the government intentionally deprived Omar's lawyers of key evidence with which to challenge the reliability of his statements.” Khadr faces life in prison if convicted of charges including murdering a US soldier in Afghanistan.

Nathan Whitling, a lawyer for accused terrorist Omar Khadr, gestures at the Supreme Court of Canada in Ottawa, Ontario, Friday, May 23, 2008.
Nathan Whitling, a lawyer for accused terrorist Omar Khadr, gestures at the Supreme Court of Canada in Ottawa, Ontario, Friday, May 23, 2008.   (AP Photo)
In this image reviewed by the U.S. Military, the sun rises over Camp Delta detention compound at Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base in Cuba, Friday, June 6, 2008.
In this image reviewed by the U.S. Military, the sun rises over Camp Delta detention compound at Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base in Cuba, Friday, June 6, 2008.   (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)
This is a file photo of Omar Khadr, taken before he was imprisoned, handed out by his mother Maha Khadr following a news conference in Toronto on Feb. 9, 2005.
This is a file photo of Omar Khadr, taken before he was imprisoned, handed out by his mother Maha Khadr following a news conference in Toronto on Feb. 9, 2005.   (AP Photo)
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More on the Gitmo manual
Associated Press

A profile of Khadr
Rolling Stone

US guard calls Khadr 'good kid'
Canada.com

US • World

 
Afghanistan • Canada • Guantanamo Bay • Guantanamo prisoners • terror suspects • Omar Khadr • terror trial

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