The five detainees in Guantanamo who are still awaiting trial for having planned 9/11

A quarter of a century after 9/11 –the worst terrorist attack the United States has ever experienced– there are still five people awaiting trial for being the intellectual instigators of attacks that claimed the lives of nearly 3,000 people. Although it has been forgotten due to the fact that the 19 perpetrators of the attacks died on the spot, the country still faces one of the most complicated trials in its history to be able to close the chapter on that fateful day.

The five architects of the attacks against the Twin Towers, the Pentagon, and Pennsylvania have been detained for 20 years at Guantanamo prison, the controversial penitentiary center that the George Bush administration inaugurated in January 2002 for its "war on terror." The trial is in the hands of a military tribunal that is seeking the death penalty for those who helped 19 terrorists from the Middle East carry out the attacks.

In fact, the judge presiding over the case, Colonel Michael Schrama, set a date this August for the proceedings to begin: June 5, 2028. Although it remains to be seen whether it will actually take place; the confessions obtained from the five detainees, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Ammar al-Baluchi, Walid bin Attash, Mustafa al-Hawsawi, and Ramzi bin al-Shibh, might not be valid because they were obtained through torture and coercion by the FBI agents who interrogated them years ago.

In fact, Schrama himself rejected this August one of the most crucial pieces of evidence that the United States government had in the case: the confession made by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, considered the mastermind of the entire operation. It is claimed that Mohammed was the one who devised the 9/11 plan in the nineties, who proposed it to Osama bin Laden, and who helped select and train the airplane hijackers.

Prosecutors can still appeal this decision, a fact that could prolong the process and even delay the date set to begin judging the inmates. And it is not ruled out that the same will happen with the statements of the rest of the detainees, also obtained, supposedly, through torture.

Torture and coercion

The five intellectual instigators of the terrorist attacks were captured by the CIA between 2002 and 2003, and were held in a secret network of prisons run by the intelligence agency, where they were kept incommunicado. It was not until 2006 that they were transferred to Guantanamo Bay to stand trial.

Both in the years following their capture and in their first years at the detention center, they were subjected to all kinds of torture and coercion by FBI agents. This fact is what led to the dismissal of Mohammed's confession; the judge considers that it was not made voluntarily and, therefore, is inadmissible. Furthermore, he concludes that the detainee was not read his rights to inform him that he could remain silent, and that he was not allowed to speak with a lawyer, as reported by CBS.

The prosecution had already excluded from the case Mohammed's statements obtained during the controversial interrogations he underwent before arriving at Guantanamo, which included 183 sessions of what is known as waterboarding, a simulated drowning used as torture.

Colonel Schrama has not yet ruled on the confessions of Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi, but one of the previous judges who handled the case, Colonel Matthew McCall, rejected the confessions of Ammar al-Baluchi.

Specifically, the charges the detainees face are conspiracy, murder in violation of the law of war, and terrorism, for having directed and trained the airplane hijackers who perpetrated the attacks or for helping them, whether financially or with assistance in traveling.

A trial that could drag on indefinitely

The fact of dismissing the confession that the so-called mastermind of the operation made to the FBI implies a significant setback to a trial that has been going on for years and is, surely, one of the most complicated in the country's history. The difficulties focus, above all, on the evidence provided, logistical problems, and plea bargain negotiations, factors that have delayed the process.

In fact, the case only concerns four of the inmates, since Ramzi bin al-Shibh was deemed unfit to stand trial in 2023 and his case is in the hands of another judge. The defense argues this situation is due to the torture to which he was subjected. On the other hand, two years ago, Mohammed, Bin Attash, and al-Hawsawi reached an agreement with military prosecutors to plead guilty to the murder of 2,976 people in exchange for avoiding the death penalty, an agreement that was later revoked.

The long procedure was also suspended for several years and was even reformulated with new rules during the Obama administration, in 2012, when preliminary hearings began to determine the trial date.

As long as there is no progress in the judicial processes, the accused remain in Guantanamo prison, along with 10 other inmates who make up the last detainees of the war on terror. According to the New York Times, the center has a team of 800 workers, which means more than 50 government officials for each detainee. The latest study on the operating costs of the facility, conducted in 2019, estimated the cost per inmate at more than 13 million dollars per year. At that time there were 40 prisoners and a staff of 1,800 people.