News Release

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed Prosecution

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DAVID SWANSON
Cofounder of AfterDowningStreet.org, Swanson is author of the recently released book Daybreak: Undoing the Imperial Presidency and Forming a More Perfect Union. He said today: “Providing charges and trials, even belatedly, even for selected prisoners is progress. But Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was tortured, and our president has forbidden our Justice Department to prosecute that crime. A just system would make available at trial all records, including video, of all confessions and interrogations. Under such a system, KSM’s prosecution would lead to the prosecution of his torturers and those who authorized that torture. In addition to this divided system, the provision of trial by civilian court for those most likely to be convicted, and trial by military ‘court’ for those less likely, and lawless imprisonment for those least likely, is not justice; it’s cheating.”

Background:

Fox News: “Pentagon Releases Audio of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed Testimony” [unclear whether audio is now available]

Col. Lawrence B. Wilkerson, Colin Powell’s former chief of staff, recently wrote: “What I have learned is that as the administration authorized harsh interrogation in April and May of 2002 — well before the Justice Department had rendered any legal opinion — its principal priority for intelligence was not aimed at pre-empting another terrorist attack on the U.S. but discovering a smoking gun linking Iraq and al-Qa’ida.” See “Powell Denies Knowledge of Torture-War Link

Also see: “Detainees to Get ‘The-State-Always-Wins’ System of ‘Justice’: Obama’s announcement to try 9/11 defendants would be commendable if it applied to all, rather than some, detainees” by Glenn Greenwald

For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy:
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; or David Zupan, (541) 484-9167