Guantánamo Bay Detainees' Terror Convictions Overturned in France

by Tina Kells | February 24, 2009 at 12:03 pm

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The terror convictions of five former Guantánamo Bay detainees have been overturned in France after the high court ruled the evidence of their guilt was obtained in a manner that violated French rules of evidence and the terms of the Geneva Convention.

Mourad Benchellali, 26; Brahim Yadel, 37; Nizar Sassi, 27; Khaled Ben Mustapha, 35; and Redouane Khalid, 39; were detained at the Guantánamo Bay after their individual captures in Afghanistan in 2001 and 2002.

While at the Guantánamo Bay facility the men claimed they were tortured until they offered confessions which were then used to convict them. The French court agreed that the interrogations of the men while at Guantánamo were not in accordance with international law.

The confessions were the only evidence supporting the terror convictions. The French high court determined that without the shakey confessions there was no evidence of wrong doing by the defendants.

The court ruled that information gathered by French intelligence officials in interrogations at Guantánamo Bay violated French rules for permissible evidence, and that there was no other proof of wrongdoing.
None of the men, who were originally captured in Afghanistan in 2001 and 2002, is currently in jail, having been given time off for time already served.

But the ruling is likely to be seen as a precedent for similar cases, as well as inject more uncertainty into the sensitive process of repatriating inmates being released from Guantánamo Bay, which President Obama has vowed to shut down. Various European countries have expressed willingness in principle to take some of the inmates, depending on their potential for dangerous behavior and whether the United States also accepts some. Some European countries prefer that the European Union come up with a unified position, so Washington cannot play one country against another while trying to negotiate placements.

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Roy C

at 12:16 on February 24th, 2009

If you have ever worked in a prison or jail, as I have, then you learn, unfortunately, to take their stories with scepticism.

Obama is going to be sending these POWs to the Afghan prison, where they will be until Al Qada says its war is over.

They will have no rights, as they will be under the jurisdiction of the Afghan gov't. The Afghan gov't does not have all these problems as to what to do with combatants captured out of uniform on the battlefield.

In the old days of war, we would have simply detained them for the rest of the war in Kansas or Texas or in some outpost in Scotland, if not shot immediately as saboteurs or spies.

Tina Kells

at 14:34 on February 24th, 2009

I think the issue at hand here is the Geneva Convention and the treatment it requires of prisoners.

Here is the document outlining how POWs are to be treated under the law.

In 2003 the US announced that it would treat all al-Qaeda and Taliban detainees according to the Geneva Convention guidelines.

The President and military leaders decided in 2003 that the U.S. would treat captured members of al-Qaeda and the Taliban “consistent with the principles of the Geneva Convention,” affording these detainees the protections and benefits of the Conventions despite their failure to abide by them as combatants.

If indeed detainees are to be returned to Afghanistan and they meet the definition of a soldier as outlined under the Geneva Convention they too would have to be treated appropriately. Afghanistan signed the Geneva Convention in 1949 and ratified it in 1956.

Taliban fighters require a slightly different analysis. Afghanistan did sign the Geneva Conventions on August 12, 1949, and it ratified the Conventions onSeptember 26, 1956. As such, Afghanis may be covered by the Conventions. Further, despite that the United States and the international community did not officially recognize the Taliban as a legitimate government, it was at least arguably the ruling party in Afghanistan from 1996 until 2001, when it was ousted from power by a U.S.-led international coalition.

Roy C

at 14:52 on February 24th, 2009

Why do we forget that Obama has just commissioned a study of the Gitmo prisoners and they found that, except for more opportunity for socialization, the Gitmo prisoners' treatment is totally in line with the Geneva Conventions?

Obama ran that study to give himself cover in case he changes his mind.

flowergerrilla (not verified)

at 07:04 on March 11th, 2009

Roy,

Most of the detainees were captured with the lure of a large bounty. These were detained w/ NO CHARGES for YEARS. These same laws are currently in place in the USA. We have lost the right to dissent w/o fear of illegal detention and charge (See RNC8 case). If we don't hang on and fight for the rights all citizens of a free world, especially the ones exemplified by the idea of America, then we have truly lost our way. Giving up civil rights out of the fear of terrorists means as Ben Franklin or one of the Founders said, we don't deserve a democracy.

Rhonda J Mangus

at 14:24 on February 24th, 2009

Thank you for this very important story, Tina!

Roy C

at 14:54 on February 24th, 2009

Here it is:

“A Pentagon review of conditions at the Guantanamo Bay military prison has concluded that the treatment of detainees meets the requirements of the Geneva Conventions but that prisoners in the highest-security camps should be allowed more religious and social interaction, according to a government official who has read the 85-page document.

The report, which President Obama ordered, was prepared by Adm. Patrick M. Walsh, the vice chief of naval operations, and has been delivered to the White House. Obama requested the review as part of an executive order on the planned closure of the prison at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, on the southeastern tip of Cuba.

Another aspect of the closure — what to do with the approximately 245 detainees — will be considered by an interagency task force, and yesterday the Justice Department announced the head of that group: Matthew G. Olsen, a 12-year career prosecutor and acting assistant attorney general for national security.

Review teams will examine each detainee’s case and report to Olsen, who will make recommendations to senior officials from Justice and other agencies, including the departments of State and Defense and the CIA. Those officials will make the final decision on each prisoner.

“The Task Force will consider whether it is possible to transfer or release detained individuals consistent with the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States; evaluate whether the government should seek to prosecute detained individuals for crimes they may have committed; and, if none of those options are possible, the Task Force will recommend other lawful means for disposition of the detained individuals,” the Justice Department said in a statement.”