Changing of the Guard at the Guantanamo Bay Military Commissions ADC-ICT Observer Mission.

On 2 November 2019, the ADC-ICT’s participation in the NGO Observer Program at the United States Military Commissions at NSGB was extended by the arrival of ADC-ICT President, Dragan Dan Ivetic, who replaced ADC-ICT Head of Office, Dominic Kennedy, who had spent the last week serving in that role.  

Despite a travel plan that included multiple airports:  a) Schiphol (Amsterdam 6:00 am CET); b) Atlanta- Hartsfield; c) Ronald Reagan DC (6:00 pm EDT) and then a short overnight rest Mr. Ivetic was able to meet the with the new group of observers around 6:30 am EDT at Joint Base Andrews and attended a briefing as a guest of the United States Department of Defence to ultimately arrive at the Guantanamo Bay US Naval Station after a 3-hour charter flight.  Upon arrival he was debriefed by Dominic, who was departing back to DC.  

As is the case with all visitors – the Ferry Ride (and extreme heat much different from the Netherlands) awaited, followed by an introduction to the living quarters and a tour of the Expeditionary Legal Complex.

Unfortunately, the proceedings scheduled for Monday are expected to be a closed court session, which will not be able to be observed nor reported.  However, it is tentatively announced that the hearings on Tuesday will be public. After registration and badging, the group of observers (10 in total) visited the Naval Commissary for groceries and ate dinner at two of the local eateries, despite some slight rain, the temperature was around 88 degrees Fahrenheit.

Tomorrow a joint Brunch is anticipated, and later in the week meetings with both the Commanding Officer of the ELC and the Chief Defence Counsel of the Military Commission Defence Organization are planned.  

Developments from the same and observations of the proceedings will be reported to the extent possible and permitted.

This observation mission is expected to last until 9 November 2019 and will be covering the “KSM” proceedings, relating to the 9/11 events, and multiple accused persons awaiting trial.  

Further reports will be forthcoming.