US Audio Feature: The 166 Prisoners Remaining in Guantanamo Bay (National Public Radio)

Detainees at Camp X-Ray in Guantanamo Bay, March 2002

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US National Public Radio considers the 166 prisoners remaining in Guantanamo Bay, almost 11 years after the first detainees were put behind bars and wire in the American "War on Terror". It also talks about those who have left, such as Canadian citizen Omar Khadr --- shut away as a 15-year-old in 2002 and released to a Canadian prison last month --- and those who have died, such as Adnan Latif, who apparently committed suicide in September.

The interviewees are Carol Rosenberg, a reporter for the Miami Herald, and Latif's lawyer Mark Falkoff.

Guantanamo WikiLeaks Feature: The Youngest Detainee

Video of Omar Khadr's interrogation at Guantanamo

Detainee continues to provide valuable information on his father's associates, and on non-governmental organizations that he worked with in supporting Al-Qaida, as well as other major facilitators of interest to the US. Detainee has also provided valuable information on the Derunta, Al-Farouq and Khalden training camps, indicating that the detainee has been to and likely trained at these locations; and he continues to provide valuable information on key Al -Qaida and Taliban members.

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Obama's Justice and "National Security": The Emasculation of Attorney General Holder (Hylton)

As we went back and forth, I began to realize that it was impossible to know how much of his argument Eric Holder really believed, and how much he was merely willing to say. Like any good political appointee, he was prepared to defend the policy whether he liked it or not. And in that case, maybe it didn't matter what he supported; promoting the policy was supporting it. I was reminded of something one of his friends had told me, a former DOJ official who has known Holder since the beginning of his career: "Eric has this instinct to please. That's his weakness. He doesn't have to be told what to do—he's willing to do whatever it takes. It's his survival mechanism in Washington."

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US Justice, Guantanamo Style: Getting Rid of "Child Soldier" Omar Khadr (Prasow)

During the sentencing hearing, when Khadr should have had an opportunity to present mitigating facts, the judge barred the defense from presenting significant evidence of Khadr's ill-treatment while in custody. Additionally, because this case was a plea bargain, Khadr had to waive his right to appeal so none of the fundamental flaws of the military commission process that were a part of his case can be challenged.

Presented with an admission of guilt that Khadr had previously adamantly denied, and with the limited case the defense put forward, it is no wonder the jury returned the sentence they did. Although the plea agreement set a maximum of eight years, the military jury (which, following ordinary courts-martial practice, was not told of the plea bargain) handed down a sentence of 40 years --- 15 more than even the prosecution had asked for. Coupled with the eight years Khadr has already spent in US custody, it amounts to a 48-year sentence. This, for someone who was only 15 years old at the time he committed the crime.

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