A panel of UN experts and a group of 100 legal and human rights scholars have written to the president appealing to him to pardon the 53-year-old prisoner, the first 9/11 detainee to be tortured at the CIA global network of secret prisons.
“His immediate release and relocation to a third safe country are long overdue,” a group of 12 UN special rapporteurs on arbitrary detention, forced disappearances and other human issues, wrote in their letter to the outgoing president.
“Mr Abu Zubaydah suffers serious health conditions, including from injuries sustained during torture that are allegedly exacerbated by the denial of medical attention. In addition, lawyer-client communication has been seriously impeded,” they said.
he was subjected to physical abuse until he “didn’t know who he was any more”.
He was initially described by the US as one of al-Qaida’s top leaders, but later US intelligence assessments conceded he probably knew nothing of the 9/11 attacks and may not even have been a member of al-Qaida.
Well. I bet he will be now. Better keep him then.
/s
Btw, didn’t Biden’s former boss try to close GITMO?
Executive Order 13492, titled Review and Disposition of Individuals Detained at the Guantánamo Bay Naval Base and Closure of Detention Facilities, is an Executive Order that was signed by United States President Barack Obama on 22 January 2009, ordering the closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba.
We couldn’t get this done in the last four years either?
Did he even look at it during his term?
I think the problem Obama ran into that still exists is to close Gitmo, the remaining prisoners have to go somewhere, and nobody will take some of them. DoD announced very recently a large portion are going to Oman, so this is still in process it seems.
The obvious lesson to learn is it’s a bad idea to extrajudicially detain and torture enemy combatants that don’t fight for a particular government. Or in my opinion don’t do that even if they do belong to a government willing to take them back.
I guess we’ll know for next time 🤷
I’m so confused. Didn’t Trump already become president?
6 days until that happens.
yikes. reality has just hit that it’s going to happen very soon.
Wasn’t the inauguration on Jan 6 tho?
No, that was certifying the election (where Congress counts the electoral votes). Inauguration is the 20th.
Damn such pagentry. Why not do both on the same day?
Us is a big country and when we formed it could take days to get from states to the capitol. Legislators and leaders might be away from home for a year or more and needed to get their home situated.
So there is a lot of time between elections and assuming office in national positions. Results had to go from state to national, get certified, return the results, get your house in order, travel to DC, hire staff, and arrange housing (if congress).
It’s also why 200 years ago the electoral college made sense. There wasn’t time to hold runoff elections. These days with fast information and travel it’s a garbage legacy system.
Yup and neither party wants to change it because that adds more competition. So we are stuck with it pretty much forever.
Would a pardon actually do anything if he is being held without charge?
I mean, if it will finally serve justice and free him, then do it. But if it is not necessary, then why wait? Just let him go already.
Ya he should. Biden should be put in his place in lieu. Would be his just desserts.
Why? Biden didn’t put him in there.
It’s not because he put him there 😂 it is because his crimes against humanity far out weigh this dudes
thank you what a cool and intelligent community of smart comments
Well this is a dumb take
You don’t think Joe Biden has hurt more people and caused more devastation than this dude? The man that wrote the war on drugs crime bill? Lmao
