(Washington) US Army officers have called for clemency for a Pakistani detained in Guantanamo Bay who described the torture he suffered for three years at the hands of the CIA.
Majid Khan was sentenced to 26 years in prison on Friday, after pleading guilty to helping al-Qaeda in 2002.
The day before his conviction, the 41-year-old man had recounted in a letter read during the hearing how he had been raped, beaten and subjected to brutal interrogations.
In a letter unveiled by the New York Times, the seven soldiers, who were part of the jury of eight people during the trial of Mr. Khan, denounce this treatment as “a stain on the moral fiber of America”.
“The members of the jury listed below recommend leniency in the case of Majid Shoukat Khan,” said the officers, including six army and navy officers and a Navy, who signed the letter with their number. jury, thus remaining anonymous.
“Mr. Khan has committed serious crimes against the United States and its partners. He pleaded guilty to these crimes and took responsibility for his actions. In addition, he expressed remorse for the impact on the victims and their families, ”they write.
The eventual impact of this letter is unclear, but the position taken by all but one jury member is unusual.
Based on an earlier plea deal – which jurors were unaware of – Mr Khan could be released as early as next year, after spending 19 years in US custody.
“Mr. Khan was subjected to physical and psychological abuse far beyond the approved enhanced interrogation techniques,” the military said in their letter. “This ill-treatment had no practical value in terms of intelligence or any other tangible benefit to American interests.”
“Today, at the age of 41, he has remorse and no longer represents an extremist threat,” they add.
“I am no longer the impressionable and vulnerable young child I was 20 years ago,” the Guantanamo prisoner told the court. “I reject Al Qaeda, I reject terrorism. ”
His testimony about torture is supported by the US Senate’s own investigation into the CIA’s use of torture after the September 11, 2001 attacks.