Alleged al-Qaeda mastermind appeals to Supreme Court

I wrote this story for The Times yesterday but it didn't make it. I think it's interesting, showing how an inmate of Guantanamo, although held outside the jurisdiction of the US federal justice system, still believes in the potential power and fairness of the American Supreme Court. Kinda weird really! --------------------------------------------------------- The alleged mastermind of a terrorist suicide attack on an American warship which killed 17 sailors and wounded 37 other crew members, is appealing to the US Supreme Court in an attempt to stop his trial at Guantanamo Bay detention camp on the grounds that he was tortured by the CIA. Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, a 52-year-old Saudi national and alleged senior member of al-Qaeda who has been held at Guantanamo since 2006, has been charged with orchestrating the attack in 2000 on the USS Cole, a guided-missile destroyer, when it was off Aden. An explosives-filled boat was driven to the warship while it was engaged in refuelling. The detonation blasted a huge hole in the side.He is also charged with directing an attempted boat attack on USS The Sullivans, another guided-missile destroyer, and a suicide bombing of MV Limburg, a French supertanker, which killed one crew member and injured 12. He faces the death penalty if convicted.It’s the first time that an inmate of Guantanamo at the US naval station in Cuba has appealed to America’s highest court to block a military tribunal. His lawyers have amassed a huge pile of documents to back their case. A bid to the US Appeals Court to stop the military trial failed last year.Declassified official reports reveal Al-Nashiri was subjected to waterboarding torture three times, hung naked upside down in chains, threatened with a power drill, confined in a small box, forced to have a cold bath while being scrubbed with a wire brush, and told that his mother would be brought before him and sexually abused.The so-called enhanced interrogation techniques were carried out while Al-Nashiri was being held by the CIA in secret “black” prisons in Poland after his arrest in Dubai in 2002. He was transferred to Guantanamo in September, 2006.His lawyers also want the Supreme Court to rule on the legal implications of President George W Bush’s war on terror which led to the setting up of Guantanamo after 9/11 and the detention of al-Qaeda suspects categorised as “enemy combatants”. As such, the 41 remaining detainees are held outside the US federal system, and are not protected by America's constitutional rights.The lawyers argue that since Al-Nashiri’s alleged crimes were committed before 9/11, he should not be held or put on trial at Guantanamo.If he was put on trial in the US, the torture he suffered could then become a key part of his defence. He was charged in 2011, but at pre-trial hearings in the Guantanamo military tribunal courtroom, defence lawyers were initially prohibited from raising the torture issue or even mentioning the CIA for reasons of national security.The Supreme Court will soon include a judge nominated by President Trump, if confirmed by the Senate. Mr Trump has said he wants to keep Guantanamo as a detention centre. President Obama tried to close it but was blocked by Congress. Judge Neil Gorsuch began his Senate confirmation hearing yesterday (Mon).