Charles Swift: Use Of Waterboarding Evidence In Court Unheard Of Since 'Spanish Inquisition'

[Hissyspit]

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/02/12/swift-911

Charles Swift: Use Of Waterboarding Evidence In Court Unheard Of Since ‘Spanish Inquisition’

Military prosecutors announced yesterday that they have filed death penalty charges “against a former senior leader of Al Qaeda and five other Guantánamo detainees on Monday for their roles” in the 9/11 attacks.

One of these detainees, Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, the so-called 9/11 “mastermind,” has been confirmed to have been waterboarded. Yesterday evening, Attorney General Mike Mukasey refused to rule out using this evidence in court, saying, “What evidence gets presented at this trial is up to the prosecutors.”

On CNN last night, Charles Swift, the “hero of Guantanamo” who represented Salim Hamdan in the case Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, slammed the government’s refusal to rule out waterboarding-based evidence in the military commission:

SWIFT: And if we use — we move beyond the torture discussion to the question of using this in a trial where life and death is at stake. If we use waterboarded testimony in that trial, to my knowledge…the last precedent for using that kind of testimony was the Spanish Inquisition.

VIDEO AT LINK

[Winterblues]

1. USA ~ USA ~ USA ~ USA

:shrug: Does anyone believe the American people really give a shit if we torture people or not? It just makes it that much more entertaining for them...

[nightrider767]

2. Sad But True...

Seems to be a good point.

[PDJane]

3. I can't tell you how I feel about this.

It is, in my view, a complete abrogation of civilized behaviour and the rule of law.

There is absolutely no excuse for this behaviour, and there should be a war crimes tribunal for the entire admninistration.

[underpants]

4. Email I got from Think Progress

Thanks Jeff

-----Original Message-----
From: Jeff ########XX##XXXXXXXXXX
Sent: February 12, 2008 9:50 AM
To: Thinkprogress
Subject: A message from the ThinkProgress.org website


You may want to look around for a video of Charles Swift LIVE on CNN
yesterday afternoon.

Links to the transcript

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&fo
rum=389&topic_id=2851117&mesg_id=2851117

He was on during the 1PM hour
http://www6.lexisnexis.com/publisher/EndUser?Action=UserDisplayCiteList&
orgId=574&topicId=100007219

Prosecutors Seek Death Penalty for 9/11 Suspects; Student Shot in
Memphis High School; Candidates Campaign Before Potomac Primaries CNN,
SHOW: CNN NEWSROOM 1:00 PM EST DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Sparked by the
worst terrorist attack on American soil and years in the making, the
government\'s 9/11 case moves forward. BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: We
start with breaking news...

[Warpy]

5. Any judge who allows the use of such testimony

needs to be removed. It's completely against our entire body of law to use evidence obtained under extreme duress.

[tanyev]

6. Well, no one could have anticipated the Spanish Inquisition.

[annabanana]

7. Our Shame will live down through the ages for this.. . . .n/t

[babylonsister]

8. I cannot even believe anyone puts up with this. What have we become? nt