Chapter 5 Towards the Closure of Guantanamo: International Legal Obligations | 125 with regard to the Transfer or Release of Detainees which four will be served at Guantanamo and then he will probably be transferred to Saudi Arabia to serve out the remainder of the sentence. 371 309. At the time of preparation of this report, all active cases before military commissions were still at a pre-trial stage. The case of the five alleged masterminds of the September 11 attacks is the highest-profile case. In 2009, the U.S. administration announced that it would pursue prosecution in federal court in the Southern District of New York against the five detainees who had previously been charged before a military commission. However, in April 2011, after a public and political backlash, the Government stepped back and announced that it would try the alleged terrorists in military commissions. The case has been stalled in the pretrial stage for three years. The Government prosecutor predicted that the trial would begin in January 2015. However, alleged FBI infiltrations of one of the defense teams have further added to the ongoing delays in the pre-trial proceedings. As indicated in the previous chapter, the FBI allegedly tried to turn the security officer of Ramzi Bin Al Shibh’s legal team into an FBI informant. A hearing that was scheduled to take place on December 15, 2014 to focus on this allegation was cancelled, and there is reportedly no estimated timeline for the trial. 372 Ramzi Bin al-Shibh and Al-Hawsawi are seeking severance from the case. 373 310. Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri is charged with planning the attempted attack on the USS The Sullivans in January 2000, an attack on the USS Cole in October 2000 that killed 17 American service members, and an attack on the MV Limburg in October 2002. 374 By December 2014 there were two filings pending in the military commission and in federal court. On October 14, 2014, defense counsel filed an appellate brief in a Government interlocutory appeal before the Court of Military Commission Review urging the CMCR to affirm the trial judge’s decision to dismiss the Limburg charges. It also filed a mandamus petition asking the DC Circuit Court to enjoin the participation of two of the three members of the panel of the CMCR in the interlocutory appeal. The oral argument on this petition is scheduled to take place on February 10, 2015. 375 Further, the defense contested the jurisdiction over 371 372 373 374 375 Pre-Trial Agreement, February 20, 2014. Available at: http://www.mc.mil/Cases.aspx?caseType=omc&status=4&id=23. See also, Human Rights Watch, Ahmed Mohammed Ahmed Haza al-Darbi. Available at: http://www.hrw.org/news/2014/04/21/ahmed-mohammedahmed-haza-al-darbi The Daily Times, Guantanamo 9/11 hearing cancelled after US torture report, December 17, 2014. Available at: http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/foreign/17-Dec-2014/guantanamo-9-11-hearing-cancelled-after-ustorture-report; The Daily Beast, Prosecutors Have No Idea When 9/11 Mastermind’s Trial Will Start, December 17, 2014. Available at: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/12/17/prosecutors-have-no-idea-when9-11-mastermind-s-trial-will-start.html. See in this regard, Lawfare, 8/13 Session: Severance, Re-Reconsidered, August 14, 2014. Available at: http://www.lawfareblog.com/2014/08/813-session-severance-re-reconsidered/; and 8/14 Session #2: On Severing Al-Hawsawi, August 15, 2014. Available at: http://www.lawfareblog.com/2014/08/814-session-2-onsevering-al-hawsawi/ Department of Defense, Office of Military Commissions. See in this regard, Just Security, al-Nashiri mandamus petition: Government response and oral argument date by Marty Lederman, December 3, 2014. Available at: http://justsecurity.org/17968/al-nashiri-mandamuspetition-government-response-oral-argument-date/. Inter-American Commission on Human Rights | IACHR