Guantanamo judge allows testimony about torture

In this sketch by courtroom artist Janet Hamlin, taken Nov. 9, 2011, reviewed by the U.S. military, Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri is seen during his military commissions arraignment at the Guantanamo Bay detention center in Guantanamo, Cuba. A judge at Guantanamo Bay refused Monday to suspend a pretrial hearing for Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, the prisoner accused of orchestrating the attack on the USS Cole, ruling that defense lawyers had offered no evidence supporting their suspicion that the CIA can eavesdrop on their private conversations with their client. (AP Photo/Janet Hamlin, Pool)

In this sketch by courtroom artist Janet Hamlin, taken Nov. 9, 2011, reviewed by the U.S. military, Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri is seen during his military commissions arraignment at the Guantanamo Bay detention center in Guantanamo, Cuba. A judge at Guantanamo Bay refused Monday to suspend a pretrial hearing for Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, the prisoner accused of orchestrating the attack on the USS Cole, ruling that defense lawyers had offered no evidence supporting their suspicion that the CIA can eavesdrop on their private conversations with their client. (AP Photo/Janet Hamlin, Pool)

FORT MEADE, Md. (AP) ? Lawyers for the Guantanamo Bay prisoner accused of orchestrating the deadly attack on the USS Cole will present expert testimony Tuesday at a pretrial hearing on how to conduct a mental examination of a torture victim.

Dr. Vincent Iacopino will testify at the military tribunal in Cuba of Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri.

The judge, Army Col. James Pohl, agreed to hear the testimony before he orders an examination to determine whether al-Nashiri is competent to stand trial.

Defense lawyers say it should be done with sensitivity to Al-Nashiri's history of being waterboarded and threatened with weapons while he was being held by the CIA in a series of secret prisons.

The 2000 bombing of the Navy destroyer in Yemen killed 17 crew members and wounded 37.

Al-Nashiri's hearing is being held at the U.S. naval base in Cuba. The Associated Press on Monday watched a video feed of the hearing at Fort Meade.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-02-05-US-Guantanamo-Cole-Attack/id-fa6efde79e2e4d3086ead7e629ab8081

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