After more than 6 and one half years in captivity in Afghanistan and at Gitmo, Mohammed Jawad may finally be getting some justice.  Earlier today the ACLU announced a big change in the Government’s legal approach to Jawad’s military commission case. “The government today stated it would no longer rely on evidence obtained through torture and other coercion in the habeas corpus case challenging the unlawful detention of Guantánamo detainee Mohammed Jawad. The American Civil Liberties Union filed a motion on July 1 to suppress Jawad’s statements, and today the Justice Department announced it would not oppose that motion. “  http://www.aclu.org/safefree/detention/40319prs20090715.html.  This individual has been imprisoned and tortured even though he was only 12 years old when he was turned over to the Americans in Afghanistan for allegedly throwing a grenade at U.S. personnel. This habeas case earlier received a big boost when the former military prosecutor in the case, Lt. Col. Darrel Vandeveld, actually filed a petition in favor of Mr. Jawad and stated that ““no credible evidence or legal basis” to justify Jawad’s detention and prosecution, and that his release present no risk. ” http://www.aclu.org/safefree/detention/38714res20090113.html.  I didn’t make this up!  The former lead prosecutor of Mr. Jawad is actually on the record stating that the government has no legal basis to hold him.  He actually resigned his position as prosecutor because he did not believe that Mr. Jawad could ever receive real justice under the military commission system.  This abhorrent and illegal activity was being carried out by our government in our name. 

I can only hope that this latest approach by the Obama Justice Department is a signal that they will agree to no longer rely on evidence obtained through torture on all of the Gitmo habeas cases.  This teenager/detainee actually has attempted suicide after having to suffer through 6 plus years of detention and many torture episodes.   The ACLU has been doing yeoman work on the Jawad case and our thanks go out to them.  Without their work and the work of the other volunteer attorneys and their staff, there would not be any chance of real justice at Gitmo.  Now that the Obama Justice Department has seen the light and realized that they cannot, and should not, use tainted evidence that was derived through the use of illegal torture, maybe the lives of the detainees there will have a chance of some sanity.   Stay tuned.