Gitmo trial of teenager Mohammed Jawad stalls and "Biscuit team" member, psychologist U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel Diane M. Zierhoffer pleads the 5th

There is a lengthy and detailed report at Salon of the case of (the now) 23-year-old Afghani, Mohammed Jawad, who spent two days in a courtroom at Gitmo as his defense lawyer Maj. David Frakt argued that his case should never go to trial.

Frakt, claimed that Jawad 16 or 17 , his DOB unknown , was repeatedly tortured and abused in U.S. custody, charges that were supported by the testimony of a senior U.S. Army criminal investigator , Angela Birt .

Birt investigated the deaths of detainees at Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan in late 2002 when Jawad had been detained there prior to his rendition kidnapping and transfer to Guantánamo in early 2003.

Birt described U.S. soldiers' abuse of detainees at Bagram as "the worst I've ever seen."

At the same hearing , U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel Diane M. Zierhoffer, a licensed psychologist who had ordered the torture of a juvenile detainee, refused to testify under Section 831, Article 31 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Article 31 prohibits compulsory self-incrimination as a right under the Fifth Amendment.

Maj. Frakt, claimed further that in September 2003, “when an interrogator observed Mohammad talking to posters on the wall of the interrogation room and was concerned about his mental health,” instead of calling a mental health professional to care for him, they summoned the BSCT team (Behavioral Science Consultation Teams (BSCTs), known as "Biscuit teams), whose psychologist made a “cruel and heartless assessment and recommendations.” BSCTs are not mental health providers. Their primary, their only mission, was and still is to support military interrogations.

Maj. Frakt called the BSCT psychologist’s report (disclosed only as that of "Lt. Col. Z," ), which was classified secret and therefore not discussed in detail in the open court session, “the most chilling document of all.” (Report by ACLU’s human rights researcher, Jennifer Turner)

If U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel Diane M. Zierhoffer had testified it would have been the first time that a member of a BSCT team had testified in a military commissions hearing. Zierhoffer resigned from the American Psychological Association in 2005, so could not receive any profesional strictures from them.

Frakt described Bagram "not as a detention camp, but as a torture chamber," and renewed a motion to dismiss the charges against Jawad because of his alleged torture and mistreatment.

Jawad's move to Bagram did not end the criminal abuse. Army Maj. Jason Orlich, formerly an officer with the detainee operations group at Guantánamo, testified about sleep deprivation tactics used on Jawad at Guantánamo.

This had the jocular designation of the "frequent flyer program."

This involved moving detainees from cell to cell, typically every 2/3 hours, to deprive them of sleep. As in Auschwitz, in Cambodia, immaculate records were kept by the torturers and tormentors.

We now know that In May 2004, Jawad was moved 112 times during a 14-day period. Frakt, claimed that Department of Defense guidance limits sleep deprivation to a maximum of four days.

Major Orlich who presumably has not experienced such deep sleep deprivation himself testified that such treatment was "humane." This treatnent was intended to "maintain order and discipline" and to prevent detainees from throwing urine and feces or organizing attacks on guards.

Orlich further claimed that those subjected to the program were violent detainees -- the immaculate records do not show that Jawad was violent.

The arcane, unusual and unique legal process dreamt up for these military commissions means that Judge Henley is expected to announce in late September whether Maj. Frakt has made his case and that he will dismiss the charges against Jawad on the grounds of torture (or the case proceeds).

Judge Henley, before having a holiday from this grim process upset procedures by what is reported an "unusual and unprecedented aspect to his ruling."

He ordered the senior government official responsible for the military commissions, Susan Crawford, to review the charges against Jawad, consider additional information from the defense and confirm whether she wants to proceed with the case.

Judge Henley said Gen. Hartmann had failed to include extenuating and mitigating information on Jawad's case when recommending in October 2007 that Crawford confirm the charges against Jawad. Brig. Gen. Thomas Hartmann is the military commissions' legal advisor, he has been accused of interference, because Jawad's case is not based on , "charges of conspiracy or material support for terrorism," but Jawad (it is alleged he threw a grenade into a U.S. military vehicle in Afghanistan in December 2002 in which 2 US soldiers and an Afghan translator were injured - Jawad has always denied throwing any grenades) has "blood on his hands".

Judge Henley ruled that Brig. Gen. Thomas Hartmann's aggressive advocacy of the trials by military commission -- in the media and other public statements -- ''compromised the objectivity necessary to dispassionately and fairly evaluate the evidence and prepare the post-trial evaluation,''

Henley ruled that while the case's prosecutors swore out the charges properly, Hartmann could not serve as a ''neutral'' advisor on the case.

''The judge found that in the interests of justice General Hartmann is disqualified from further action in this case,'' said Air Force Maj. Gail Crawford, a military attorney serving as spokeswoman for the trials.

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, speaking for the Bush Gang had expressly stated the Geneva Conventions did not apply in the case of the Gitmo detainees (thrown out by Justice John Paul Stevens in the Supreme Court in June 2006)but added the approved torture techniques were to be used only when there was a good reason to believe that the detainee possessed "critical intelligence." There has never been the slightest suggestion that this teenager , not held on terrorism charges, had any information about terrorism of any value at all.
According to Maj. Frakt as reported in Salon , "This case would never survive scrutiny if they had done a proper pretrial investigation."

Susan Crawford has to make a decision by Sept. 25th, whether the case against Jawad will go forward ... and the Presidential elections will start getting into their stride.

See also Thursday, December 27, 2007 - Ahmed Mohammed Ahmed Haza al Darbi - 5th Prisoner at Gitmo to be charged gets details given to him of his offences

The Torture of Lady Dame Jane Baroness Pauline Neville Jones MUST STOP. NOW !!! Amazing Pictures

Concern is mounting in the Lady Dame Jane Baroness Pauline Neville Jones Fan Club. In hushed tones in the Royal United Services Institute spy masters hidden in their arrases speak of their worries about the mental state of Lady Dame Jane Baroness Pauline Neville Jones ...

Click to enlarge (adults only)


Twice this week she has been dragged from her bed, still dressed in her exotic pyjamas, a sad frightened old lady. To be mercilessly grilled, not only by Gavin Esler, but also by the feared Kirsty" Now Minister people are saying" Wark.

She keeps mumbling about 42 days, she cannot stand it any longer , 28 days is enough. Public voices are raised - will the BBC allow her out of her basement dungeon?

Clearly distressed ...is this the way to treat an old age pensioner?...way beyond her retirement? ...wat beyond even her bedtime.

For God's sake ... for her sake, cannot she be left alone? Must she be dragged out gibbering on Tuesday night, then again on Wednesday night, merely for public entertainment, just to be tauntd about things she doesn't know anyhting about?

A sad and lonely spectacle in her once exotic but now fading nightwear.

Is this what we pay our Licence for every year Mr Cameron, Mr Davis. Look into your hearts, can she speak for you any longer ? Deranged, dazed, confused ... THIS MUST STOP NOW.

Geneva Conventions ..."cruel and and inhuman treatment " surely?

Ask yourself .. would you treat a dog like this ?

Do we need "Sir" Alan Sugar to say ...Lady Dame Jane Baroness Pauline Neville Jones ...You're FIRED !!!! ??????

UK Government are fucking lying again about CIA rendition, the Chagossians and Diego Garcia

The UK Foreign Office have consistently lied about the campaign of the paramilitary wing of the CIA's rendition program and the involvement of the UK and especially the use for this program of the island of Diego Garcia. Pic shows the latest lying cunt Bill Rammell meeting Tzipi Livni Israeli Foreign Secretary and wannabe PM who shares so much with our Foreign Secretary.

House of Commons Hansard; column 1222W, Questions to the Rt. Hon. Jack Straw, UK Foreign Secretary, 21.06.2004

Mr. Straw : “The United States authorities have repeatedly assured us that no detainees have at any time passed in transit through Diego Garcia or its territorial waters or have disembarked there and that the allegations to that effect are totally without foundation. The Government are satisfied that their assurances are correct.

Ho.Ho.Ho.

House of Commons Hansard 26 Oct 2006 : Column 2067W

Mr. Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the agreement covering the United States use of facilities at Diego Garcia allows the US to hold and interrogate non-US and non-UK nationals without notification to the UK Government. [96769]

Dr. Howells: Under the 1966 Exchange of Notes between the US and UK, non-US and non-UK nationals who are not serving members of the US military cannot be detained without notification to the Government.

Moreover, there is no US facility for foreign detainees on Diego Garcia. The only civilian detention centre is at the small UK-run police station.

The US authorities have repeatedly given us assurances that no detainees, prisoners of war or any other persons in this category are being held on Diego Garcia, or have at any time passed in transit through Diego Garcia or its territorial waters or airspace. This was most recently confirmed during the 2006 US/UK Political Military Talks held in London on 17 and 18 October.

Ho.Ho.Ho.

Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Secret detentions and illegal transfers of detainees
involving Council of Europe member states: second report
Explanatory memorandum*
Rapporteur: Mr Dick Marty, Switzerland, ALDE Thursday 7 June 2007


Page 13 iv. The evolution of specific “black sites” in the HVD programme

Para 70. There are two more specific locations to be considered as “black sites” and about which we have received information sufficiently serious to demand further investigation; we are however not in a position to carry out adequate analysis in order to reach definitive conclusions in this report. First we have received concurring confirmations that United States agencies have used the island territory of Diego Garcia, which is the international legal responsibility of the United Kingdom, in the “processing” of high-value detainees. It is true that the UK Government has readily accepted “assurances” from US authorities to the contrary, without ever independently or transparently inquiring into the allegations itself, or accounting to the public in a sufficiently thorough manner.

Second we have been told that Thailand hosted the first CIA “black site,” and that Abu Zubaydah was held there after his capture in 2002. CIA sources indicated to us that Thailand was used because of the ready availability of the network of local knowledge and bilateral relationships that dated back to the Vietnam War.

"Ghost Plane"

Investigative journalist and author of "Ghost Plane" showed that the CIA operated Gulfstream N379P flew from Washington via Athens to the British Indian Ocean territory of Diego Garcia, the logs show. It is the first time that the British-owned territory, where the US has a large airbase, has been linked to the controversial CIA flights.

All this relates to the dispossessed Chagossians who were evicted from their native lands by a Labour Government 40 years ago led by Jim Callaghan (although stitched up previously between Harold Wislon and Pres. Johnson) involving a deal over the so called "Chevalining" of the Polaris missiles which he concealed from his party. Lord Chalfont another unelected Minister in a Labour Government was the architect of this squalid deal.

"

The 1966 Exchange of Notes between the UK and the US provides that the islands of the british O)cean territories including Diego Garcia shall be available to meet the defence needs of both Governments for an initial period of 50 years, i.e. until 2016, and continuing thereafter for a further period of 20 years unless terminated by either Government at the end of the initial period"

After decades of legal action the Chagossians finally received the right of return recently :-

Liberal peer Lord Avebury said “The highlight of my week was attending the Court of Appeal to hear the judgment handed down in the case of the Chagossians. The Court declared that the two Orders in Council which evicted the Islanders forty years ago were unlawful (and constituted an abuse of power on the part of the executive government) and refused the government leave to appeal to the House of Lords.”

However, strangely, the government can still petition the House of Lords direct for leave to appeal. Lord Avebury has tabled two questions to the Lords, one asking if the government intended to do this and the other asking “Her Majesty’s government whether they will take measures to facilitate the return of the Chagos islanders and to create a trust fund to help revive the economy of the Chagos Islands.” on the 4th June he was answered by ;

Lord Triesman (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Foreign & Commonwealth Office) (another un-elected Minister)

The Foreign Secretary (then la Beckett) will consider the 23 May judgment of the Court of Appeal carefully and has in this regard asked officials for further advice. The Foreign Secretary reserves the right to petition the House of Lords to grant permission to appeal, as she is entitled to do within one month. The Government's policy in relation to the British Ocean Territory therefore remains the subject of possible ongoing legal proceedings and it would be inappropriate to comment further.

Jeremy Corbyn MP spoke in the House of Commons on Wednesday 7th July 2007 ( all of which is essential reading to understand the history of this case - and probably the best true debate held un der this NU labour shower) during which he asked

" ....and that we have a right to know exactly what is happening on Diego Garcia, which is, under the terms of the colonial order, sovereign british teritory. Are there any prisoners on Diego Garcia? Is it being used for the sort of vortex of American justice such as occurs in Guantanamo Bay ? I am assured that it is not. I want to hear that assurance again today and it would be much better if there were an independent inspection of what is going on."

Alex Salmond, King of Scotland, joined in the debate to add ..

"Every Foreign Office Minister, up to and including current Ministers, and every Foreign Office staffer who has been involved in the story over the past 40 years should hang their heads in shame at what has been done to these defenceless people."

he also added that ..

"The Washington Post, for example, claims that prisoners are held on Diego Garcia for "rendering" before being transferred to Camp X -Ray (Guantanamo) ".

Tan Dalyell contributed and reminded everyone that George Brown when Foreign Secretary (and b riefly sober) had quoted Woodrow Wilson in 1918 at the Paris conference..

"Peoples and Provinces are not to be bartered about from sovereignty to sovereignty as if they were chattels or pawns in a game".

But he was referring to the Falkland islanders at the time added Tam.

Tam he also reminded the House of Robin Cook and his ethical policy who had when faced with the 2000 Court of Appeal decision that the Chagossians could return said ..

"I have decided to accept the Court's ruling and the Government will not be appealing.
The work we are doing on the feasibility of resettlement of Ilois now takes on a new importance. We started feasibility work a year ago and are now well under way with phase two of the study."

Cook went walking in Scotland and died a premature and unexpected death. There are a few who believe his resignation over the Iraq war and attitude to the occupation of Diego Garcia precipitated his murder.

Bill Rammell, a loathsome, overweight and under educated toady acting as Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Foreign & Commonwealth Office in answer to the debate would give no answers or categorical assurances and said ..

"Due to the fact that settlement is not feasible, the Government decided after long and careful consideration—that was genuinely the case—to legislate to prevent it. Equally, however, legislation to restore full immigration control over the entire territory is also necessary, and I do not absolve ourselves from responsibility for this so as to ensure and maintain the availability and effective use of the territory for defence purposes for which it was constituted and set aside in accordance with the UK's treaty obligations entered into almost 40 years ago."

After a change of Government and Foreign Secrtary, the UK Government / Foreign Office on Monday 25th June 2007 asked the House of Lords for permission to appeal against last month's High Court judgement saying the Chagossians should be allowed to return.