Vijay Padmanabhan
Professor at Vanderbilt Law School and US State Department Chief Counsel on Guantanamo, 2006-2008
Vijay Padmanabhan appears in the following:
What's the Future of Guantánamo?
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Wednesday marks the tenth anniversary of the United States opening a detention camp in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. The past decade has seen no shortage of controversy about the base, both on legal and moral terms. Barack Obama campaigned for president on the promise to close the base, but signed into law the National Defense Authorization Act on December 31, which includes a provision allowing indefinite military detention without trial. There are currently 171 prisoners being held there, and no signs of shutting the facility down in the near future.
How to Prosecute a Terrorist
Tuesday, April 05, 2011
The Obama administration made a bold decision in November 2009 that divided the country, which was still scarred by the events of September 11, 2001. Attorney General Eric Holder announced the self-proclaimed mastermind of 9/11, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and four other detainees allegedly tied to the attacks, would be tried in a civilian court in New York City, just blocks away from where the Twin Towers stood. After battling Congress for over a year, Holder reversed his decision and announced yesterday those same men will now be tried before a military commission at the Guantanamo Bay detention center.
Gitmo Song Remains the Same
Tuesday, March 08, 2011
After a two year ban, military trials for Guantanamo Bay detainees will resume, the Obama administration said on Monday. The administration said it remains committed to closing the controversial prison; this is the same pledge we've heard from the president dating back to his campaign over two years ago. However, his efforts to close the prison have been thwarted by Congressional opposition to bringing detainees on U.S. soil for trials. What are the implications for such an order for Obama and for the detainees?
Barring of Witness in Ghailani Case a Blow to Gov't
Thursday, October 07, 2010
A federal judge barred the use of a key witness for the government yesterday in the trial of Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, currently being tried for the bombings of U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya in 1998.
The government acknowledges that the witness, Hussein Abebe, was identified by Ghailani while being interrogated – possibly tortured – in a secret CIA overseas prison, and as such, his testimony would be inadmissible.