Washington (United States) (AFP) – Jury selection began on Monday in the long-delayed trial of Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, the accused mastermind of the 2000 attack on the USS Cole warship that left 17 American sailors dead. Nashiri was captured in Dubai in 2002 and underwent harsh interrogations in a secret CIA prison before being transferred to the US military base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba 20 years ago, where he has been held ever since.
“Panel selection began” on Monday afternoon, Ronald Flesvig, spokesperson for the Office of Military Commissions, told AFP. The attack on the USS Cole was carried out by two militants in a speedboat laden with explosives that detonated near the warship—a guided missile destroyer—as it took on fuel in the harbor at Aden, Yemen. Nashiri was charged in April 2011 with offenses including murder in violation of the law of war and terrorism, but his case has been mired in pre-trial proceedings for years.
Several of the charges faced by Nashiri—a Saudi national who was considered close to late Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden—can carry the death penalty. His case has been complicated by abuse during his detention, with defense lawyers unsuccessfully arguing that Nashiri was not competent to stand trial due to trauma he suffered. He was subjected to so-called “enhanced interrogation techniques” on at least four occasions during his detention, according to a US Senate report released in 2014.
During one session in December 2002, Nashiri was blindfolded by a CIA officer who put a pistol near his head and “operated a cordless drill” close to his body. An internal CIA investigation found that the officer, among others, slapped Nashiri “multiple times,” blew cigar smoke in his face, and implied his mother would be brought in and sexually abused in front of him. They also subjected him to “improvised stress positions” causing cuts and bruises, before a medical officer expressed concern that his shoulders could end up dislocated. Nashiri has said he suffered abuse while at Guantanamo as well, complaining of having to wear chains and of enduring “ill-treatment” by guards.
A military judge ruled in August 2023 that a confession by Nashiri was tainted by years of abuse at the hands of the CIA and FBI and could not be used as evidence. Guantanamo Bay, located 430 miles (700 kilometers) southeast of Miami on the southeastern coast of Cuba, has been used to indefinitely hold detainees seized during the wars and other operations that followed the September 11, 2001 attacks. Conditions there have prompted outcry from rights groups, and UN experts have condemned it as a site of “unparalleled notoriety.” President Donald Trump’s administration has also used the base as a holding center for migrants who are being deported from the United States.
© 2024 AFP
