Citing Torture, Judge Tosses Gitmo Detainee’s Confession

A military judge has found that Afghan police tortured a youth later transferred to Guantanamo Bay, and the confession he gave as a result cannot be used at his trial.

The judge, Army Col. Stephen Henley, found that Afghan police threatened to kill Mohammed Jawad and his family unless he confessed, Reuters reports. The youth was 16 or 17 at the time and he may have been drugged by the Afghans who recruited him, Henley said.

The military prosecutor in Jawad’s case quit last month because of ethical qualms about a “slipshod” system for releasing exculpatory evidence to defense lawyers. Jawad’s trial is scheduled for Jan. 5.