Judge refuses to allow testimony obtained by torture
The above link is to an article by Nat Hentoff on U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan, who refused to allow testimony that may have been obtained by torture. In his ruling, he wrote the following:
“The Court has not reached this conclusion lightly,” said the judge. “It is acutely aware of the perilous nature of the world in which we live. But the Constitution is the rock upon which our nation rests. We must follow it not only when it is convenient, but when fear and danger beckon in a different direction.”
In the article, Hentoff quotes Glenn Greenwald as saying the Obama administration brought him to trial because they were sure they could win. Other detainees, with less evidence against them, are simply held in indefinite detention. You will recall that a former State Department official claimed that Cheney knew many Guantanamo detainees were innocent but refused to release them because it was damage his plans to invade Iraq. Few experiences are more difficult than imprisonment, and to be held when you are innocent and people know you are innocent is cruel beyond words.
Holding people known to be innocent has happened many times. I live in Florida and a few decades ago, two men named Pitts and Lee were held for years when the government knew there was reason to doubt their guilt. At the time, this case caused great shock in Florida and throughout the nation. Alas, it seems that such behavior on the part of government officials is becoming routine.
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