Classified CIA Docs Found In Gitmo Prison Cells
Classified U.S. government information was found in the cells of high-value detainees at the Guantanamo Bay military prison that houses the world’s most dangerous terrorists, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).
The alarming revelation comes just days after lawyers for an al-Qaeda operative—USS Cole bomber Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri—jailed at the facility tried convincing a military judge that monitoring detainees’ mail violates attorney-client privilege. Judicial Watch covered the pretrial hearing at the U.S. Naval station in Cuba last week.
Ironically, a large portion of the two-day proceedings involved security measures put in place to ensure that contraband does not make it into the facility that houses 171 prisoners. Attorneys for al-Nashiri argued at length to convince the military tribunal judge hearing the case, Army Colonel James Pohl, that al-Nashiri’s mail not be monitored. The admiral (David Woods) who runs the prison took the stand to explain that detainees’ legal mail is promptly marked after being identified and not read to preserve attorney-client privilege.
This was not satisfactory to al-Nashiri’s extensive legal team or the leftwing civil rights groups that attended the hearing in a top security courtroom built to try terrorists. Most mainstream media outlets were also critical of the screening process, which military officials say is necessary to intercept contraband before it gets in the hands of the prisoners.
Supporting the argument is this week’s DOJ announcement that an agent with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has been criminally charged for repeatedly leaking classified information, including the identities of covert agency operatives involved in the capture and interrogation of terrorists. Some of the materials were actually seized from the cells of Guantanamo detainees, according to the DOJ.
The disgraced CIA officer (John Kiriakou) divulged the classified information to journalists who, in turn, disclosed it to an investigator working for the taxpayer-funded defense team of an incarcerated terrorist. Authorities subsequently found some of the files, including photographs of certain government employees and contractors, in the cells of high-value detainees at the military prison.
Readers Comments (1)
Where is the common sense? My goodness! Americans who are incarcerated have less rights then these alleged terrorists. How can this be? What can I do about this as an American? I am tired of reading all of theses horrible things and not knowing what to do. All I know what to do is to write my senator, but what can I really do to make me feel as if I am making a difference. I am afraid that my presently passive stance will be regretted in the near future, or should I say I am already regretting my passiveness. There has to be some lawful means to do something rather than write to my senator and governor and pass on revelant emails to my friends. Please, may someone share their knowledge because I know I am not the only one who wants to take action in a legal manner. In addition, please do not act righteous in your response nor use the holier than thou stance. I admit my ignorance, that should be sufficient.