Terrorism & Extremism

9/11 Case: Defense Lawyers May Visit Detention Facility, Investigate Conditions

Wells Bennett
Friday, February 22, 2013, 9:55 AM
. . . .

Published by The Lawfare Institute
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. . . . but only in 12-hour increments, according to The Chicago Tribune.  Judge Pohl's order (which is not yet available to the public) apparently rejected the defense's bid for a 48-hour sleepover at Camp Seven.  From the Tribune piece:
MIAMI (Reuters) - Lawyers defending the Guantanamo prisoners accused of plotting the September 11 attacks can visit the top-secret prison where the alleged al Qaeda conspirators have been held for more than six years, a judge has ruled. But they can only stay 12 hours, not the 48 hours they requested, defense lawyers said on Thursday. The judge overseeing the war crimes tribunals at the Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base, Army Colonel James Pohl, signed an order allowing the visits on Tuesday. The judge's order has not been cleared for public release, but defense lawyers, who have never previously been allowed inside the prison known as Camp 7, said it allowed up to three members of each defense team to visit the cells, one team at a time, between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m.

Wells C. Bennett was Managing Editor of Lawfare and a Fellow in National Security Law at the Brookings Institution. Before coming to Brookings, he was an Associate at Arnold & Porter LLP.

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