Military judge suppresses Mustafa al-Hawsawi confessions in 9/11 case

A military judge has suppressed the confessions of Mustafa al-Hawsawi, an accused participant in the September 11 attacks, marking a significant setback for prosecutors in the Guantánamo Bay military commission. Lt. Col. Michael Schrama ruled that the government failed to prove al-Hawsawi’s January 2007 statements to the FBI were voluntary.

The judge noted that al-Hawsawi was shackled and transported to a former CIA black site, and was kept unaware of his right to remain silent or the inadmissibility of prior coerced confessions. Schrama rejected prosecution arguments that visits from the International Committee of the Red Cross mitigated the coercive environment, stating that such visits could not overcome years of isolation and vulnerability to abuse.

This ruling is the third such suppression in the joint death penalty case involving four men. Previously, the judge suppressed confessions from Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind, and a predecessor suppressed statements from Ammar al-Baluchi. A ruling regarding the fourth defendant, Walid bin Attash, is still pending.