Guantanamo judge allows testimony about torture

FORT MEADE, Md. — 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.