Andy Worthington

Andy Worthington is a historian based in London. He is the author of The Guantánamo Files, the first book to tell the stories of all the detainees in Guantanámo. He writes regularly on issues related to Guantánamo and the "War on Terror" on his Web site.

The Last ‘Enemy Combatant’ on the US Mainland

Torture is defined in many ways. To the Bush administration, nothing that it ever does is torture. In keeping with the notorious “Torture Memo” of August 2002, drafted primarily by Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief counsel, David Addington, “enhanced interrogation techniques” – as the administration euphemizes its forays into torture – only become unacceptable if … Continue reading “The Last ‘Enemy Combatant’ on the US Mainland”

Gitmo Whistleblower Condemns Proposals to Hold New Tribunals

Speaking to journalists last week, Navy Capt. Theodore Fessel Jr., the chief representative at Guantánamo for the Pentagon’s Office of Administrative Review of Detained Enemy Combatants (OARDEC), which oversees the tribunals and review boards convened to assess the detainees’ status, hinted that the authorities had "begun seeking new or previously overlooked evidence that may warrant … Continue reading “Gitmo Whistleblower Condemns Proposals to Hold New Tribunals”

Long-Suffering Mauritanian Sent Home From Gitmo

For over five and a half years, as I explain in depth in my newly released book, The Guantánamo Files, the prison in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, has held hundreds of innocent men. Humanitarian aid workers, teachers or students of the Koran, businessmen, economic migrants, and refugees from persecution – all were swept up for bounty … Continue reading “Long-Suffering Mauritanian Sent Home From Gitmo”

Myopic Pentagon Keeps
Filling Gitmo

Remember 10 months ago, when the Democrats, following success in the midterm elections, briefly held out the promise that they had teeth, and Donald Rumsfeld, the former strongman who had become a laughingstock, resigned his post as defense secretary? There were, at that time, high hopes that his successor, former CIA director Robert Gates, would … Continue reading “Myopic Pentagon Keeps
Filling Gitmo”

José Padilla: More Sinned Against Than Sinning

News that José Padilla’s lawyers are seeking to hold former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and 59 other U.S. officials responsible for "abusive and unconstitutional tactics used against Mr. Padilla while he was held in military custody as an enemy combatant from 2002 to 2006" has temporarily revived the story of the Chicago-born former gang member … Continue reading “José Padilla: More Sinned Against Than Sinning”