Although CCR has been representing al Qahtani for years, since at least October 2006, when he filed his petition for habeas corpus with the federal court, the government never disclosed the existence of these videotapes, CCR said today, although they should have been turned over as potentially exculpatory evidence.

The videotapes, which a judge has ordered the government to produce, are expected to reveal al Qahtani’s condition toward the end of three months of intensive solitary confinement and isolation just before the special interrogation plan was implemented. In a letter to his superiors, FBI Deputy Assistant Director T.J. Harrington described al Qahtani at the time as “evidencing behavior consistent with extreme psychological trauma (talking to non-existent people, reportedly hearing voices, crouching in a corner of the cell covered with a sheet for hours on end).” Harrington was reporting on the possible abuse of men in U.S. custody.

The interrogation of al Qahtani included severe sleep deprivation, isolation, sexual humiliation, prolonged exposure to hot and cold and threats to him and his family.

The government has alleged that al Qahtani intended to participate in the 9/11 attacks, but although the other alleged 9/11 co-conspirators have all been charged by the military commissions, the Convening Authority of the military commissions dismissed the charges against al Qahtani last year. She has also said that he was tortured.

According to the Times, the chief military prosecutor for Guantanamo said he would file new charges against Mohammed al-Qahtani, a Saudi who’s been called the 20th hijacker in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. He was denied entry into the United States at an Orlando, Florida airport in August 2001.

A military official dismissed earlier charges against him last May without comment. But the dismissal was most likely due to the way evidence was extracted, and highlights just the sorts of problems any prosecutor will have trying these cases.

According to public military documents, writes the Times, al-Qahtani’s interrogation included “prolonged isolation, sleep deprivation, forced nudity, exposure to cold, involuntary grooming as well as requiring him to dance with a male interrogator and to obey dog commands, including ‘stay,’ ‘come’ and ‘bark.’ ”

Gee, think that could raise questions about the reliability of his statements? 

I’ve followed how this sort of systematic abuse and humiliation and the larger debate it has prompted about what to do with people like al-Qahtani now. I’m working on a piece on this that will run this week.