Released Guantanamo Kuwaitis maintain innocence, oppose use of US evidence News
Released Guantanamo Kuwaitis maintain innocence, oppose use of US evidence

[JURIST] Lawyers for five Kuwaitis [JURIST report] formerly detained at Guantanamo [JURIST news archive] told a Kuwait criminal court Sunday that the Kuwaiti courts lack any foundation for convicting their clients of having links with al Qaeda [JURIST news archive]. Their lawyers questioned the court’s jurisdiction over persons accused of committing crimes abroad and the legitimacy of evidence collected by US interrogators at Guantanamo, suggesting that if the defendants were not innocent, they would not have been released. A lawyer acting for the detainees during their incarceration at Guantanamo said that while held by US troops in Afghanistan and Pakistan they had falsely confessed [JURIST report] to being Taliban or al-Qaida members in order to stop their torture, which they claimed included beatings with chains, electric shock and sodomy.

Government prosecutors say the five detainees, along with six other Kuwaitis still in US custody [Project Kuwaiti Freedom website] at Guantanamo, have done damage to Kuwait's political reputation. They face up to 10 years if convicted. A verdict in the case is expected May 21st. AP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

UN Security Council called for Israeli withdrawal from territories occupied in Six Days' War

On November 22, 1967, the UN Security Council called for Israeli withdrawal from territories occupied during the Six Days' War, and for respect of the right of all States in the area to "live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries." Read Resolution 242, which remains a cornerstone of efforts to achieve peace in the Middle East.

President Kennedy assassinated, VP Lyndon Johnson sworn inin

On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. Later that day, Vice-President Lyndon Johnson was sworn in as the 36th President of the United States. Earl Warren, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, was later tasked with leading a commission to investigate the assassination. President Johnson received the final report of the Warren Commission on September 24, 1964. Read the Warren Commission Report.