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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — An Afghan detainee at Guantanamo Bay was the alleged victim of an abusive tactic meant to decrease his resistance to interrogation, a Pentagon-appointed defence attorney said Wednesday in a motion to dismiss charges.

Air Force Maj. David Frakt filed the motion to dismiss war-crime charges against Mohammed Jawad because he was allegedly subjected to a sleep-disruption technique that involved round-the-clock cell transfers at the isolated U.S. detention center in Cuba.

Frakt alleged that Jawad underwent the so-called “frequent-flyer program“ at the U.S. base a total of 112 times during a two-week period in May 2004. Jawad, a 23-year-old accused of a grenade attack that wounded two U.S. soldiers, was about 19 at the time.

He claims Jawad, who he said tried to commit suicide on Christmas Day in 2003, was “tortured” because a U.S. military investigation report said the practice had allegedly been banned by the base commander earlier in 2004.

“It is inconceivable to me that my client, a suicidal teenager with no ties to al-Qaida, who had already been incarcerated for over 16 months and interrogated over 20 times, would be a candidate for any sleep deprivation interrogation program,” Frakt said.

A Pentagon spokesman, Navy Cmdr. Jeffrey Gordon, declined to discuss Jawad’s case since it is currently before a military judge, but he reiterated the Defense Department’s policy of humane treatment of detainees.

Frakt alleged that prison records provided by the government in discovery chronicled the sleep-disruption practices to “soften” his client for interrogation sessions.

Under the Military Commissions Act, which governs America’s first war-crimes trials since the the Second World War era, statements obtained through torture are not admissible. But some statements obtained through “coercion” may be admitted at the discretion of a military judge.

At his arraignment in March, Jawad, who was forcibly carried out of his cell after refusing to attend the court hearing, said he had been mistreated at Guantanamo and denounced the tribunal system as unjust. He did not enter a plea to charges of attempted murder and intentionally causing serious bodily injury, which carry a maximum sentence of life in prison.

The U.S. military says it plans to prosecute roughly 80 of the 270 men imprisoned at Guantanamo on suspicion of links to terrorism, the Taliban or al-Qaida.

May 29th, 2008 | Category: "Enhanced Interrogation Techniques", Abuse, Angel/Attorney, Guantanamo, Minor |  Print This Post | Subscribe to comments | Leave a comment | Trackback URL