An American military judge in Guantanamo Bay concluded on Thursday that a Yemeni detainee tortured by the CIA is incompetent to stand trial in a death penalty case.
Ramzi bin al-Shibh, 51, was slated to be one of five defendants in a trial tied to Al Qaeda’s September 11, 2001, assaults on US cities, which killed almost 3,000 people.
Colonel Matthew McCall, a military judge, however, stated that the prisoner was too psychologically damaged to assist in his defense.
Doctors at the United States military on Cuba’s eastern point diagnosed Bin al-Shibh with post-traumatic stress disorder secondary psychotic symptoms, and a delusional disorder.
According to the military psychiatrists, his condition caused him to be unable to understand the nature of the proceedings against him or cooperate intelligently with his legal defence team.
For years, Bin al-Shibh has complained about being tormented by invisible forces that caused his bed and cell to vibrate and stung his genitals, robbing him of sleep.
The defense lawyer for Bin al-Shibh has claimed that his client was tortured by the CIA and went insane as a result of what the CIA labeled enhanced interrogation tactics, which included sleep deprivation, waterboarding, and beatings.
He was scheduled to appear in pretrial proceedings on Friday alongside Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, and three other defendants. Their hearing will take place as planned.
Bin al-Shibh was suspected of assisting in the establishment of an Al Qaeda cell in Hamburg, Germany, which hijacked one of two passenger planes that crashed into the World Trade Center in New York.
Another suicide airplane attack in Washington targeted the Pentagon, while a fourth plane crashed in rural Pennsylvania after passengers overpowered the hijackers.
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