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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
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U.S. Ordered to Disclose Interrogation Details

(CN) - The U.S. government must hand over materials related to the interrogation of a prisoner being held at Guantanamo, a federal judge in the nation's capital ruled.

Abdul Raheem Ghulam Rabbani demanded that the government release interrogation details, including logs of sessions and plans to "soften up" the detainee.

U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina ordered the government to produce the materials under a case management order issued by U.S. District Judge Thomas Hogan in November 2008, which outlines the government's duty to disclose documents that it uses to justify detaining prisoners.

Rabbani asked for copies of all of his interrogation records, not just the censored interrogation plan that the government already released.

Rabbani claimed that while he was imprisoned in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Guantanamo Bay, he endured complete darkness and isolation, food and sleep deprivation, extreme temperature exposure and physical abuse.

Judge Urbina said the requested documents contain a "host of relevant information" about Rabbani's interrogation sessions, including the language in which they were conducted, the duration, the type of information sought, and the strategy and techniques used.

Urbina also allowed Rabbani to submit a few narrow questions to al-Qaida leader Khalid Shaykh Mohammad to counter allegations that Rabbani worked for Mohammad.

The government has used Rabbani's association with Mohammad to justify Rabbani's detention, but has not produced any statements to back up the allegation. The government claims this is because Mohammad was questioned as part of a CIA program designed to prevent future terrorist attacks and was therefore "vital to national security," the ruling states.

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