Jose Padilla Conviction a Hollow Victory

Information Obtained Through Torture Inadmissible

ptosis
In 2002, Jose Padilla was arrested at the Chicago O'Hare Airport first as a material witness then President Bush dubbed him an enemy combatant which stripped all of Padilla's basic human and constitutional rights as an American citizen.

In 2005, Papilla's lawyers sought dismissal because he did not have a speedy trial as specified in the Constitution, which U.S. District Judge Cooke denied and in 2006, Padilla was charged with criminal conspiracy.

On August 16, 2007, Padilla has been sentenced to a minimum of 15 years to life under a 1998 enacted Title-18, Part-1, Chapter-113B, (Terrorism), Section 956 that reads, "Conspiracy to kill, kidnap, maim, or injure persons or damage property in a foreign country."

The judgment that Padilla plan to engage in waging violent jihad is based on a filled out job application to join Al Qaida and signed by Abdallah al Muhajir. If Jose Padilla did in fact, fill in a "Applicazione to Joina De Mafia" or "Mujahideen Data Form" for Al Qaida, "It is a pretty big leap between a mere indication of desire to attend a camp and a crystallized desire to kill, maim and kidnap." said Peter Marqulies, as quoted by the NYT. "Yahya Goba who trained at the camp, has sworn that there was no binding requirement that trainees become terrorists." [ABCnews]

Back in 2002, Attorney General John Ashcroft politically marketed Padilla as the dirty ticking-bomber - as if reality works the same way as the fictionalized ABC television show called "24".

Extreme sensory deprivation produces psychotic symptoms in as little as 24 hours. However, it was not just 24 hours for Padilla but years of psychological torture akin to "A Clockwork Orange" dubbed "torture lite" but President Bush says that he is against the use of torture.

Jose Padilla has survived 43 months of extreme insulation. How can a human being be able to recover from such a mental Kafkaesque cataclysm? A lucid person can only imagine being lost in the outer limits of a hallucinogenic twilight zone.

Padilla's endured torture is the reason why he has not been legally charged with the original dirty-bomb plot indictment. Jose's extremely prolonged isolation and sensory deprivation rendered anything he said as constitutional inadmissible in court. Padilla's lawyers failed to prove that he was incompetent to stand trial from the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder resulting from his painful imprisonment.

Padilla's codefendants have vowed to appeal the guilty verdict. No response yet has been heard from Padilla.

Published by ptosis

View profile

13 Comments

Post a Comment
  • Chadd De Las Casas8/24/2007

    So they're not worthy of condemnation and all the same efforts then?

  • ptosis8/24/2007

    To DanglingSelvage: I don't hold Hamas to the same standard of a stabilized democracy that has been established for over 200 years.

  • Chadd De Las Casas8/24/2007

    So here's a question (since I'm such a stickler for consistency and I basically demand it of journalism in any degree), where are your articles decrying the sensory deprivation of Gilad Shalit?

  • Chadd De Las Casas8/23/2007

    Good for Florida's editorial.

  • ptosis8/22/2007

    Giving terror suspects lawyers and having their guilt judged by an impartial jury is the best way to keep America safe. (Florida editorial)

  • JustMe8/21/2007

    Paul Craig Roberts wrote, "US interrogators abused Padilla and destroyed his mind .... There is no doubt whatsoever that the Justice [sic] Department committed far more crimes than did Padilla."

  • Chadd De Las Casas8/19/2007

    I agree, he is a human roach. I also agree, pull off his legs.

  • ptosis8/19/2007

    Eric Fleming said, " . . .: would Padilla be concerned about whether the people he killed or maimed, or their families, would have ever "recovered" from his actions?" -

    My point is that the "system" doesn't work. A conviction is not a success if it's a farcical kangaroo court. Padilla WANTED to be convicted, so he will get out of the brig and go to a regular prison.

    Individual acts of violence - and you can say the "bad apples" refrain. But this is a long term systematic trophy preening.

    In Britain use SOP for 48 hours because if it was a real cell - the cell and all it's plans would have been disintegrated within 48 hours. After that - all the information is stale. There is no longer an urgent need for extraordinary interrogations.


    Is this how we get reliable information? Or are we just pulling the legs of a human roach?

  • Stephanie H. Dray8/19/2007

    I'm thrilled that he was eventually _tried_. That's how justice is supposed to happen. In a courtroom. It's a disgrace that he had to wait for that trial, and it's a blight on our Republic that we allowed an American citizen to be tortured without consequence.

    The Constitution applies to this man. No ifs, ands, or buts. No arguments about whether or not he's a foreign enemy combatant or if that term even has any legitimate meaning.

    He's an American. He deserves a speedy trial, his day in court, and an execution if warranted. _Under the law_.

  • Eric Fleming8/19/2007

    I'm with Chadd on this one... would Jose Padilla have been concerned about whether the people he killed or maimed, or their families, would have ever "recovered" from his actions?

Displaying Comments
Next »

To comment, please sign in to your Yahoo! account, or sign up for a new account.