The latest decision by the Washington DC federal appeals court has become a temporary defeat for the Obama administration, seeking to block the release of several “extremely disturbing” videos showing force-feeding of restrained Gitmo inmate.
In the federal court’s eight-page decision on Friday, the three-judge panel
reasoned that it was “without jurisdiction” to issue
orders at this point.
“We cannot reach the merits of this appeal…because it is
premature,” the panel wrote.
The decision leaves the matter with the trial judge, the
appellate panel explained, and could also yield several benefits.
“It is possible that appropriate
redactions will limit the scope of, or perhaps eliminate
altogether, the government’s concerns over release of the
videotapes,” the
appellate panel speculated.
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The three appellate judges added the trial judge now has “an
opportunity to consider whether the eight-day time frame it set
for the redaction process is reasonable in light of the
declaration the government subsequently filed concerning the
complexity of the task.”
The case involves Syrian
native Abu Wa’el Dhiab, 43, who was held at Guantanamo Bay from
2002 until his release to Uruguay in December 2014. Dhiab was
cleared for release in 2009 but remained held at the prison. He
protested with other detainees and initiated a hunger strike in
early 2013, prompting the force-feeding.
The case was originally filed by Dhiab to stop the force-feedings
and the footage was introduced as evidence under seal during the
trail. Lawyers for Dhiab, who have seen the videos, have called
it “extremely disturbing.”
The District Judge Gladys Kessler rejected the government’s
arguments that the tapes are classified and releasing the videos
would harm national security and “inflame Muslim
sensitivities overseas,” and ordered the videos be made
public, with redactions to protect the identity of Guantanamo
guards. The government appealed that decision.
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Sixteen media organizations including The Intercept, McClatchy, The New
York Times and The Washington Post have intervened in the case to
press for the release of the videotapes, all 32 of them, which
span about 11 hours.
Alka Pradhan, an attorney with Reprieve, the human rights
organization representing Dhiab, said in a statement released to The Intercept about the court’s
ruling that “once those videotapes are redacted, they are one
step closer to public release — and the government is one step
closer to being held accountable for their treatment of
Guantánamo detainees.”