Five men who have spent the last few years as prisoners at Guantanamo Bay will be sent to New York City for trial in NYC’s Southern District U.S. Court, which happens to be just a short distance from Ground Zero. The transfer of these five men – Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Ramzi Bin al-Shibh, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali, Walid bin Attach, and Mustafa Ahmed al-Hawsawi – was announced by Attorney General Eric Holder on November 13th.
Attorney General Holder said that all give would be tried together, and that he expects prosecutors to seek the death penalty. The public will be able to attend and watch the trial, he said, although certain parts of the trial may be privatized to prevent the leak of classified information.
Despite concerns about trying the men in the very city that they terrorized eight years ago, Attorney General Holder said that he is confident that an impartial jury will be selected, and that the five men will receive “a fair trial in New York.”
In addition to these five men, who are believed to have played a role in planning the 9/11 attacks, another five Guantanamo detainees will be receiving military trials. These men were identified as Omar Khadr, Ibrahim al Qosi, Mohammed Kamin, Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri and Noor Uthman Muhammed. In 2002, Omar Khadr allegedly murdered a U.S. military officer in Afghanistan. Khadr is a Canadian citizen and was just fifteen years old when he was apprehended.
Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri is charged with the bombing of the USS Cole in 2000. Following an investigation, the CIA revealed that they used waterboarding tactics to get a confession out of al-Nashiri. The USS Cole bombing killed seventeen U.S. sailors.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who will undergo trial in NYC, was also waterboarded at least 183 separate times since 2003, according to a memo from the Justice Department. He only confessed after being waterboarded, according to reports, which leads some to believe that his confession may be questioned during his trial.
President Obama has called waterboarding “torture,” and does not condone this tactic.
Mohammed confessed to being the “mastermind” behind the attacks on America on 9/11, and claims to have organized the entire plan. He has been called “the most wanted terrorist in the world.”
Many Americans are concerned about the security issues that could result from a terrorist trial in NYC.
“Some would say that New York would now be a target by allowing Mohammed’s trial to take place in New York,” said Kristin Breitweiser, who lost her husband on 9/11. “I disagree. It would give many of us access to attend the hearings…this will be our opportunity to see justice served and have our day in court.”
The attacks on 9/11 were perhaps the most devastating act of terrorism to date. Not only did close to 3,000 people perish that day, but the health effects associated with the collapse of the World Trade Center buildings are ongoing. Countless individuals were exposed to asbestos dust when the towers fell, on 9/11 and in the months that followed. Asbestos exposure – even in small amounts – can lead to the eventual development of asbestos mesothelioma cancer, a fatal disease that has no known cure. Since 2001, many New Yorker’s have developed asbestos-related illnesses, including pleural mesothelioma and asbestosis. The number of individuals who develop an asbestos disease as a result of asbestos exposure following the 9/11 incident are expected to rise in the next several years, as mesothelioma cancer has a latency period of between twenty and fifty years. This means that people may not experience any mesothelioma symptoms for several more years, long after their initial asbestos exposure.
Those who were present in NYC after 9/11 are not the only individuals prone to developing mesothelioma. Veterans who served during World War II are especially at risk of receiving a diagnosis of mesothelioma. In addition, the men and women currently serving our country in Iraq also face asbestos exposure and the related health issues, as asbestos is still exported to Iraq.
While many worry about holding a terrorist trial in the great city of New York, others say that they will feel a certain sense of justice and closure once the trial has concluded. And, of course, security will be heightened during the trial to protect the city and all who live and work there. For those in the military community, it may provide a sense of validation for the years spent defending our country in Afghanistan and Iraq.
One thing is for sure – these five men will receive a fair trial under the laws of our great nation, and justice will be served.
