After attacks in the USA: 9/11 attack: Justice deal with defendants in the USA revoked

After heavy criticism, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has revoked a judicial agreement with the alleged chief planner of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and other co-defendants. The Pentagon announced the decision by publishing a memorandum in which Austin relieved the Defense Department’s supervisor of the relevant proceedings of her duties with “immediate effect.” At the same time, he himself took direct supervision of the case.

He determined that, given the importance of the decision, “the responsibility for such a decision should rest with me,” Austin explained in the order published on Friday evening (local time). This could mean that the defendants could again face the death penalty.

Austin based his decision on a law that regulates the work of military commissions. The law, passed by Congress and then-President Barack Obama in 2009, also specifies, among other things, who can be charged with which crimes before military commissions.

On September 11, 2001, around 3,000 people were killed in the worst terrorist attack to date in the United States. Islamic terrorists flew three hijacked passenger planes into the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon near Washington. A fourth plane crashed in the state of Pennsylvania. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is considered the chief planner of the attacks and is also said to have organized the communication and financing of the plan.

Sharp criticism of the agreement

The US Department of Defense announced the controversial agreement on Wednesday. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two other defendants wanted to enter into an agreement with the judiciary and plead guilty, it said. The exact details were not made public at first. The further procedure also remained unclear.

The agreement was met with incomprehension by both Republicans and some of those affected. Among others, the chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Accountability in the US House of Representatives, James Comer, had sharply criticized the agreement in a letter to US President Joe Biden. Comer also demanded information on whether the government had played a role in negotiating the deal. Biden’s National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, denied this on Thursday when asked by journalists.

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has been in the notorious US prison camp at Guantánamo in Cuba for many years and, according to US media reports, would have escaped the death penalty thanks to the agreement. According to the reports, allegations of torture against the USA were central to the deal. Legal experts warned that any confessions in a court case could therefore not stand up.

Republicans, however, immediately criticized the agreement. “They (…) are signaling to our enemies that the United States is not prepared to take tough action against those who attack our country,” wrote Comer. He also complained about an “absolute lack of transparency.” His party colleague Mike Johnson, who chairs the House of Representatives, had already expressed similar criticism: Biden’s administration had done “the unthinkable.” The victims’ families “deserve better.”

Firefighters feel cheated

After the agreement was announced, several first responders and relatives of victims who did not agree with the deal also spoke out in the US media. The New York Fire Department’s union said its members felt “betrayed and disgusted.”

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was arrested in Pakistan in 2003. He was then interrogated by the US secret service CIA. According to a report by the US Senate, he was tortured during the interrogations. In 2006, he was transferred to Guantánamo. There he was to be tried before a military tribunal. However, the proceedings against him and several co-defendants were delayed for years.