Survivors of the attack on the U.S.S. Cole and families of the sailors who were killed have been waiting for justice for a long time. Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, a Saudi prisoner in U.S. custody since 2002, has been charged since 2011, making his case the longest-running capital case at Guantanamo Bay. The recent announcement by the judge of a target trial date for 2024 was welcomed by survivors like Paul Abney, who has been following the legal proceedings closely. The upcoming hearings will address pretrial matters including evidence admissibility, proposed witnesses, and the trial by a military commission.
An appeal from the government to overturn a decision by the previous judge, Colonel Acosta, looms over the case. Colonel Acosta had excluded confessions made by Mr. Nashiri due to torture, including waterboarding, rectal abuse, and prolonged sleep deprivation. The court of Military Commissions Review has been asked to reinstate these confessions, but regardless of their ruling, it is expected that the case will be taken to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. This process is likely to extend into the next year, prolonging the legal battle for justice.
In February 2020, the previous judge, Colonel Acosta, had set deadlines for a trial date in February 2022 before the pandemic forced the Guantanamo court to close for about 500 days. Colonel Fitzgerald, the current judge, has taken over the case and set a new target trial date for 2024. His military career has been unorthodox, with experiences ranging from a psychiatric specialist in the Army to serving as a lawyer in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay. Interestingly, Colonel Fitzgerald is the only judge at military commissions known to have seen the detention facilities at Guantanamo.
Colonel Fitzgerald’s background and unique experiences have given him insights into the operations at Guantanamo Bay, where he previously spent time as part of a legal team responding to court filings for detainees. Despite his familiarity with the facility, he avoided making eye contact with the detainees and did not recall the identities of those held there. His military career, which included deployments to areas of conflict, has prepared him for the complexities of the legal proceedings at Guantanamo. The upcoming hearings under his direction will address crucial pretrial matters and aim to move towards a trial for Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri.
The upcoming hearings in Colonel Fitzgerald’s calendar for 2024 will focus on resolving pretrial matters essential for the trial of Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri. These include evidentiary issues, proposed witnesses, and the question of whether Mr. Nashiri can be tried by a military commission. The judge’s announcement of a target date has given hope to survivors and family members of the deceased sailors, who have been waiting for justice for many years. The legal battle over the admissibility of confessions made by Mr. Nashiri under duress continues to be a significant point of contention, with an appeal likely to extend the proceedings further.
The determination of Colonel Fitzgerald to set a target trial date and work towards a resolution in the case of Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri is seen as a positive development by those involved in the legal proceedings. The upcoming hearings will be crucial in addressing key pretrial matters and moving the case towards a trial. Despite challenges such as the possibility of the government appealing a previous decision regarding confessions made by Mr. Nashiri, the focus now remains on the path to trial and the pursuit of justice for all those affected by the attack on the U.S.S. Cole.
