The Pentagon chief loses bid to reject 9/11 plea deals

A recent ruling by a military appeals court has overturned Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s attempt to invalidate the plea deals made for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two other defendants involved in the 9/11 attacks. These agreements would have seen the trio plead guilty to their roles in one of the most devastating attacks on American soil, in exchange for avoiding the death penalty. The attacks orchestrated by al-Qaida on September 11, 2001, resulted in the deaths of nearly 3,000 people and marked a turning point in U.S. foreign policy, leading to military interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq under the banner of the war on terror.

The decision from the military appeals court, released on Monday night, reinstates the plea deals that had been negotiated over two years between military prosecutors and defense attorneys for Mohammed, Walid bin Attash, and Mustafa al-Hawsawi. These agreements were seen as a potential resolution to the lengthy and legally complex case being heard at the U.S. military commission in Guantanamo Bay.

Central to the pretrial hearings has been the issue of alleged torture inflicted on the defendants during their time in CIA custody, raising concerns about the admissibility of evidence in the case. Despite these challenges, supporters of the plea agreements viewed them as a path towards a conclusion in a case that has spanned more than a decade.

Following the announcement of the plea deals last summer, Defense Secretary Austin moved to nullify them, citing the gravity of the 9/11 attacks as a reason for his decision. However, defense lawyers argued that Austin had overstepped his authority by interfering in a decision that had already been approved by the Guantanamo court.

The military judge overseeing the 9/11 case concurred with this assessment, leading to the Defense Department’s appeal to the military appeals court. Austin now has the option to escalate the matter to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

In a separate development, the Pentagon confirmed the repatriation of Ridah bin Saleh al-Yazidi, a Tunisian detainee who had been held at Guantanamo since 2002. Al-Yazidi’s return to Tunisia reduces the detainee population at Guantanamo to 26 individuals, with 14 detainees awaiting transfer to other countries.

The Biden administration has faced calls from human rights groups to expedite the release of Guantanamo detainees held without charge. In recent weeks, three individuals were transferred out of the facility, with efforts ongoing to find suitable host countries for the remaining detainees.

Of the current detainees at Guantanamo, seven are involved in active cases, while two have already been convicted and sentenced by the military commission. The repatriation of al-Yazidi marks a significant step in the ongoing efforts to address the legacy of Guantanamo and the legal complexities surrounding the detainees held there.