22 September 2023 , 14:36
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A judge has ruled one of the alleged organisers of the 9/11 attacks will not stand trial in the US because of his mental state caused by torture.
Ramzi bin al-Shibh, 51, is being held at the Guantanamo Bay naval base in Cuba, where he was subjected to torture while in the custody of the CIA. Colonel Matthew McCall upheld a recommendation by a panel that deemed al-Shibh is incompetent to take part in the proceedings against him.
The New York Times reports that al-Shibh is now "delusional and psychotic." The report by the medical panel said he would be "unable to understand the nature of the proceedings against him or cooperate intelligently" if he stood trial.
He was subjected to solitary confinement, being forced to stand sleepless for as long as three days at a time, being naked except for a diaper and doused with cold water in air-conditioned rooms.
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Ramzi bin al-Shibh is accused of being one of the facilitators of 9/11 (ICRC)The Yemeni prisoner is reported to believe he was under attack by invisible rays is accused of organising one of the 9/11 cells. His defence lawyers argue he needs post-torture trauma care and to no longer subject to solitary confinement in order to regain his competency.
Prosecutor Clayton Trivett said al-Shibh is delusional, but “he has the capacity to participate” with his lawyers “and it's really just a choice,” Trivett argued.
The case is a hangover of the George W. Bush years, in which the use of torture was approved in the interrogation of prisoners suspected of terrorism. The medical panel believes al-Shibh has post-traumatic stress disorder with secondary psychotic features as a result.
Prisoners have been tortured in Guantanamo (DOD / US NAVY/AFP via Getty Images)David Bruck, attorney for al-Shibh that the diagnosis is creating “a moment of truth" and an opportunity for the country to take into account the harm that was done by allowing torture. White House incumbent President Joe Biden has so far declined to approve or deny demands presented by defense lawyers in plea negotiations to settle the case.
Defense and prosecution attorneys had been negotiating a possible deal that would have five defendants plead guilty in exchange for being spared the death penalty. The five men, including alleged lead conspirator Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, are accused of helping al-Qaeda terrorists take control of aeroplanes in September 2001.
The five defendants are being prosecuted jointly. Tuesday was the first time in more than a year the men were in the Guantanamo commission room together.
Spectators on the Brooklyn Heights Promenade watch the smoke rise from where the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre stood (Getty Images)Some family members of 9/11 victims objected to the plea negotiations. Conservatives faulted the Biden administration for allowing them.
Biden was unsettled about accepting terms for the plea from those responsible for the deadliest assault on the United States since Pearl Harbour, a White House National Security Council official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.
Al-Shibh was not included in the plea negotiations because of his mental state. He is currently being held in disciplinary solitary confinement at Guantanamo, after staging a protest in his cell about the invisible attacks, Bruck said. The defense lawyer said the event did not injure others but gave no details.