Advertisement

Opinion: Accused terrorist’s testimony is excluded, and the CIA is to blame

Share

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Opponents of trying accused terrorists in civilian court are claiming vindication after a ruling last week by a federal judge in New York. U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan, who is presiding over a trial growing out of the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Africa, excluded the testimony of a key prosecution witness because he came to the government’s attention as the result of a coercive interrogation.

But there is no guarantee that a military commission, the critics’ preferred tribunal, would have admitted the tainted testimony. The real lesson of the judge’s ruling is that “enhanced interrogation methods” are incompatible with the American system of justice.

Advertisement

Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, who is charged with the bombings, was interrogated by the CIA in a secret prison before being transferred to Guantanamo. The chief witness against him was to have been Hussein Abebe, who would have testified that he sold Ghailani explosives. But Kaplan excluded the testimony because Ghailani identified Abebe during a coercive interrogation.

The government is pressing forward with Ghailani’s trial, hoping to convict him on other evidence. Regardless of the outcome, however, the exclusion of Abebe’s testimony was a setback. Was it also an argument against civilian trials for other “high-value” detainees, including 9/11 plotter Khalid Shaikh Mohammed?

Not necessarily. The Military Commissions Act prohibits the use of evidence gained through torture or “cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.” It is possible that, based on this language, a military judge might also exclude Abebe’s testimony.

The problem presented by the exclusion of Abebe’s testimony isn’t a weakness in the criminal justice system. It’s the CIA’s decision to subject prisoners in its custody to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.

-- Michael McGough

Advertisement