Guantanamo Bay:
The self-proclaimed mastermind of the September 11 attacks repeatedly declined to respond to a judge's questions on Saturday and his co-defendant was briefly restrained at a military hearing as five men charged with the worst terror attack in US history appeared in public for the first time in more than three years.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his co-defendants appeared for arraignment at a military tribunal at Guantanamo Bay on charges that include 2,976 counts of murder for the 2001 attacks.
The hearing quickly bogged down before they could be arraigned as the men engaged in what appeared to be a concerted silent protest against the proceedings.
The trial brings up the controversial interrogation techniques of the Bush era.
The defendants were held in secret CIA prisons and Mohammed was reportedly subjected to the harsh interrogation technique, water boarding, 183 times in one month alone.
Human rights groups and the defence lawyers argue that the U.S. has sought to keep the case in the military commission to prevent disclosure of the harsh treatment of prisoners such as Mohammed, who was waterboarded 183 times and subjected to other measures that some have called torture.
Mohammed and his co-defendants took off the earphones that provide Arabic translations and refused to answer any questions from the judge, Army Col. James Pohl, dramatically slowing the hearing.
At one point, two of the men got up and prayed alongside their defence tables under the watchful eyes of troops arrayed along the sides of the high-security courtroom on the US base in Cuba.
Prisoner Walid bin Attash was put in a restraint chair for unspecified reasons and then removed from it after he agreed to behave; and lawyers for all defendants complained that the prisoners were prevented from wearing the civilian clothes of their choice.
Mohammed wore a white turban in court; his flowing beard, which had appeared to be graying in earlier hearings and photos, was streaked with red henna.
Mohammed's civilian lawyer, David Nevin, said he believed his client was not responding because he sees the tribunal as unfair.
Jim Harrington, a civilian attorney for Yemeni defendant Ramzi Binalshibh, said his client would not respond to questions "without addressing the issues of confinement."
No further explanation was given.
Pohl warned he would not permit defendants to block the hearing and would continue without his participation.
The arraignment for the five comes more than three years after President Barack Obama's failed effort to try the suspects in a federal civilian court and close the prison at the US base.
New rules adopted by Congress and Obama forbid the use of testimony obtained through cruel treatment or torture.
General Mark Martins, the chief prosecutor, said the commission provides many of the same protections that defendants would get in civilian court.
But human rights groups and the defence lawyers say the reforms have not gone far enough and that restrictions on legal mail and the overall secret nature of Guantanamo and the commissions makes it impossible to provide an adequate defence.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his co-defendants appeared for arraignment at a military tribunal at Guantanamo Bay on charges that include 2,976 counts of murder for the 2001 attacks.
The hearing quickly bogged down before they could be arraigned as the men engaged in what appeared to be a concerted silent protest against the proceedings.
The trial brings up the controversial interrogation techniques of the Bush era.
The defendants were held in secret CIA prisons and Mohammed was reportedly subjected to the harsh interrogation technique, water boarding, 183 times in one month alone.
Human rights groups and the defence lawyers argue that the U.S. has sought to keep the case in the military commission to prevent disclosure of the harsh treatment of prisoners such as Mohammed, who was waterboarded 183 times and subjected to other measures that some have called torture.
Mohammed and his co-defendants took off the earphones that provide Arabic translations and refused to answer any questions from the judge, Army Col. James Pohl, dramatically slowing the hearing.
At one point, two of the men got up and prayed alongside their defence tables under the watchful eyes of troops arrayed along the sides of the high-security courtroom on the US base in Cuba.
Prisoner Walid bin Attash was put in a restraint chair for unspecified reasons and then removed from it after he agreed to behave; and lawyers for all defendants complained that the prisoners were prevented from wearing the civilian clothes of their choice.
Mohammed wore a white turban in court; his flowing beard, which had appeared to be graying in earlier hearings and photos, was streaked with red henna.
Mohammed's civilian lawyer, David Nevin, said he believed his client was not responding because he sees the tribunal as unfair.
Jim Harrington, a civilian attorney for Yemeni defendant Ramzi Binalshibh, said his client would not respond to questions "without addressing the issues of confinement."
No further explanation was given.
Pohl warned he would not permit defendants to block the hearing and would continue without his participation.
The arraignment for the five comes more than three years after President Barack Obama's failed effort to try the suspects in a federal civilian court and close the prison at the US base.
New rules adopted by Congress and Obama forbid the use of testimony obtained through cruel treatment or torture.
General Mark Martins, the chief prosecutor, said the commission provides many of the same protections that defendants would get in civilian court.
But human rights groups and the defence lawyers say the reforms have not gone far enough and that restrictions on legal mail and the overall secret nature of Guantanamo and the commissions makes it impossible to provide an adequate defence.
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