SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
To donate by check, phone, or other method, see our More Ways to Give page.
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
The United States Military Courtroom at Camp Justice where the U.S. military held its war court for the five Guantanamo Bay prisoners accused of helping orchestrate the September 11 terror attack. June 27, 2013, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. (*Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
In January 2013, during the military trial of five men accused of plotting the 9/11 attacks, a defense lawyer was discussing a motion relating to the CIA's black-site program, when a mysterious entity cut the audio feed to the gallery. A red light began to glow and spin. Someone had triggered the courtroom's censorship system.
The system was believed to be under the control of the judge, Col. James Pohl. In this case, it wasn't.
In January 2013, during the military trial of five men accused of plotting the 9/11 attacks, a defense lawyer was discussing a motion relating to the CIA's black-site program, when a mysterious entity cut the audio feed to the gallery. A red light began to glow and spin. Someone had triggered the courtroom's censorship system.
The system was believed to be under the control of the judge, Col. James Pohl. In this case, it wasn't.
"The 40-second delay was initiated, not by me," Pohl said. He was referring to the delayed audio feed, which normally broadcasts to the press and other observers seated in the gallery. The gallery is cut off from the courtroom by three layers of soundproof Plexiglas. "I'm curious as to why ... if some external body is turning the commission off under their own view of what things ought to be, with no reasonable explanation, then we are going to have a little meeting about who turns that light on or off."
Later, Pohl said the censorship was the work of an "OCA," short for "Original Classification Authority." In the future, he said, no external body would be permitted to unilaterally censor what was happening in his courtroom.
Many have speculated that Pohl's "OCA" is in fact the CIA. That speculation is now confirmed with the release of three new documents by The Intercept. The documents show the evolution of secret rules governing what is and is not allowed to be discussed before the military court at Guantanamo.
All three of the declassified documents are marked "Secret," and were distributed to defense attorneys and Pentagon-employed courtroom-security officers. The documents clearly identify CIA as the OCA for torture-related information at the Guantanamo military commission proceedings.
Read the full article at The Intercept.
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 |
In January 2013, during the military trial of five men accused of plotting the 9/11 attacks, a defense lawyer was discussing a motion relating to the CIA's black-site program, when a mysterious entity cut the audio feed to the gallery. A red light began to glow and spin. Someone had triggered the courtroom's censorship system.
The system was believed to be under the control of the judge, Col. James Pohl. In this case, it wasn't.
"The 40-second delay was initiated, not by me," Pohl said. He was referring to the delayed audio feed, which normally broadcasts to the press and other observers seated in the gallery. The gallery is cut off from the courtroom by three layers of soundproof Plexiglas. "I'm curious as to why ... if some external body is turning the commission off under their own view of what things ought to be, with no reasonable explanation, then we are going to have a little meeting about who turns that light on or off."
Later, Pohl said the censorship was the work of an "OCA," short for "Original Classification Authority." In the future, he said, no external body would be permitted to unilaterally censor what was happening in his courtroom.
Many have speculated that Pohl's "OCA" is in fact the CIA. That speculation is now confirmed with the release of three new documents by The Intercept. The documents show the evolution of secret rules governing what is and is not allowed to be discussed before the military court at Guantanamo.
All three of the declassified documents are marked "Secret," and were distributed to defense attorneys and Pentagon-employed courtroom-security officers. The documents clearly identify CIA as the OCA for torture-related information at the Guantanamo military commission proceedings.
Read the full article at The Intercept.
In January 2013, during the military trial of five men accused of plotting the 9/11 attacks, a defense lawyer was discussing a motion relating to the CIA's black-site program, when a mysterious entity cut the audio feed to the gallery. A red light began to glow and spin. Someone had triggered the courtroom's censorship system.
The system was believed to be under the control of the judge, Col. James Pohl. In this case, it wasn't.
"The 40-second delay was initiated, not by me," Pohl said. He was referring to the delayed audio feed, which normally broadcasts to the press and other observers seated in the gallery. The gallery is cut off from the courtroom by three layers of soundproof Plexiglas. "I'm curious as to why ... if some external body is turning the commission off under their own view of what things ought to be, with no reasonable explanation, then we are going to have a little meeting about who turns that light on or off."
Later, Pohl said the censorship was the work of an "OCA," short for "Original Classification Authority." In the future, he said, no external body would be permitted to unilaterally censor what was happening in his courtroom.
Many have speculated that Pohl's "OCA" is in fact the CIA. That speculation is now confirmed with the release of three new documents by The Intercept. The documents show the evolution of secret rules governing what is and is not allowed to be discussed before the military court at Guantanamo.
All three of the declassified documents are marked "Secret," and were distributed to defense attorneys and Pentagon-employed courtroom-security officers. The documents clearly identify CIA as the OCA for torture-related information at the Guantanamo military commission proceedings.
Read the full article at The Intercept.