GTMO UPDATE: A Sweep of Commission Cancelations & Prison COVID Outbreaks

The KSM et al 9/11 pre-trials were canceled yet again for the month of July as many of you know and aren’t surprised.

As of today, now all of the multiple proceedings over the next couple months are canceled or continued.

My questions for the official reasons why all the GTMO cancelations, were answered by a DOD Official with Knowledge of Military Commissions...

He said; “The judge in the 9/11 case has cancelled every hearing scheduled since the announcement of the plea negotiations in MAR 2022. The judge cited “plea negotiations” as the reason for the majority of the cancellations. Initially, the hearings were postponed while the commission waited for government “policymakers” to decide on the “policy principles” offered by the defense in the plea negotiations. The government has not made a decision on the “policy principles” and won’t for “some time.

Barring any COVID interference, the SEP KSM et al hearing will proceed as scheduled because the mental capacity report on one of the accused 9/11 defendants, Ramzi bin al-Shibh, is complete. The judge used the capacity review board to cancel recent hearings, saying that “it would be prudent” to delay case testimony and legal arguments until September because a panel of military mental health experts was investigating the mental capacity of Ramzi bin al-Shibh.

If the independent medical panel concludes that Ramzi is unfit for trial, the prosecutors will challenge that finding. The prosecutors have argued that all five accused should be tried at the same time to spare the families of the victims from multiple trials.”

As of Friday, I received a text message from another DOD Official giving the following updated information…

“Oh, by the way, as of last night COVID is back at GTMO. Four detainees have it. Maybe September will be canceled after all, too. Stay tuned!”

Ugh! That’s exactly how GTMO shut down for two weeks to flatten the curve in March of 2020. Are we headed for another shutdown? Watch September closely for the KSM et al 9/11 case. As of this report… September is still on.

Written report can be found here: https://c-vine.com/blog/gtmo-update-a-sweep-of-commission-cancelations-prison-covid-outbreaks/