NationStates Jolt Archive

A verdict on Padilla – and the US
Wed Aug 15

A critical legal case shedding light on President Bush's antiterror tactics will soon come to a head. A jury will decide in coming days if Jose Padilla, is guilty of aiding Al Qaeda. The verdict will signal whether US civic values must be bent to win a war.

A three-part Monitor series reveals the troubling ways in which the administration shifted charges against Mr. Padilla, tried to avoid judicial review of his case, and likely damaged his mental health by using extreme isolation to extract information from him.

The ordeal of this former gang member and Taco Bell worker born in Brooklyn, who allegedly met with Al Qaeda leaders in Afghanistan to plot a radiological "dirty bomb" attack on a US city, has taken on implications that will shape the American campaign against Islamic terrorists for years to come.

At its root, US treatment of Padilla shows the inclination to do anything to break the silence of a suspected terrorist, even it means violating such basic citizen rights as protection against self-incrimination and harsh interrogation, as well as the right to a trial.

In short, the US military used terror – Padilla had little or no human contact for more than three years – to fight terror. Many mental health experts say his severe seclusion in a Navy brig impaired his thinking.

A judge confirmed the disability but let the case continue, refusing to probe the government's hand in altering Padilla's ability to defend himself.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20070815/cm_csm/epadilla_1
The verdict is out.. the US justice system has convicted Padilla.

The verdict is out for Padilla... and for the US justice system.

Sounds good to me. The judge obviously felt that Padilla could adequately participate in his own defense. He'll get his appaels.




Fuck him.

All he has to do is argue that the government's dicking around denied him his right to speedy trial and he's off.

Some psychological tests place him on par with individuals who have suffered brain damage, according to the reports prepared by Hegarty, Grassian, and Patricia Zapf, a New York psychologist and psychology professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York.

Padilla's treatment in the brig is classified as a state secret.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20070813/ts_csm/apadillaone_1

It adds up to about the same thing as Guantanamo Bay - if we label you a terrorist, we can do anything to you, including torture and being held without trial. Wish Europe and China had the balls to do something about it (aka sanctions - yes, they'd take economic hits, but a truly moral nation would be willing to do so for humanitarian rights), since the people of the US obviously don't.