US Judge Determines 9/11 Defendant Unfit for Trial

A military judge at Guantanamo Bay has determined that one of the defendants accused of involvement in the 9/11 attacks is unfit to stand trial. Ramzi bin al-Shibh has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, psychotic features, and a delusional disorder. His lawyer has long claimed that he was tortured by the CIA. Al-Shibh was scheduled to face pretrial proceedings but Colonel Matthew McCall accepted the doctors' findings that he was too psychologically damaged to defend himself. The medical board concluded that he is delusional, psychotic, and unable to understand the nature of the proceedings. As a result, he is deemed incompetent to stand trial or plead guilty. Al-Shibh was supposed to be tried alongside four other defendants, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks. However, Colonel McCall has decided to remove al-Shibh from the case. The trial for the other four defendants is expected to proceed as planned. The five men are accused of conspiring in the plane hijackings that resulted in the deaths of nearly 3,000 people in New York City, at the Pentagon, and in Pennsylvania. Al-Shibh, a 51-year-old Yemeni citizen, was arrested in 2002 and transferred to Guantanamo Bay in 2006. His lawyers contend that he was tortured by the CIA, leading to his deteriorating mental state. Al-Shibh's mental condition has been a concern since his first court appearance in 2008, and he has disrupted some hearings with outbursts. He is accused of helping organize the al-Qaeda cell in Hamburg, Germany, that hijacked one of the planes that crashed into the World Trade Centre. Guantanamo Bay, established in 2002 to house foreign terrorism suspects, has been criticized for its interrogation techniques and prolonged detention without trial.