US Supreme Court justices pressure Biden on 9/11 suspect status
Some of the US Supreme Court justices are demanding answers from the Biden administration on why a 9/11 suspect — al-Qaeda’s Abu Zubaydah — is still held without charges.
"I don't understand why he's still there after 14 years," said Justice Stephen Breyer.
The al-Qaeda suspect, who was allegedly arrested in Pakistan in 2002, is part of the court’s case about state secrets and brutal torture at CIA black-sites.
"Why not make the witness [Zubaydah] available? What is the government's objection to the witness testifying to his own treatment and not requiring any admission from the government of any kind?" Justice Neil Gorsuch asked acting Solicitor General Brian Fletcher, who represents the administration US President Joe Biden in the case.
Zubaydah has reportedly been tortured during interrogations, including 83 instance of waterboarding and being locked 11 days in a coffin-size confinement box.
"I understand there are all sorts of rules and protective orders," Gorsuch said. "I'd just really appreciate a straight answer to this: will the government make Petitioner [Zubaydah] available to testify as to his treatment during these dates?"
The suspect has also been subjected to “walling, attention grasps, slapping, facial holds, stress positions and sleep deprivation.”
The Biden representative, meanwhile, refused to provide any answers, tying cooperation with the court to consultation with the US Department of Defense.
"Well, gosh," replied Gorsuch, "this case has been litigated for years and all the way up to the United States Supreme Court, and you haven't considered whether that's an off-ramp that -- that the government could provide?"
US government officials have tried to block the release of notes detailing the torture that the suspect experienced as part of the cover-up of Washington’s torture program on the pretext of finding those responsible for the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
"That is the government's position, that notwithstanding withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, we continue to be engaged in hostilities with al-Qaeda and therefore that detention under law of order remains proper," Fletcher replied.
The CIA's interrogation of suspected terrorists has been proven to be far more brutal than the spy agency has disclosed.
On the surface, CIA torture techniques have been cited as sleep deprivation, confinement in small spaces, humiliation and the simulated drowning, known as waterboarding.
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