Article: Guantanamo Suspect’s Lawyer Argues Case Dismissal Over Right to a Speedy Trial

Written: January 18, 2010

The first Gitmo detainee to be given a trial in a U.S. civilian court—Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani—waits to hear whether his charges will be dismissed due to his having to wait for a trial for over four years.

Ghailani’s attorney Peter Enrique Quijano argued that because of Ghailani’s constitutional right to a speedy trial, charges against his client—which include U.S. embassy bombings in Africa in 1998—should be dropped. Federal Judge Lewis Kaplan has yet to decide on the matter.

This trial could set a precedent for other Guantanamo Bay suspects who are intimately connected to 9/11, such as Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of the terrorist attacks.  

Many critics have debated the Obama administration’s decision to allow Ghailani a Supreme Court trial, saying that it will leak government secrets and lead to too many dismissals of detainees, who could then be released on U.S. soil.

Quijano claims, however, that the government secrets under protection involve the knowledge of Ghailani’s torture. Ghailani states that he suffered “enhanced interrogation methods” for 14 hours for over 5 days. These “methods” involved waterboarding—an interrogation tactic deemed illegal by U.S. law.

Among the other claims for Ghailani’s trial dismissal are that while he was imprisoned in C.I.A. “black sites” he was denied the right to an attorney while he was being kept as an intelligence asset for information about the 9/11 attacks.  

As part of president Obama’s effort to close Guantanamo Bay, more 9/11 suspects will be granted civilian court trials. This has the potential to impact America’s judicial future as it raises the question: to whom do our constitutional rights extend to?  

Ghailani’s trial may be interesting to watch over the coming months because of its potential impact on the American judicial system.