Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri is believed to have planned the 2000 U.S.S. Cole bombing. A military judge threw out his confession this week, saying it was a product of brutal torture
The military judge in charge of the U.S.S. Cole bombing case where 17 U.S. soldiers died in 2000 threw out the confessions from the accused orchestrator, saying they were a product of torture.
Abd al-Rahim al Nashiri is accused of planning the al-Qaeda suicide bombing of the U.S.S. Cole in 2000 in Yemen. Col. Lanny J. Acosta Jr, the judge, said the confessions were discarded because Nashiri was waterboarded, deprived of sleep, isolated and threatened with violence.
“Exclusion of such evidence is not without societal costs,” the judge, Col. Lanny J. Acosta Jr., wrote in a 50-page decision. “However, permitting the admission of evidence obtained by or derived from torture by the same government that seeks to prosecute and execute the accused may have even greater societal costs.”
The exclusion of the confessions strips the prosecution of a key piece of evidence, forcing them to try to rebuild their case against the 58- year-old Nashiri. The case is the longest-lasting death penalty case at Guantanamo Bay, according to The New York Times.
Nashiri admitted to his involvement in the U.S.S Cole bombing after he was tortured by the CIA, he told the judge.
Nashiri admitted to his involvement in the U.S.S Cole bombing after he was tortured by the CIA, he told the judge.
Whether the confessions are admissible is something both the Justice and Defense Departments have struggled with for years in an attempt to prosecute other al-Qaeda engineers.
Col. Acosta’s decision sets a precedent for other cases and also forces prosecutors to rethink past cases involving other extreme CIA interrogation tactics.