A man suspected of plotting 9/11 will not stand trial as torture in CIA custody has left him delusional and psychotic, a judge has ruled.
Ramzi bin al Shibh is one of five men who were due to be jointly prosecuted for their alleged roles in the US attacks on 11 September 2001.
However, he has been deemed ineligible for a death penalty trial, judge Col Matthew McCall has ruled.
Al Shibh is currently being held at Guantanamo Bay and has long alleged that he has been tortured by the CIA.
Earlier this week, a medical panel revealed al Shibh’s new diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with secondary psychotic features – which his lawyer described as “a moment of truth” for the US, and a chance for officials to accept the harm that was done.
Lead attorney David Bruck has said al Shibh was subject to solitary confinement at CIA black sites for four years before being moved to Guantanamo Bay in 2006.
The sleep deprivation torture is alleged to have included being forced to stand up wearing just a diaper, for as long as three days at a time, while being doused with cold water in an air-conditioned room.
The judge’s decision means al Shibh’s prosecution is suspended until his mental health improves.
Defence lawyers previously argued that the only way al Shibh will become well enough for a trial is if he receives mental health care and is taken out of solitary confinement.
This week’s hearings came after President Joe Biden declined to approve or demand the defence lawyers’ plea negotiations in early September.
They wanted to guarantee that the men would receive care for the physical and mental affects of their torture, as well as confirmation they would be spared solitary confinement in the future.
Attorneys on both sides had been negotiating a deal that would see the defendants plead guilty in exchange for being spared the death penalty. Some family members of 9/11 victims had criticised the possible deal.
Al Shibh’s mental health issues meant he was not part of these negotiations.
Alleged lead conspirator Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the four other men are accused of helping to orchestrate the killings of 2,976 people on 11 September 2001 when al Qaeda terrorists hijacked commercial planes and flew them into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
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The Bush administration instituted a secret CIA detention programme for hundreds of 9/11 suspects, many of whom were later cleared.
As part of the programme – which ended in 2009 – the five defendants were subjected to waterboarding, beatings, violent repeated searches of their rectal cavities, sleep deprivation and other abuse.
