Three men accused of orchestrating the 9/11 attacks, including the alleged mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, have reached plea agreements in the military commissions process, officials announced on Wednesday.
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Khalid Sheikh Mohammed will plead guilty next week
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin ‘Attash, and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi are set to appear at a hearing at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, next week, according to the Office of Military Commissions.
Moreover, on September 11, 2001, firefighters walked through the rubble of the collapsed World Trade Center buildings in New York after terrorists crashed two airliners into the towers, causing the death of nearly 3,000 people.
The specifics of the plea agreements remain undisclosed, but the defendants are expected to plead guilty to lesser charges, which could spare them the death penalty. However, sentencing is not likely to occur for several months.
The plea agreements were negotiated between the accused and their attorneys and the Convening Authority for Military Commissions, Susan Escallier.
KSM was charged and arraigned in 2008
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and several other defendants, including the two others involved in the plea agreements, were initially charged and arraigned in 2008 for their alleged roles in the attacks, according to a statement by the Defense Department.
Mohammed, charged with war crimes and murder, was captured in Pakistan in 2003 and has been held with other Al Qaeda detainees at Guantánamo Bay.
Defense lawyers have criticized the government for years of delays that have stalled these cases, attributing some of the delays to attempts to cover up details of the torture of detainees at secret CIA prisons before their transfer to Guantánamo. Meanwhile, military prosecutors have blamed defense lawyers for the delays, citing numerous motions challenging the government’s evidence.
Pres. Biden Has been Working to Close Guantanamo Bay
In a statement on Wednesday, an official with Amnesty International USA called the agreement “welcome news,” suggesting it would provide some accountability for the 9/11 attacks and justice for its victims and survivors.
“We are also pleased that there is finally an outcome for at least some of the accused, who were tortured and then languished in detention without trial for more than two decades,” said Daphne Eviatar, director of the group’s Security with Human Rights program.
Eviatar added that the announcement should signal the “beginning of the end” for the military prison.
The Biden administration has been working quietly to close Guantánamo. By last year, the number of detainees had decreased to 30, down from nearly 800 at its peak.
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