Use of torture to be weighed in Guantanamo tribunals evidence

THE military judge presiding over four of the Guantanamo war crimes tribunals said he would consider whether torture was involved when deciding what evidence could be admitted in the trials.

The judge, retired Colonel Peter Brownback, stopped short of guaranteeing to exclude evidence obtained through torture, but said: “My personal belief is that torture is not good.”

The issue was raised in a pre-trial hearing at the remote US base in Cuba for Ali Hamza al Bahlul, a Yemeni captive who acknowledged he is a member of al-Qaida and is accused of acting as a bodyguard for Osama bin Laden.