In an opinion for Lawfare, CERL’s Prof. Claire Finkelstein, Alberto Mora, and Brig. Gen. (ret.) Stephen N. Xenakis, M.D., urge Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to reinstate the plea deal he revoked just two days after an agreement was reached between U.S. prosecutors and three Guantánamo defendants—Khalid Shaikh Mohammed (KSM), Walid bin Attash, and Mustafa al-Hawsawi—granting the men accused of varying involvement in orchestrating the 9/11 attacks life sentences in lieu of death penalty trials. Given the inadmissibility of evidence tainted by torture, a plea agreement is the best avenue for resolving the remaining cases in the military commissions at Guantánamo Bay, they argue.

Claire Finkelstein is the Algernon Biddle Professor of Law and Professor of Philosophy and Faculty Director of the Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law. Read her bio here. 

Alberto Mora is former general counsel of the Department of the Navy. He is also a member of the CERL Executive Board.

Brig. Gen. Xenakis is an adult, child, and adolescent psychiatrist with many years of clinical, academic, and management experience. He is the Executive Director of APPA, an advisor for Physicians for Human Rights and the Center for Victims of Torture, and an Adjust Professor at Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. He is also a member of the CERL Executive Board. Read his bio here.

The views expressed here are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of any organization or university.