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United States v. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, et al. is the Guantanamo military commission trial of the five alleged principals in the September 11, 2001 attacks. They are alleged Al-Qaeda members as well.
The five men ultimately charged are Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Walid bin Attash, Ramzi bin al-Shibh, Ammar al-Baluchi, and Mustafa Ahmad al Hawsawi.[1]
Charges
Charges against six accused were originally announced by Brigadier General Thomas W. Hartmann on February 11, 2008 at a press conference at the Pentagon.[2] By the time charges were "referred" (the military procedural equivalent of an indictment) in May 2008, there were only five accused. Later, it was revealed that the military commission Convening Authority (Susan Crawford, at the time) had seen evidence that the additional detainee originally charged, Mohammed al-Qhatani, had been tortured in military custody.[3]
In an 123-page complaint[4] the group was charged under the military commission system, as established under the Military Commissions Act of 2006, with attacking civilians, attacking civilian objects, intentionally causing serious bodily injury, murder in violation of the law of war, destruction of property in violation of the law of war, hijacking or hazarding a vessel or aircraft, terrorism, and providing material support for terrorism.[5] If convicted, the five will face the death penalty.
The charges include 2,973 individual counts of murder – one for each person killed in the 9/11 attacks.[6][7]
The U.S. government is seeking the death penalty, which would require the unanimous agreement of the commission judges.
Human rights groups, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the Center for Constitutional Rights, and U.S. military defense lawyers have criticised the military commissions for lacking necessary rights for a fair trial. Critics generally argue for a trial either in a federal district court as a common criminal suspect, or by court-martial as a prisoner under the Geneva Conventions which prohibit civilian trials for prisoners of war. Mohammed could face the death penalty under any of these systems.
The Pentagon insisted that Mohammed and the other defendant would receive a fair trial, with rights "virtually identical" to U.S. military service personnel. However, there are some differences between U.S. courts-martial and military commissions.
The U.S. Department of Defense has built a $12 million "Expeditionary Legal Complex" in Guantánamo with a snoop-proof courtroom capable of trying six alleged co-conspirators before one judge and jury. Media and other observers are sequestered in a soundproofed room behind thick glass, at the rear, where they can watch live but listen only on a 40-second delay.[7] Both the judge at the front and a court security officer have mute buttons to silence the feed to the observers' booth if they suspect someone in court could reveal classified information.[8]
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- ^ Rosenberg, Carol (21 December 2015). "About the 9/11 war crimes trial". Miami Herald.
- ^ Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War (Article 84)
- ^ Glaberson, Bill (January 14, 2009). "Detainee Was Tortured, a Bush Official Confirms". New York Times. Retrieved August 19, 2021.
- ^ Office of, Military Commissions. "United States of America vs. Khalid Sheik Mohammed et. al" (PDF). mc.mil.
- ^ Charges on Findlaw.com
- ^ "Guantanamo 9/11 suspects on trial". BBC News. June 6, 2008. Retrieved December 8, 2008.
- ^ a b Rosenberg, Carol (August 30, 2019). "Trial for Men Charged With Plotting 9/11 Attacks Is Set for 2021". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
- ^ "About the 9/11 war crimes trial", Miami Herald, February 27, 2008