Word: qahtani
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...charges were dismissed without prejudice, meaning that a prosecutor could reinstate them at any time. But few observers expect that to happen, largely because Qahtani underwent protracted torture and the threat of torture during his interrogation at Guantanamo, a process that tainted his confessions as well as the evidence he gave against other prisoners...
...surprising decision to drop charges against Qahtani is the latest setback for a military justice system at Guantanamo that appears to be in growing disarray. After holding prisoners for years without trial, the Bush Administration has made clear it wants to put captives in the dock, specifically six high-value prisoners that included Qahtani as well as alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed. All told, five cases at Guantanamo are awaiting trial, with the first, that of Osama bin Laden's driver, scheduled to begin June...
After his arrival at Guantanamo, Qahtani's interrogation was personally authorized by then Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. An account of his questioning, catalogued in a then-top-secret, 84-page log, was published as a cover story by TIME in June...
...military investigation concluded Qahtani had been subject to abuse - which included sexual humiliation, religious humiliation, intimidation by dogs, prolonged isolation and extremes of cold that, at one point, caused his pulse to drop to 35 beats per minute, requiring immediate hospitalization. No one was ever punished for having ordered the abuse or carrying it out. "The dismissal of charges clearly indicates the government's awareness that any and all statements obtained from Mohammad Qahtani were extracted by torture or the threat of torture," Gitanjali Guitierrez, his lawyer with the Center for Constitutional Rights, told TIME...
...only time Qahtani has spoken publicly, following a military legal review of his case in 2006, he made clear that all of his statements concerning himself or others were obtained by torture, or the threat of torture. Other prisoners at Guantanamo have made similar claims. But in an apparent attempt to elicit compromising information from them that would not be tainted by torture, the government has requestioned many of them using less coercive techniques, supposedly making their new statements admissible in court. Unlike those prisoners, however, Qahtani's lawyers say he has not been requestioned. The U.S. has also admitted...