On 18th August 2023 the Military Commission in the case of United States of America v Al-Nashiri gave a ruling on a request for the suppression (or exclusion) of statements made by Mr Al-Nashiri to US Government officials in January 2007 after he was officially returned to the Guantanamo Bay detention facility following four years in black sites where he was subjected to the Enhanced Interrogation Techniques programme. In a scathing and significant judgment, the Military Judge concluded that those statement ought to be suppressed as they were derived from the previous torture and psychological abuse which Mr Al-Nashiri was subjected to. The US Government has appealed to the Court of Military Commission Review.
Following BHRC’s second Guantanamo Military Commissions Trial Observation Report released in June 2023, BHRC has on 26th September 2023 submitted an amicus brief to the Court, written by barristers Stephen Cragg KC (Chair of BHRC) and Jodie Blackstock (BHRC Executive Committee), highlighting that international law requires the exclusion of evidence obtained as a result of torture and highlights caselaw and UN conventions, general comments and guidance on the rights of detainees in the context of interrogation following torture.
Download the brief here: Al-Nashiri BHRC Amicus 25.09.23.
