John Walker Lindh gagged by Michael Chertoff

Today, actions will be taken to prevent John Walker Lindh from presenting evidence during his trial that confessions signed by him were done so under coercion.

Federal District Judge T.S. Ellis stated that he was likely to allow Lindh, at trial, to put on the stand military officers and even Guantanamo detainees who were witnesses to or participants in his alleged abuse. Under oath, Lindh would tell about how he signed a document of confession only after being tortured for days by US soldiers.

However Michael Chertoff demanded--reportedly at Defence Department insistence -- that Lindh sign a statement swearing he had "not been intentionally mistreated" by his US captors and waiving any future right to claim mistreatment or torture. Further, Chertoff attached a "special administrative measure," essentially a gag order, barring Lindh from talking about his experience for the duration of his sentence.

GTMO detainee: Beaten unconscious

Today, a detainee at Camp Delta, Guantanamo Bay, will be questioned by FBI and NCIS. His response recorded will eventually be made available due to NGO's Freedom of Information Act request (page 3855-3859).

[censored] stated he had been beaten unconscious approximately three or four weeks ago when he was still at Camp X-Ray. According to [censored] an unknown number of guards entered his cell, unprovoked, and started spitting and cursing at him. The guards called him a "son of a bitch" and a "bastard," then told him he was crazy. [censored] rolled onto his stomach to protect himself [one line censored] stated a soldier named [censored] jumped on his back and started beating him in the face. [censored] then choked him until he passed out. [censored] stated that [censored] was beating him because [censored] was a Muslim and [censored] is a Christian. [censored] indicated there was a female guard named [censored] who was also beating him and grabbed his head and beat it into the cell floor.

[censored] stated that all the soldiers were aware of his [censored] problems, and he was taken to the hospital following the beating, where he received an IV and treatment for his facial wounds. [censored] claimed the camp warden, who is a tall African American male, visited him at the hospital and told the doctors to immediately return him to the camp. [censored] reported the aforementioned incident to two Red Cross representatives at Camp Delta.