Stories by Andy Worthington

Andy Worthington is a writer and historian, and author of The Guantánamo Files.subscribe to Andy Worthington's rss feed

The Pentagon Won't Stop Spewing Propaganda About Prisoners Released From Guantánamo

Posted on Jan 24, 2011, Source: TruthOut.org

Why won't the Pentagon engage in honest, grown-up debate about the perceived dangerousness of prisoners at Guantánamo?

Obama's Tragic Guantanamo Legacy: Prosecuting a Child Soldier and Victim of U.S. Torture

Posted on May 4, 2010, Source: Andy Worthington's Blog

For years, a rigged judicial system has failed to prosecute Omar Khadr, just 15 when he was captured by the U.S. Why does Obama continue this miscarriage of justice?

Obama's Guantanamo Is Still a Legal Black Hole

Posted on Mar 3, 2010, Source: The Public Record

Prisoners at Guantanamo have been caught between two competing systems since Obama took office last January, and the result has been confusing.

Four Prisoners Released From Guantánamo, Sent to Albania and Spain

Posted on Feb 25, 2010, Source: Andy Worthington's Blog

All four were cleared for release under Bush, but they could not be repatriated because of fears that they would be tortured if returned to their home countries.

Astonishing Report: We're Executing Gitmo Prisoners and Calling It Suicide

Posted on Jan 18, 2010, Source: Andy Worthington's Blog

The three "suicides" in June 2006 were not suicides at all. The men were killed during interrogations in a secret prison block and the murders were disguised to look like suicides.

Guantanamo: The Definitive Prisoner List

Posted on Jan 11, 2010, Source: AlterNet

Eight years after it opened, 574 prisoners have been released from Guantánamo, 42 under Obama. Six have died. 198 remain.

Why Obama Must Keep Releasing Yemenis From Guantánamo

Posted on Dec 30, 2009, Source: TruthOut.org

The failed bomb plot on Christmas Day has prompted lawmakers to declare that no more Yemenis should be released from Guantánamo. They're wrong.

The Torture of Two Innocent Men Who Just Left Guantanamo

Posted on Dec 23, 2009, Source: AlterNet

The release of Mohammed Sulaymon Barre and Ismail Mahmoud Muhammad is another example of the hysterical and false claims that Guantanamo is full of hardcore terrorists.

Four Men Leave Guantanamo; Two Face Ill-Defined Trials in Italy

Posted on Dec 7, 2009, Source: AlterNet

Last week, the Obama administration announced that it had transferred four prisoners from Gitmo: one to France, one to Hungary, and two to Italy.

Six Uighurs Released From Gitmo; Seven Remain Locked Up

Posted on Nov 2, 2009, Source: Andy Worthington's Blog

This latest release still leaves seven Uighurs in Guantánamo -- not to mention the 60 or so other prisoners who have been cleared for release

75 Guantánamo Prisoners Cleared For Release; 31 Could Leave Today

Posted on Oct 5, 2009, Source: AlterNet

There's no reason for any of these prisoners, several of whom were cleared under Bush, to be held for one minute longer.

How an Innocent Man Was Tortured Into Making False Confessions

Posted on Oct 5, 2009, Source: CounterPunch

Like torture victims groomed for show trials throughout the centuries, Fouad al-Rabiah made up false stories under torture in the hopes of one day leaving Guantanamo.

Obama Brings Gitmo And Rendition To Bagram (And Not The Geneva Conventions)

Posted on Sep 16, 2009, Source: Andy Worthington's Blog

The Obama administration has announced it will introduce a review system for the 600 prisoners at Bagram airbase. But a close look at the plan reveals cause for alarm.

Remember 9/11, But Don't Forget Guantánamo

Posted on Sep 11, 2009, Source: Comment Is Free

In Guantánamo, 225 men remain imprisoned, most of them never charged, ostensibly for some connection with these attacks.

Spanish Judge Resumes Torture Case Against Six Senior Bush Lawyers

Posted on Sep 9, 2009, Source: AlterNet

A Spanish newspaper reports that Judge Baltasar Garzón is pressing ahead with a case against attorneys who implemented torture at Guantánamo.

Hotel Guantanamo: You Can Check Out Any Time You Like, But You Can Never Leave

Posted on Aug 4, 2009, Source: Andy Worthington's Blog

The Obama administration is still refusing to release prisoners who have been found to pose no threat to the U.S. What is going on?

Former Insider Shatters Credibility of Military Commissions, Describes Brutal Treatment of Teenage Detainee

Posted on Jul 13, 2009, Source: AlterNet

Lt. Col. Darrel Vandeveld: "I am here today to offer a single, straightforward message: the military commission system is broken beyond repair."

Latest Guantanamo Suicide Haunts Obama's Trip to the Middle East

Posted on Jun 5, 2009, Source: Andy Worthington's Blog

A death at Gitmo is always felt keenly in the Muslim world, creating tension for an administration that claims it is running a 'humane' facility.

Why is the Obama Administration Blocking the Release of the Innocent Uighurs at Guantánamo?

Posted on Jun 1, 2009, Source: AlterNet

Obama needs to find the courage to resist the shrill opportunism of some of his least principled colleagues, and to order the Uighurs' release.

Was Tortured CIA "Ghost Prisoner" Murdered?

Posted on May 13, 2009, Source: Andy Worthington's Blog

The suspicious death of Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi, who was tortured into lying about an Iraq-al Qaeda connection, raises a series of troubling questions.

Breaking: New Chief Prosecutor Tapped For Military Commissions At Guantanamo

Posted on May 6, 2009, Source: AlterNet

Capt. John Murphy led the prosecution of Salim Hamdan and is helping prosecute Omar Khadr, who was just 15 years old when he was captured.

Who Ordered the Torture of Abu Zubaydah?

Posted on Apr 26, 2009, Source: AlterNet

If the torture of the first "high-value detainee" was authorized by the Bybee memos, who ordered his torture 18 weeks before they were written?

In Selling Its Version of the "War on Terror," Obama Is Adopting Bush's Playbook

Posted on Mar 17, 2009, Source: AlterNet

Under Obama's Justice Department, "change" means nothing more than turning "enemy combatants" to "Nobodies Formerly Known As Enemy Combatants."

Rendition Victim Binyam Mohamed Was Just Released from Gitmo. This is His Story

Posted on Feb 23, 2009, Source: AlterNet

"I was abducted, hauled from one country to the next, tortured in medieval ways -- all orchestrated by the U.S. government."

Barack Obama's Uighur Problem

Posted on Feb 20, 2009, Source: AlterNet

It's now up to Obama to decide whether to find homes for the Uighurs in the U.S., or to keep them at Gitmo until further notice.

Judge Orders Release of Guantánamo’s Forgotten Child

Posted on Jan 16, 2009, Source: AlterNet

Mohammed El-Gharani arrived at Guantánamo when he was 14 years old and has spent a third of his life in prison.

A History of Music Torture in the War on Terror

Posted on Dec 17, 2008, Source: CounterPunch

From Britney to Barney, any music can drive you mad if it's played enough. And unlike with physical torture, you can't mentally prepare yourself.

9/11 Conspirators to Plead Guilty

Posted on Dec 8, 2008, Source: AlterNet

Are Khalid Sheikh Mohamed and his co-defendants focusing on their pursuit of martyrdom?

The End of Guantánamo

Posted on Dec 3, 2008, Source: AlterNet

The repatriation of Salim Hamdan to Yemen should hasten the demise of the U.S. prison camp.

Memo to Obama: Closing Guantanamo Can't Wait

Posted on Nov 19, 2008, Source: AlterNet

If President-elect Barack Obama truly plans to make good on his promise to close the American gulag, he should start by heeding this advice.

With U.S. "Terror Trials " in Disarray, the Case Against Omar Khadr is Falling Apart

Posted on Oct 27, 2008, Source: AlterNet

The government's case against the Canadian child soldier, who was only 15 when he was imprisoned, is collapsing.

"Dirty Bomb" Charges Dropped Against Gitmo Prisoner Binyam Mohamed

Posted on Oct 16, 2008, Source: AlterNet

Mohamed was brutally tortured after being rendered by the CIA to Morocco. "We're going to change your brain," one of his captors said.

From Gitmo to the U.S.: How 17 Uighur Prisoners Could Be Let Into the United States

Posted on Oct 11, 2008, Source: AlterNet

The story behind last week's stunning ruling on the fate of 17 Uighur prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.

Shake-Up at Gitmo: A Prosecutor Resigns, Citing 'Ethical Qualms' Over Suppressed Evidence

Posted on Oct 1, 2008, Source: AlterNet

A day after the controversial Gen. Thomas Hartmann is relocated, Lt. Col. Darell Vandeveld resigns, citing "slipshod" prosecutions.

At 22, Omar Khadr Has Spent a Third of His Life in Guantanamo

Posted on Sep 20, 2008, Source: Andy Worthington's Blog

Yesterday was the birthday of Guantanamo's child soldier and sole Canadian citizen, Omar Khadr, who has been held in isolation since he was 15.

Meanwhile, at Guantánamo, Another Insignificant Afghan Charged

Posted on Sep 18, 2008, Source: Andy Worthington's Blog

The latest charges brought forth at Gitmo are an alarming reminder of the misplaced zeal of the Military Commissions.

Guantanamo Suicide Report: Truth or Travesty?

Posted on Aug 30, 2008, Source: Andy Worthington's Blog

More than two years after the government began investigating the suicides of three Guantanamo prisoners, disturbing questions remain.

Joe Biden Is a Key Fighter in Dissolving Bush's 'Terror' Myths

Posted on Aug 24, 2008, Source: AlterNet

Biden doesn't have clean hands when it comes to Iraq, but he's been a leader in re-establishing the rule-of-law in Bush's terror war.

What the Hamdan Sentence Means for Gitmo

Posted on Aug 13, 2008, Source: AlterNet

Until now, the Bush administration has said it has the right to hold "enemy combatants" without charge or trial. The Hamdan sentence says otherwise.

Bin Laden Driver Salim Hamdan Gets Mixed Verdict in First Military Commission Trial

Posted on Aug 6, 2008, Source: AlterNet

Widely considered a trial of the military commissions system itself, the Hamdan trial was a two-week exercise in government secrecy and propaganda.

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