Topic: U.S. Seeks To Deflect Criticism Over Trial Of Terror Suspects

Washington Post
February 14, 2008
Pg. 23
The Bush administration is uneasy about how other countries will view its new plan to try six suspected al-Qaeda terrorists before a military commission, where the rights of the accused are more limited than in civilian courts. Attorneys for the defendants are expected to argue at trial that key evidence was obtained through coercion or torture, an allegation that could provoke embarrassing publicity.
To help deflect international criticism, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice this week cabled U.S. embassies with answers to questions about the forthcoming trials. Two segments of the four-page memo, first reported by the Associated Press, go to the heart of the potential controversy. They spell out that evidence obtained through torture is barred, but information gathered through coercive interrogation practices can be introduced under certain circumstances:
"Didn't the U.S. torture . . . [Mohammed al-Qahtani, who is accused of trying to join the hijackers on Sept. 11, 2001]? The United States abides by its international commitments regarding torture. Torture is prohibited under U.S. law, and is abhorrent to American values. No evidence obtained through torture is admissible. . . .
"Will coerced evidence be admitted? . . . Evidence obtained in violation of the McCain Amendment's prohibition on cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment is not admissible. For evidence obtained before the enactment of the McCain Amendment, where there is an allegation that evidence has been obtained through coercive means, it is inadmissible unless the judge makes a specific finding that 1) the statement is reliable; 2) the statement is probative; and 3) the interests of justice would best be served by the statement's admission. The military judge's decision to allow [it] in evidence would be reviewable by the U.S. federal courts if the defendant is convicted."
-- R. Jeffrey Smith