735:
Was
Mohammed right to be worried about the Tanzanian authorities? He wouldn't be the first. In his opinion upholding the suppression of the witness Hussein Abebe (see earlier posts), Judge Kaplan noted that Tanzanian police had warned him, ahead of his own interrogations, "to tell what he knew so that he could go home, in itself an implicit threat… was aware also that the TNP sometimes had been known to detain people without their families knowing where they had been taken and to 'come and grab you and take you by force.'"
696:
Guantanamo cases where the prosecution might attempt to bring witnesses identified via the torture of the defendant, the judge asserted not just his expertise in legal philosophy and precedent, but confidence in his ability to assess the witness's credibility. Throughout his opinion, he refers to the testimony of Abebe as "inaccurate," "incredible," "inconsistent," and consisting of "prevarications."
734:
Judge Lewis Kaplan, who so far in this case has seemed the most adept at coaxing a revealing narrative out of witnesses, once again extracted a telling detail. "Did any FBI agents speak to you in
Swahili?" Judge Kaplan asked. "No," said Mohammed, "only translators, and police officers from Tanzania."
238:
In the ruling, the judge, Lewis A. Kaplan of
Federal District Court in Manhattan, barred prosecutors from using an important witness against Mr. Ghailani because the government had learned about the man through Mr. Ghailani's interrogation while he was in C.I.A. custody, where his lawyers say he was
87:
reported that US and
Tanzanian officials spent a year trying to find and identify Abebe, based on the information extracted from Ghailani. Ghailani's prosecutor's narrative was that, once located, Abebe acknowledged that he did sell TNT he had access to, for use in mining, and that when he sold TNT
800:
Ghailani's attorney Steve Zissou said Monday that the defense will open its case by calling
Valentine Mlowola, former senior superintendent for the Tanzanian National Police. Mlowola's botched interrogation of prospective government witness Hussein Abebe led U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan, before
431:
Although the government claimed it would have found Abebe without
Ghailani's evidence, Kaplan said "that would have been roughly comparable to finding a particular individual named John or Bill in a stat with a population around the size of Maine or New Hampshire ... while knowing little more about
360:
Lawyers for Mr. Ghailani contend that he underwent coercive interrogation and torture while in C.I.A. custody, and that any statements or evidence derived from them is tainted and inadmissible. The government has said Mr. Abebe's decision to cooperate was voluntary and only remotely linked to Mr.
298:
Judge Kaplan has filed a more complete ruling, but it is going through a declassification process. Still, his brief order last week intensified the debate over whether other detainees, like Khalid Shaikh
Mohammed, the professed mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks, should be tried in the civilian
695:
The tone for the day, however, was set by Judge Kaplan, who the previous night had released the (redacted) long version of his opinion barring the testimony of a government's key witness, Hussein Abebe. In an opinion that reasoned backwards to
Deuteronomy and forward, in theory, to any future
465:
These memos gave the torturers in the field and Bush and Cheney up high the invented "legal" justification for the savage treatment that broke
Ghailani into revealing the man, Abebe, who would connect him to the 1998 atrocities. Goldsmith rejected some of those practices, but others
538:
There does not appear to be any reason to believe that the United States would have discovered Abebe independently, but one could argue that permitting Abebe to testify against
Ghailani would be "consistent with the interests of justice" for a number of
124:, a law professor who specializes in National Security law, as stating the ruling over whether Abebe testimony would be allowed would set the precedent for all future testimony that derived from evidence extracted through torture in any future trials.
765:
For the right, it's a disaster -- proof that civilian courts can't handle terrorism prosecutions. For the left, it's something else -- the first court ruling that suggests that the Bush administration's "enhanced interrogation" techniques were
574:
Not only does Judge Kaplan express regret at his decision to not allow Abebe as a witness, but he even mentions that regardless of the verdict, Ghailani will likely remain imprisoned indefinitely due to his status as an enemy
67:, which were then used to bomb US embassies in Africa. Abebe's own capture, and his potential testimony against Ghailani, stirred controversy, as it followed confessions extracted from Ghailani under torture in
330:
In a decision made public on Thursday, the judge elaborated on his reasoning. He said he had concluded that Mr. Abebe feared being arrested if he did not cooperate with the authorities.
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essentially attempted to take the Abebe preclusion order and turn it on its head, capitalizing with disingenuous arguments that it could never have made had Abebe testified at trial,
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873:
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136:, the police officer who interrogated Abebe, made mistakes during his interrogation that contributed to Kaplan's decision to bar Abebe's testimony.
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The BBC's Laura Trevelyan in New York says the judge's decision - if it stands - is a major setback for the US government's case.
201:
said Karen J. Greenberg, executive director of the Center on Law and Security at New York University, who observed the hearing.
553:"Media Influence in the Ghailani Trial: Have We Seen This Before? The Ever-Growing Importance of an Independent Judiciary"
404:
68:
673:
500:
Abebe was located and questioned in 2006 by Tanzanian law enforcement authorities. At the time, he was a cab driver.
410:
712:
513:
205:
This will establish the standard for how we deal with witnesses and other evidence that's the result of torture.
105:
139:
A motion filed by Ghailani's defense counsel, seeking a new trial, asserted that prosecutors used Abebe to
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588:
717:
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Over time, Ghailani gave the CIA the information that led the government directly to Hussein Abebe --
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convened hearings to determine whether he should allow Abebe to testify in September 2010.
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128:
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479:"Tanzanian man who supplied explosives seeks to clear his name, if US judge will let him"
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453:
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64:
862:
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635:
Al Qaeda Declares War: The African Embassy Bombings and America's Search for Justice
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him than that he was regarded as prominent in a significant industry in the state.
97:
reported that Abede had been working as a taxi driver when authorities found him.
587:
Stephen Dycus; William C. Banks; Peter Raven-Hansen; Stephen I. Vladeck (2016).
444:
71:
406:
Law's Trials: The Performance of Legal Institutions in the US 'War on Terror'
824:
789:
639:
378:
56:
780:"Government Wrapping Up Its Case In First Gitmo Detainee Civil Trial"
514:""Anything but Bush?": The Obama administration and Guantanamo Bay"
801:
the trial began, to bar prosecutors from calling Abebe to testify.
815:"Attorneys for Guantanamo Prisoner|Ahmed Ghailani Seek New Trial"
313:"Judge Says Key Figure in Embassies Bombing Case Isn't Credible"
60:
449:"Can We Try Terrorism in Our Civilian Constitutional Courts?"
88:
to Ghailani he believed it was for use in legitimate mining.
374:"Blow to US prosecutors as terror case witness barred"
299:
system, a goal the Obama administration has advocated.
59:
who US prosecutors claimed sold hundreds of pounds of
344:"Judge Delays Detainee's Trial Over Issue of Witness"
173:"Witness in 1998 Bombings Is Identified at a Hearing"
674:"Terror Trial Update: Baby Lulu and the Two Ahmeds"
281:"No Appeal in Exclusion of Witness in Terror Trial"
222:"Detainee Acquitted on Most Counts in '98 Bombings"
166:
164:
162:
160:
158:
156:
42:
28:
21:
253:"Judge Bars Major Witness From Terrorism Trial"
615:It interrogated him in the secret prison for
8:
590:Counterterrorism Law: Aspen Casebook Series
558:Washington University Jurisprudence Review
522:Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy
18:
152:
847:this should not be permitted to stand.
713:"Terror Trial Update: The Fear Factor"
874:21st-century Tanzanian businesspeople
869:20th-century Tanzanian businesspeople
7:
101:Potential role in Ghailani's trial
14:
595:Wolters Kluwer Law & Business
78:Capture and detention in Tanzania
843:the motion states. It adds that
725:from the original on 2017-06-17
686:from the original on 2017-06-18
185:from the original on 2018-05-26
835:Farbiarz's rebuttal summation
342:Benjamin Weiser (2010-10-01).
311:Benjamin Weiser (2010-10-15).
279:Benjamin Weiser (2010-10-11).
251:Benjamin Weiser (2010-10-06).
220:Benjamin Weiser (2010-11-18).
171:Benjamin Weiser (2010-09-20).
1:
813:Adam Klasfeld (2010-12-30).
778:Adam Klasfeld (2010-11-02).
69:Central Intelligence Agency
32:1964 (age 59–60)
890:
747:Adam Serwer (2010-10-07).
411:Cambridge University Press
361:Ghailani's interrogation.
403:Richard L. Abel (2018).
16:Mine owner from Tanzania
551:Michael Perich (2012).
114:On September 19, 2010,
106:US District Court Judge
749:"Torture And Ghailani"
718:Mother Jones magazine
679:Mother Jones magazine
100:
55:is a mine owner from
632:Tod Hoffman (2014).
197:This is the moment,
709:Karen J. Greenberg
670:Karen J. Greenberg
349:The New York Times
318:The New York Times
286:The New York Times
258:The New York Times
227:The New York Times
178:The New York Times
117:The New York Times
84:The New York Times
754:American Prospect
512:Tung Yin (2011).
134:Valentine Mlowola
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181:. p. A26.
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129:Courthouse News
122:Karen Greenberg
109:Lewis A. Kaplan
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711:(2010-10-20).
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484:Guelph Mercury
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454:Cato Institute
447:(2010-10-20).
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413:. p. 64.
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132:reported that
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289:. p. A20
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53:Hussein Abebe
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23:Hussein Abebe
20:
834:
828:. Retrieved
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793:. Retrieved
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758:. Retrieved
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608:. Retrieved
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567:. Retrieved
565:(2): 374–375
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531:. Retrieved
529:(2): 484–487
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493:. Retrieved
491:. 2010-09-15
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382:. 2020-10-06
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261:. p. A1
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52:
51:
445:Nat Hentoff
143:the court.
72:black sites
863:Categories
830:2020-08-29
795:2020-08-28
760:2020-08-29
729:2020-08-28
690:2020-08-28
655:2020-09-30
610:2020-09-30
575:combatant.
569:2020-09-30
533:2020-09-30
495:2020-08-28
460:2020-08-29
426:2020-08-28
386:2020-08-28
355:2020-08-28
325:2020-08-28
293:2020-08-28
265:2020-08-28
233:2020-08-28
189:2020-08-28
147:References
46:Mine owner
43:Occupation
825:Manhattan
790:Manhattan
466:remained.
239:tortured.
766:illegal.
723:Archived
684:Archived
640:ForeEdge
539:reasons.
379:BBC News
183:Archived
57:Tanzania
120:quoted
646:
601:
417:
141:"dupe"
849:'
845:'
841:'
837:'
517:(PDF)
207:'
203:'
199:'
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644:ISBN
599:ISBN
415:ISBN
91:The
29:Born
63:to
61:TNT
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