The US Dept. of Defense on Wednesday announced that Susan Escallier, the Convening Authority for Military Commissions, has entered into pretrial agreements with Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin ‘Attash, and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi, three of the co-conspirators in the September 11, 2001 attacks. Wednesday’s announcements signify a pivotal moment in the prosecution of the deadliest terrorist attack on US soil.
The specific terms and conditions of the pretrial agreements are not available to the public at this time.
The three, along with Ali Abdul Aziz Ali and Ramzi Bin al Shibh, were initially charged jointly and arraigned on June 5, 2008, and then were charged again jointly and arraigned a second time on May 5, 2012, in connection with their roles in the 9/11 attacks.
In a letter sent to families of the 9/11 victims by Rear Adm. Aaron Rugh, the chief prosecutor in these cases, all three terrorists will plead guilty, and a panel of military officials will determine their sentences.
“In exchange for the removal of the death penalty as a possible punishment, these three accused have agreed to plead guilty to all of the charged offenses, including the murder of the 2,976 people listed in the charge sheet,” Rugh wrote the victims’ families.
The process has been complicated by legislation enacted in 2015, which prohibits the US government from transferring Guantanamo Bay detainees to the continental United States, even for criminal proceedings. This law, passed by Congress citing security concerns, persists despite the Justice Department’s ongoing prosecution of other terrorism suspects in federal courts.
Further complicating matters is the controversial history of US detention and interrogation practices, particularly the use of torture at Guantanamo Bay, which the government initially attempted to conceal. Senate reports have since revealed details of these practices, including the waterboarding of certain prisoners, among them Khalid Shaikh Mohammad.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, 59, also known by at least 50 pseudonyms, most notably KSM, is a Kuwaiti or Pakistani mechanical engineer and the former Head of Propaganda for al-Qaeda. He was named “the principal architect of the 9/11 attacks” in the 9/11 Commission’s 2004 Report.
Anthony Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union representing Mohammed, called the plea agreement “the right call” and “the only practical solution after nearly two decades of litigation.”
Terry Kay Rockefeller, a member of September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, told The Washington Post that after numerous delays in the cases, some family members of the victims had lost hope of ever seeing a trial. In 2017, Rockefeller and other members of the organization started advocating for plea agreements. They viewed these agreements as a path to achieving “judicial finality.”
“We said there has to be a different way to actually obtain some kind of justice and accountability,” Rockefeller stated.
