Gitmo Prisoners Granted Phone Call to Family

UK a full partner in US terror effort, report says

(NEWSER) - Binyam Mohamed, a recently released Gitmo detainee, alleges that he was tortured in Morocco while asked questions on behalf of Britian’s MI5. His story so far has amounted to his word against MI5’s, but a new report supports the former detainee’s claim, the Economist reports. A UN report on human rights says Britain, France, Germany, and Italy all sent interrogators to Gitmo despite publicly condemning the American facility. More»

Secret interrogation memos reveal inmate details, prison life

(NEWSER) - A trove of some 700 new WikiLeaks documents on Guantanamo reveals detailed military assessments of hundreds of men who have been locked up there as well as information about interrogations, prison conditions, and inmate behavior. The assessments by military intelligence were carried out from 2002 to 2009 and offer a unique insight into a kind of "limbo" justice system that operates nowhere else in America. Among the revelations:

• Saudi Mohammad Qahtani, who has been linked to the 9/11 attacks, was leashed, sexually humiliated, and forced to urinate on himself during interrogations.
• A man arrested near a roadside bombing site was locked up for three years until officials decided he was what he claimed to be: a shepherd.
• Intelligence officers from several nations—including Russia, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, and Tunisia—were allowed to question suspects at Guantanamo.

Military grants group access to prisoners

(NEWSER) - After years of refusing the Red Cross information about terror suspects held in two secret camps in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Pentagon has quietly reversed course, the New York Times reports. The military has begun providing the identities of prisoners at the sites in Balad, Iraq, and Bagram, Afghanstan. Under the new rules, the information must come within two weeks of capture, allowing the agency to keep track of the prisoners. More»

But Mohammed Jawad may still face conventional prosecution

(NEWSER) - A Guantanamo Bay inmate may be released to Afghanistan next month after successfully challenging his detention under habeas corpus, the Washington Post reports. US District Judge Ellen Huvelle ordered Mohammed Jawad’s release based on the dodgy evidence against him—mainly, a confession allegedly obtained by threatening to kill Jawad or his family—and the fact that the detainee has already spent 6 years at Gitmo. More»

(NEWSER) - Many civilians were killed in two Afghan villages hit by a US airstrike on Monday, the Red Cross said today, confirming both "dozens of bodies" and allegations coming from Kabul. “There were bodies, there were graves, and there were people burying bodies,” a spokeswoman said. “We do confirm women and children.” One former government official told the AP up to 120 died in the bombing. More»