Judge says U.S. used mentally ill witness in Gitmo cases

[babylonsister]

Judge says U.S. used mentally ill witness in Gitmo cases

By Marisa Taylor | McClatchy Newspapers


WASHINGTON — The Justice Department improperly withheld important psychiatric records of a government witness who was used in a "significant" number of Guantanamo cases, a federal judge has concluded.

The government censored parts of the records, but enough has been made public that it's clear that the witness, a fellow detainee, was being treated weekly for a serious psychological problem and was questioned about whether he had any suicidal thoughts. The witness provided information in the government's case for detaining Aymen Saeed Batarfi, a Yemeni doctor.

In a little-noticed ruling last week, Judge Emmet Sullivan found that the witness's testimony in other cases could be challenged as unreliable.

During a hearing last week, Sullivan castigated the government for not turning over the medical records and ordered department lawyers to explain why he shouldn't cite them for contempt of court.

"To hide relevant and exculpatory evidence from counsel and from the court under any circumstances, particularly here where there is no other means to discover this information and where the stakes are so very high . . . is fundamentally unjust, outrageous and will not be tolerated," Sullivan said, according to a transcript of the hearing.

"How can this court have any confidence whatsoever in the United States government to comply with its obligations and to be truthful to the court?"

more...

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/251/story/65608.html

[NNN0LHI]

1. Just because he is insane and has been tortured doesn't mean he can't be believed

Oh, wait a minute ...

[babylonsister]

2. The people in the DOJ responsible for lying should be changing

places with this man. I don't understand why they aren't all thrown in jail.:grr: