Prosecutors investigating the secret CIA prison in Poland on Oct. 27 gave Saudi terror suspect Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri victim status, recognizing the validity of his claims that he was mistreated by interrogators. According to ex-CIA officials, al-Nashiri, accused of bombing the USS Cole, was tortured by the agency at the secret prison in Poland. Granting al-Nashiri victim status will grant the detainee more rights and allow his lawyers to participate in the proceedings.

Canadian Guantánamo Bay detainee Omar Khadr on Oct. 25 pleaded guilty to all five charges against him, including conspiracy, murder and aiding the enemy. Under the terms of the agreement, Khadr will serve up to eight more years in prison in addition to the eight he has already spent in detention. At least one of those years will be spent at Guantánamo Bay. One other purported condition of the plea is that the US will support Khadr's eventual application for transfer to Canada, a bargain that has been agreed to by the US and Canada through a series of sealed diplomatic notes. The guilty plea marks a reversal from Khadr's original stance, voiced by one of his attorneys, that he would not accept a plea deal. Khadr's sentence will be determined by a panel of seven senior military officers at a hearing that will begin this week.

A former Guantánamo Bay detainee filed a lawsuit Oct. 6 against the US military alleging that he was subjected to torture. Abdul Rahim Abdul Razak al-Ginco, a Syrian national who prefers the surname Janko, filed suit in the US District Court for the District of Columbia—the same court that ordered his release last year—claiming that US military officials repeatedly tortured him during his nearly seven-and-a-half years at Gitmo. The suit names 26 current or former members of the military who are allegedly responsible for the tortuous acts, such as urinating on Janko, slapping him, threatening him with loss of fingernails, sleep deprivation, extreme cold and stress positions. Janko was released in June 2009 when Judge Richard Leon found that he could no longer be classified as an "enemy combatant" and that the government's argument against him defied common sense. Prior to being detained by the US military, Janko was imprisoned and tortured by al-Qaeda for 18 months over suspicions that he was an American spy.

From Reuters, Sept. 26:

U.S. should be able to shut Internet, former CIA chief says
SAN ANTONIO — Cyberterrorism is such a threat that the U.S. president should have the authority to shut down the Internet in the event of an attack, Former CIA Director Michael Hayden said.

The Obama administration on Sept. 24 filed a brief with the District Court for the District of Columbia, asking the court to dismiss a lawsuit challenging the legality of targeted killings of terrorism suspects. The lawsuit, filed by the father of US citizen Anwar al-Awlaqi, seeks an injunction to prevent the government from killing al-Awlaqi on the basis that it would be an extrajudicial execution. The Obama administration argues that this matter involves "non-justiciable political questions" to be decided by the executive branch and that litigation could divulge state secrets.

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Sept. 8 affirmed a district court's dismissal of a suit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) against a Boeing subsidiary in connection with its alleged role in the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) "extraordinary rendition" program.

The US Treasury and the UN on Aug. 24 announced sanctions against a supposed al-Qaeda leader who also is Osama bin Laden's son-in-law for serving as a top financial official in the terror organization. Muhammad Abdallah Hasan Abu al-Khayr was designated by the US as a "specially designated global terrorist" under Executive Order 13224 and was also added to the UN's 1267 sanctions list for al-Qaeda and Taliban operatives. The designation allows the US and the UN to freeze the assets of Khayr, prevent him from using financial institutions, and prosecute him for terrorist activities. Khayr is described by the Treasury as "a key leader of the terrorist organization's finance section" who "also acts for al-Qaeda in a leadership role on the media committee." (The Long War Journal, Aug. 24)

US military judge Army Col. Patrick Parrish rejected claims by Canadian Guantánamo Bay detainee Omar Khadr that his confession was a product of torture, in a ruling released Aug. 20. Khadr's lawyers had argued that his statements were illegally obtained through threats of rape and death by interrogators. Parrish rejected the suppression motion, finding: