WASHINGTON — U.S. District Court Judge Gladys Kessler has rejected a written request from the Department of Justice to lock the press and public out of a hearing about the lawfulness of force-feeding practices in Guantanamo Bay detention center in Cuba. Kessler wrote that the motion to “seal” the courtroom less than two weeks before the hearing was “deeply troubling.”
The hearing, which is now open to the public, will address a complaint by Guantanamo Bay prisoner Mohammed Abu Wa’el Dhiab, a Syrian national, who argues that the prison’s force-feeding practices are unjustly harsh.
He is petitioning the court to file an injunction that would bar the government from forcibly removing him from his cell “and from placing him in a Five-Point Restraint Chair for the purpose of transporting him to or from forced-feeding, so long as he indicates that he is willing to submit to such feeding compliantly.”
Dhiab, 43, has been imprisoned without charge at Guantanamo Bay since 2002, according to court documents. He was “declared eligible for release” in 2009, yet he remains incarcerated at the prison.
He is married and the father of four children. Dhiab ran a business in Afghanistan but fled to Pakistan after Sept. 11, 2001, where he was arrested by Pakistani police and turned over to the United States, according to Reprieve, a legal non-profit dedicated to securing each person’s right to a fair trial. He was incarcerated at Bagram Airbase and then rendered to Guantanamo Bay, where he has remained ever since.
Reprieve, which is representing Dhiab, wrote of his conditions at the prison:
“As a result of the conditions inside the prison and the callous treatment he has received, Mr. Dhiab’s health has now deteriorated to such an extent that he is confined to a wheelchair. Recent revelations revealed that Mr. Dhiab is being denied access to his wheelchair, meaning he is brutally dragged from his cell and force-fed against his will every day. After mounting a prominent legal challenge against his treatment, lawyers from Reprieve were able to view the video tapes of Mr. Dhiab being force fed. Whilst their content is currently classified ‘Secret’ and therefore cannot be disclosed to the public, Cori Crider, Strategic Director for Reprieve and counsel for Mr. Dhiab, said that she had ‘trouble sleeping’ after viewing the harrowing tapes.”
Judge Kessler insinuated on Thursday that the Justice Department may have “deliberately” filed the motion to keep the press and public out of the courtroom on short notice. She said the DOJ had been given ample time to make such a request but filed less than two weeks before the appointed court dates of Oct. 6 and 7.
In response to the request, she wrote, “One of the strongest pillars of our system of justice in the United States is the presumption that all judicial proceedings are open to the public.” She cited the First Amendment of the Constitution, explaining how a free press “protects the people’s right to know that their government acts fairly, lawfully, and accurately.”
The DOJ’s request argued that the hearing, except for brief opening statements, should be closed to the public because the “record in this case includes inextricably intertwined classified, protected, and unclassified information.” It claims that it does not want classified information to be released.
However, Kessler denied the motion, acknowledging that when classified information does come up the hearing can be momentarily closed to the public “to accommodate the Government’s concerns.” She added that the government does not intend to call live witnesses, so no monitoring of testimonies will be needed.
She closed by addressing the public’s interest in Dhiab’s case: “With such a long-standing and ongoing public interest at stake, it would be particularly egregious to bar the public from observing the credibility of live witnesses, the substance of their testimony, whether proper procedures are being followed, and whether the Court is treating all participants fairly.”
Sixteen news organizations petitioned the court not to close the courtroom at the government’s request, including ABC, The Associated Press, and McClatchy, among others. The petition said that public “access… inhibits misconduct and bias, and in this respect provides “‘an effective restraint on possible abuse of judicial power.’”