'Guantanamo, NY,' Awaits 9/11 Accused

Rights advocates complain about treatment of terror suspects
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 10, 2009 7:02 AM CST
'Guantanamo, NY,' Awaits 9/11 Accused
Syed Fahad Hashmi has been held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York since 2007 awaiting trial for providing material support to al-Qaeda.   (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his co-accused can expect conditions little different from Guantanamo at its harshest when they arrive in New York for trial. The terror suspects are certain to be placed under what the Justice Department calls "special administrative measures"—SAMs—requiring 23-hour-a-day lockdown, constant video surveillance, and almost no visitors.

The measures— which are currently applied to just 42 of the 200,000 inmates in federal custody have been strongly criticized by human rights advocates. One suspect accused of providing material support to al-Qaeda has been held under SAMs in New York for more than two years while he awaits trial, Reuters reports. Protesters carried banners reading "No Guantanamos at Home or Abroad" at a recent demonstration at the Manhattan facility where he is being held. (More Guantanamo Bay stories.)

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