A military appeals court has ruled against Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s decision to throw out plea deals reached for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two other defendants in the 9/11 attacks. The ruling puts back on track the agreements that would have the three men plead guilty in exchange for being spared the death penalty. The attacks by al-Qaida on September 11, 2001, killed nearly 3,000 people and led to U.S. invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq as part of its war on terror. The plea agreements were reached after two years of negotiations and were seen as a way to resolve the long-standing legal case against the men at the U.S. military commission at Guantanamo Bay.
The plea agreements have been a focus of pretrial arguments, with much discussion on how torture of the accused while in CIA custody may impact the evidence in the case. After the news of the plea deal, Austin issued an order nullifying them, citing the gravity of the 9/11 attacks as a reason for his decision. Defense attorneys argued that Austin did not have the legal authority to reject a decision that had already been approved by the Guantanamo court’s top authority, calling it unlawful interference in the case. The military judge hearing the 9/11 case agreed that Austin lacked the standing to throw out the plea deals, leading to an appeal to the military appeals court.
The Pentagon has repatriated one of the longest-held detainees at Guantanamo, a Tunisian man approved for transfer more than a decade ago. Ridah bin Saleh al-Yazidi’s return to Tunisia leaves 26 men at Guantanamo, down from a peak population of about 700 detainees brought to the prison in the years following the 9/11 attacks. The Biden administration has faced pressure from rights groups to release remaining Guantanamo detainees held without charge and has transferred out three other men this month. The U.S. is now searching for suitable countries willing to receive the remaining 14 detainees awaiting transfer.
The U.S. military worked with Tunisian authorities for the transfer of al-Yazidi, who had been held at Guantanamo since 2002. His repatriation marks the last of a dozen Tunisian men once held at the prison. Of the 26 remaining detainees at Guantanamo, seven, including Mohammed and his 9/11 co-defendants, face active cases, while two others have been convicted and sentenced by the military commission. The Pentagon did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the decision to nullify the plea deals or on the repatriation of al-Yazidi. The U.S. continues to seek suitable countries for the remaining detainees awaiting transfer.
