SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Hidden Microphones Exposed in Gitmo Pre-Trials
Pentagon, CIA implicated in courtroom surveillance, overreach
Feb 13, 2013
Private meetings between Guantanamo Bay detainees and their defense lawyers have been secretly bugged, a military official admitted Tuesday, saying microphones hidden inside devices that look like smoke detectors are placed in private meeting rooms.
Navy Capt. Thomas J. Welsh, a staff judge advocate at the base, acknowledged the practice during a pretrial hearing for alleged 9/11 plotter Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four others on Tuesday, confiding that secret audio surveillance within the Echo 2 facility, which contains eight meeting huts for both civilian and military defense lawyers and their clients, exist; however, he attempted to make the case that the military does not actually listen in on the attorney-client conversations.
Defense attorneys continued to express doubts over that claim urging that the ongoing pretrial hearings have been compromised.
Concerns of third party surveillance and censorship have plagued the 9/11 pre-trial hearings--gaining momentum after a Jan. 28 hearing when the sound system in the courtroom was suddenly cut off for outside listeners by a still undisclosed third party censor to the surprise of even the judge, Army Col. James Pohl.
The incident inspired Pohl to green-light an investigation into the defense attorney's suspicions that defendant-attorney conversations have been continually spied on by the same unnamed third party, which has been mysteriously referred to as the "Original Classification Authorities." Kevin Gosztola at FireDogLake has suggested that the OCA "likely works in cooperation with the CIA."
In Tuesday's hearing, a military official also admitted that microphones in the courtroom were powerful enough to pick up on private sidebar discussions between defense lawyers and their clients.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Jacob Chamberlain
Jacob Chamberlain is a former staff writer for Common Dreams. His website is www.jacobpchamberlain.com.
Private meetings between Guantanamo Bay detainees and their defense lawyers have been secretly bugged, a military official admitted Tuesday, saying microphones hidden inside devices that look like smoke detectors are placed in private meeting rooms.
Navy Capt. Thomas J. Welsh, a staff judge advocate at the base, acknowledged the practice during a pretrial hearing for alleged 9/11 plotter Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four others on Tuesday, confiding that secret audio surveillance within the Echo 2 facility, which contains eight meeting huts for both civilian and military defense lawyers and their clients, exist; however, he attempted to make the case that the military does not actually listen in on the attorney-client conversations.
Defense attorneys continued to express doubts over that claim urging that the ongoing pretrial hearings have been compromised.
Concerns of third party surveillance and censorship have plagued the 9/11 pre-trial hearings--gaining momentum after a Jan. 28 hearing when the sound system in the courtroom was suddenly cut off for outside listeners by a still undisclosed third party censor to the surprise of even the judge, Army Col. James Pohl.
The incident inspired Pohl to green-light an investigation into the defense attorney's suspicions that defendant-attorney conversations have been continually spied on by the same unnamed third party, which has been mysteriously referred to as the "Original Classification Authorities." Kevin Gosztola at FireDogLake has suggested that the OCA "likely works in cooperation with the CIA."
In Tuesday's hearing, a military official also admitted that microphones in the courtroom were powerful enough to pick up on private sidebar discussions between defense lawyers and their clients.
Jacob Chamberlain
Jacob Chamberlain is a former staff writer for Common Dreams. His website is www.jacobpchamberlain.com.
Private meetings between Guantanamo Bay detainees and their defense lawyers have been secretly bugged, a military official admitted Tuesday, saying microphones hidden inside devices that look like smoke detectors are placed in private meeting rooms.
Navy Capt. Thomas J. Welsh, a staff judge advocate at the base, acknowledged the practice during a pretrial hearing for alleged 9/11 plotter Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four others on Tuesday, confiding that secret audio surveillance within the Echo 2 facility, which contains eight meeting huts for both civilian and military defense lawyers and their clients, exist; however, he attempted to make the case that the military does not actually listen in on the attorney-client conversations.
Defense attorneys continued to express doubts over that claim urging that the ongoing pretrial hearings have been compromised.
Concerns of third party surveillance and censorship have plagued the 9/11 pre-trial hearings--gaining momentum after a Jan. 28 hearing when the sound system in the courtroom was suddenly cut off for outside listeners by a still undisclosed third party censor to the surprise of even the judge, Army Col. James Pohl.
The incident inspired Pohl to green-light an investigation into the defense attorney's suspicions that defendant-attorney conversations have been continually spied on by the same unnamed third party, which has been mysteriously referred to as the "Original Classification Authorities." Kevin Gosztola at FireDogLake has suggested that the OCA "likely works in cooperation with the CIA."
In Tuesday's hearing, a military official also admitted that microphones in the courtroom were powerful enough to pick up on private sidebar discussions between defense lawyers and their clients.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.