17 September 2024 | The Bar Human Rights Committee has today launched its latest Guantanamo trial observation report authored by Zimran Samuel MBE, BHRC Executive Committee member, following his visit on behalf of BHRC to the Base for the 49th set of pretrial hearings in the case of USA v Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, et al – the trial of five men for a range of crimes relating to the planning of the 9/11 hijackings and attacks on the US. Mr Samuel is a barrister at Doughty Street Chambers in London and serves as a Visiting Professor in Practice at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
For many years BHRC has closely followed the use of the detention facility at the United States Naval Base, Guantánamo Bay, Cuba (“the Base”) and procedural developments in the Military Commissions established under the Military Commissions Act 2009. BHRC has consistently expressed concern about the use of the detention facility and the lack of procedural safeguards within the trials, together with broader issues including extraordinary rendition and torture.
In 2019, the Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales (BHRC) became the only UK-based organisation to be granted official observer status for the ongoing trials at the Military Commission. BHRC has observed three cases and has submitted amicus briefs to the Court and Court of Military Commissions Review. BHRC continues to highlight human rights issues and express serious concern that the proceedings before the Military Commissions demonstrate a fundamental departure from fair trial norms and the rule of law.
In the report, Mr Samuel writes: ‘The whole setup and process of the proceedings is a bizarre and fascinating cocktail of contradictions. It is remarkable that the facility still exists and operates today and is likely to continue for the foreseeable future. For many the detention facility is no longer in the public eye in the manner it once was, nor does it inspire the same level of outrage among the public and the international community as it once did. However, that does not take away from the significant breaches of international law and norms still taking place and the significant revelations that are heard at hearings by only a handful of people. The whole process does little to achieve justice for the victims of 9/11 and remains heavily stacked against the detainees receiving a fair trial.’
This report again endorses, as did the BHRC trial observation report in the Al-Nashiri case, the view of the UN Special Rapporteur Fionnuala Ní Aoláin who concluded from her visit to Guantánamo Bay detention facility that currently several of the procedures in place establish structural deprivation and non-fulfilment of rights necessary for a humane and dignified existence and constitute at a minimum cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment across all detention practices at Guantánamo Bay. The Special Rapporteur was gravely concerned at the failure of the US Government to provide torture rehabilitation programs, such available healthcare falling short of the requisite holistic, independent, fully resourced, and designated treatment.
BHRC continues to recommend that the US close the detention facility at Guantánamo Bay Naval Base and make a renewed commitment to upholding international humanitarian and human rights law at all times and in particular for those who continue to be detained. Whilst the Base remains open, transparency should be increased with wider mechanisms to be able to follow what is happening in proceedings. As Mr Samuel writes: ‘The ability for BHRC legal observers to attend trial proceedings in person at the base is immensely valuable in a process which is marred by endemic secrecy and departures from procedural fair trial norms. Such observations allow for independent analysis of the fairness of the proceedings and the legal issues, including, for instance, reliance upon evidence tainted by torture and other departures from fundamental principles in the name of national security.’
The report was launched at a virtual panel discussion event held on 17 September at 18:00 on Zoom, which was chaired by Jodie Blackstock and welcomed as speakers Zimran Samuel MBE; James Connell, Learned Counsel at the Military Commissions Defense Organisation (MCDO) representing Ammar al Baluchi; Colleen Kelly, Co-Founder, 9/11 Families for Peaceful Tomorrows; and Alex McGrath, University of Michigan Law School and trial observer for the National Institute for Military Justice. The recording of the launch event will be made available here shortly after the conclusion of the panel.
For their invaluable support with the preparations, editing and production of this report, Zimran Samuel MBE extends his thanks and appreciation to Jodie Blackstock, Co-Vice Chair of BHRC and Barrister; and to the BHRC Project Officers, Dr Louise Loder and Sahar Sadoughi.
