Monday, September 14, 2015

Where is rationality in assigning functions to ministers?

What happens when functions are not clearly demarcated is that the ministers and their officials tread on each other’s toes. Then co-operation which is required in dealing with allied and related functions is undermined, which is detrimental to good administration.

by R. M. B. Senanayake

( September 15, 2015, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) A rational allocation of departments to ministries and subsequently such ministries to ministers may not be possible owing to political expediency. But, shouldn’t there be some modicum of rationality at least.

How does the recent allocation of functions and departments to Ministries stand up to the standard of rationality?

The recent allocation is more rational than in the past. But, there are a few aberrations. For example Minister Lakshman Kiriella is put in charge of University Education and Highways. What relationship is there between the two? Is there any relationship between the two functions? What has university education got in common with highways? The idea in rational allocation of functions is to group together functions which require the same or similar knowledge and aptitude on the part of the minister or manager. This point was made by Herbert Simon, one of the theorists in public administration. The knowledge and aptitudes to manage these two functions are poles apart. The former function would require a person who is academic oriented and has experience in dealing with academic personnel. The latter function is more related to engineering and construction and requires dealing with engineers and engineering problems. Can one expect a minister to have knowledge and aptitude in these two totally unrelated fields? Similarly, there is a ministry for primary industries along with the ministry of trade and industry. There is also a ministry of rural development along with a ministry for primary industries. Isn’t all this duplication of functions without clear demarcation of them?

But, the larger and more important issue is whether statutory organizations need to be brought under ministers at all. The original theory put forward by the Labor Party after the Second World War in response to critics of State ownership, who said such an exercise would not be conducive to efficiency; was that they were to be freed from ministerial control and allowed to function like private enterprises to ensure the freedom required for the conduct of business activity despite government ownership. Hence, they were not constituted as departments of the government with Treasury controls but as corporations fully owned by the State but under independent Boards of Directors.

If we are following this theory we should not be assigning these corporations to individual ministers for they are known to interfere if not directly at least indirectly through their influence with the Chairmen and directors who are appointed by the minister himself. So, these persons feel obliged to the ministers who appointed them and will have to tolerate and accept the influence of the ministers or face the possibility of being called upon to resign. I have seen this happen during my tenure in the public sector. So, what must be done? The suggestion was made to bring them under an organization like “TEMASEK” of Singapore.

Singapore’s Temasek model was accepted by China for the reform of its own State Owned Enterprises. Why not try it out although I have my doubts whether it will stop ministerial interference altogether. But, it may be better than the present situation.

In The Reform Labyrinth

By Sarath de Alwis –September 13, 2015

Sarath de Alwis

I must follow the people. Am I not their leader? – Benjamin Disraeli

The cliché runs somewhat like this. “There’s a rainbow always after the rain.” After the rainbow what? What has the Rainbow coalition of 8th January brought us? This is for starters. Despair for democracy before 8th January has turned in to disgust of democracy after 17th August.

The consensus coalition held in place with over hundred parliamentarians receiving ministerial perks and privileges is focused on power, not on governance. It negates the principle of a principled coalition – The non-coercive coercion by the better argument.

The peevish prophets who promised us ‘change’ have given us an undated promissory note for good governance. Their priority seems to be the isolation or the quarantine of Mahinda Rajapaksa. While appreciating their dilemma, it is necessary for us to stress our priority- that of good governance and a legislature of sanity, dignity and integrity.

Mahinda Rajapaksa is more a victim than a villain. He is emblematic of our collective amnesia of a tortured past and our stubborn insistence of ignoring present reality. Three decades of conflict undermined the legitimacy of our democracy. At the end of war, we failed to restore our democratic institutions. The safety of the people was the supreme law in times of conflict. The insidious transformation of this obiter in to ‘safety of the regime’ was a brilliant piece of mind manipulation that bent a population to the will of an elite few determined on creating a deep state to perpetuate their grip on power. The strategy was to promote a Sinhala authoritarian populism. They succeeded remarkably in producing an entire mythology about the inevitable struggle against internal and external enemies.

Govt.’s credibility suffers despite ongoing transition to better governance

New Cabinet

by Jehan Perera-September 14, 2015

The virtual non-existence of an environment of threat, especially pertinent to ethnic and religious minorities, and the non-stifling of dissent by opposition and civil society groups is continuing, much to the credit of the new government. However, the dawning of a society in which good governance alone will prevail continues to remain in question. Soon after the general election came the first blow to the new government’s credibility with the appointment of defeated candidates on the national list. This was followed by the appointment of a jumbo sized cabinet. The latest appointment to ministerial positions of politicians of dubious repute has dealt yet another blow to the government’s credibility.

Amongst the new ministers appointed to further swell the ministerial ranks of the government are those accused of having engaged in the trade of narcotics, using ethanol for alcoholic beverages and providing false evidence regarding the life of missing persons. These appointments would be particularly difficult to justify, especially to a government leadership that contested the general elections, and the presidential election before it, on a platform that was predominantly based on establishing good governance in the country. The credibility gap is made worse by the absence of serious efforts by the government leaders to justify their choices or even explain the constraints that induced them to take such a course of action.

However, in the case of the two earlier transgressions there have been explanations. When the government came in for criticism for appointing to Parliament on the national list those candidates who had been defeated in the district-level electoral contests at the general elections it had a justification. This was that many who were appointed in this manner, had lost their seats at the district-level due to the infighting within the UFPA and therefore needed to be compensated. The faction within the UPFA that supported former president Mahinda Rajapaksa at the general election had actively opposed the campaigns of those who had thrown in their lot with President Maithripala Sirisena which ensured their defeat.

NOT ETHICAL

Another cause for public disaffection has been the large size of the cabinet amounting to 48, which rivals that of previous governments accused of not adhering to good governance, though not yet surpassing them in terms of size or wastage of resources. During their election campaign members of the present government made it known that the distribution of patronage in this manner would henceforth come to an end. In fact, the 19th Amendment to the Constitution that was passed shortly before the general election specified that henceforth the cabinet of ministers would be restricted to 30.

In the case of the large contingent of ministers the government has also had justifications. The 19th Amendment itself provides for a larger number of ministries in the event of the formation of a national government. The joining together of the two largest political parties in the country who have traditionally been bitter rivals can be reasonably construed to be a national government, even if all the parties in Parliament are not represented in it. A second justification would be the need to provide a sufficient number of ministerial positions to some of the chief vote getters UPFA to induce them to be loyal to President Sirisena rather than to former president Rajapaksa.

The outcome of the general election showed that former president Rajapaksa continues to be a popular figure and capable of attracting the support of a substantial proportion of the ethnic majority electorate, even though his credibility with the ethnic minorities is close to zero. As the UPFA is currently dependent on its Sinhalese voter base, the former president can potentially stage a comeback within it and become a major destabilizing factor. Therefore there is a political justification in offering ministerial positions to those members of the UPFA who are themselves able to obtain large numbers of votes from the UPFA vote base and induce them to stay away from the former president’s camp within the UPFA.

NOT EFFICIENT

The large number of ministries is being widely criticized as both unethical and economically costly. The breakdown of some of the ministries is difficult to explain on a rational basis. The opposition has pointed out that the Ministry of Education has been linked to the Ministry of Highways through a single minister instead of to the Ministry of Higher Education. There are also cross cutting ministries such as the Ministry of National Dialogue and the Ministry of National Integration. While the number of ministries and the tasks set for them do matter, it matters more that they work in a direction that is beneficial to the country.

The number of ministries will cost less than the price of incompetent decisions taken by government leaders who are misled themselves and mislead others. The cost of a cabinet of 48 ministers may well be higher than that of a cabinet of 30. But this extra cost might be only a fraction of what was lost to the country in terms of making very bad investments, such as some of the decisions made by former president Rajapaksa’s government, including Mattala Airport which is now used to store excess paddy as there are no airlines willing to fly there, or Hambanatota Port and its associated highways, which are empty with the roads being used by farmers living there to walk their flocks and to dry their cereals.

The principle that the ends do not justify the means would suggest that the objective of keeping former president Rajapaksa from recapturing power within the UPFA is not a justification for the large number of ministerial appointments and of those who are of dubious repute. The questions of means and ends become difficult in the middle of a process of transition. It was only six years ago that the country became free from the thirty year war. It is today grappling with coming to terms with that past. Likewise it is only 9 months since Sri Lanka became free from a government in which the rule of men took precedence over the rule of law, which undermined the core of a law-governed society.

By establishing the Constitutional Council the government has taken an important step forward in re-establishing the rule of law which will ensure the better governance in the future. The Constitutional Council, comprising members from the government, opposition and civil society will select those who head those public institutions vested with the powers to check and balance the political authorities, such as the judiciary, police, human rights, bribery and audit commissions. But it also needs to find ways and public forums to explain and justify its present actions to the people who trusted and voted for them, so that we do not lose heart too early in the long marathon race for good governance in a transformed polity.

The scandal of the missing millions

By Namini Wijedasa-Sunday, September 13, 2015

Mindboggling amounts paid by Sri Lanka to PR and lobby firms in US

Sri Lanka has paid out massive amounts to American lobbyists, legal and public relations companies between 2008 and 2014. The figures disclosed below are based only on records the Sunday Times was able to trace after extensive research.

Numerous other payments were made without public oversight, on the instructions of a privileged clique that held itself above supervision. Questions must now be asked of officials who authorised such outflows, particularly the million dollar payments channeled through the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) between May and November 2014.

The Scandal of the Missing Millions by Thavam Ratna

President orders suspension of Nilanga Dela’s appointment until inquiry is begun : Monumental bribery scandal exposed

(Lanka-e-News -14.Sep.2015, 10.30PM) Lanka e news reports with great delight that the incumbent president Maithripala Sirisena had ordered the relevant officials to immediately suspend the appointment of Nilanga Dela as the Diyawadane Nilame until an investigation is begun. Nilanga Deal became notorious by virtually robbing this position after bribing his way to it, distributing Sil robes to the latest motorcycles, as though to give a thundering slap in the face of the government of good governance in broad daylight, that is unrelentingly preaching against evils, vices, bribery and corruption which were raging under the previous regime of deposed president Mahinda Rajapakse. In fact the government of good governance was elected not once but twice by the people because they have reposed faith in this government that it will stamp out bribery and corruption once and for all, and at all levels.

President Orders Suspension of Nilanga Dela’s Appointment Until Inquiry is Begun Monumental Bribery Scandal... by Thavam Ratna

Mahinda’s Website Unblocked; Mobitel Says TRC Ordered Blockade

September 14, 2015
Mobitel a fully owned subsidiary of Sri Lanka Telecom and headed by President Maithripala Sirisena’s brother Pallewatta Gamaralalage Kumarasinghe Sirisena, unblocked the website www.mahinda.info belonging to the former President Mahinda Rajapaksa that Mobitel had blocked earlier last Friday.

The website is run by the Mahinda Rajapaksa Information Center.

Sources close to the newly appointed Telecommunications Minister Harin Fernando said that the Minister had received a colossal number of calls yesterday regarding this blockage. Colombo Telegraph is unaware if the Minister intervened to have the website unblocked. The website’s blockage was removed late last night around 8. 15, shortly after the Minister was informed. However Colombo Telegraph failed to obtain a quote from Minister Fernando as several calls made to him proved to be futile.

Meanwhile officials from the Mahinda Rajapaksa Information Center had published a story airing their woes regarding the periodically blocking the website faced and continues to do so since last Friday; “Prior to the General Elections we were experiencing a similar problem and when we were going to take legal action regarding this matter, Mobitel then unblocked the website. However the blockade continued a few days later and then we informed the Elections Commissioner. The website was unblocked once again and again blocked. However once Colombo Telegraph carried the story yesterday, it was unblocked yet again last night.”

Yesterday officials of the Mahinda Rajapaksa Information Center called the Mobitel hotline and recorded the conversation with their call center agent.

The call center staff member of Mobitel stated that under an order received from the Telecommunication Regulatory Commission the website had been blocked.

The sound track is found below;

LALITH Weeratunga Indicted

By Ishara Rathnakara- 2015-09-15

The Attorney General (AG) had filed action in the High Court of Colombo against Lalith Chandrakumar Weeratunga, the Secretary to the former President, and Anusha Palpita, former Director-General of the Sri Lanka Telecom Regulatory Commission (SLTRC) for misappropriating Rs 600 million from SLTRC.

They have been charged expending the said quantum of money from the SLTRC stating that the money is for distributing sil redi for devotees.

The Colombo High Court Judge, Kusala Sarojini Weerawardena yesterday (14) decided to take up the case on 18 September and requested the AG to produce the initial reports of the Magistrate's Court and the Court productions on that date.

In the case filed by the Attorney General under public property Act, 21 prosecution witnesses including the Elections Commissioner, Mahinda Deshapriya and the former President's coordinating secretary (religious affairs) Ven. Vatinapane Somananda Thera have been cited, and 15 Court productions were presented.

The AG alleged that between 30 October 2014 and 05 January 2015, Rs 600 million belonging to SLTRC had been transferred to account No. 7040016, in the name of 'President's Secretary' at Bank of Ceylon Taprobane branch. This has been done in violation of SLTRC act no 25 of 1991.

The investigations into this incident were conducted by the Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID), and this was the first instance where the Attorney General filed a case in the high court following an FCID investigation.

Egyptian forces kill 12, mistaking Mexican tourists for militants

Four-wheel drive cars cross the Egyptian western desert and the Bahariya Oasis, southwest of Cairo in this picture taken May 15, 2015.

CAIRO | BY AHMED MOHAMED HASSAN- Mon Sep 14, 2015

Egyptian security forces killed 12 people and wounded 10 "by accident" when they mistook a convoy of mostly Mexican tourists for a group of militants they were hunting in the desert, the interior ministry said on Monday.

At least two Mexicans were killed, Mexico's foreign ministry said, though Egyptian security and judicial sources later said that eight Mexicans and four Egyptians were killed, and eight Mexicans and two Egyptians were wounded.

The sister of a Mexican Reiki healer who was among the dead said a relative of the group's tour guide had sent her a list of eight Mexicans killed in the incident.

The group of 22 had parked their four 4x4 vehicles off-road on Sunday for a barbecue near the Bahariya oasis, a tourist site in the western desert, when army aircraft suddenly began shelling them from above, security sources said.

As members of the tourist convoy tried to flee, additional security forces on the ground fired on them.

"Mexico condemns these deeds against our citizens and has demanded an exhaustive investigation of what has occurred," President Enrique Pena Nieto said on his Twitter account.

Mexican Foreign Minister Claudia Ruiz Massieu told reporters her government had sent a diplomatic note to Egypt, expressing indignation and demanding a full inquiry.

Six Mexicans who survived the incident told Mexico's ambassador to Egypt they had been bombed by helicopters and an aircraft while they stopped for a break in the desert.

"They each said separately they had been bombarded from the air by a plane and helicopters," said Massieu. She gave no details about the identities of the tourists, other than that they had arrived in Egypt on Sept. 11.

Reuters, however, spoke to Araceli Rangel Davalos, whose nephew Rafael Bejarano was killed and her sister Marisela was wounded in the attack. She said she knew the group's guide, an Egyptology expert whom she identified as Nabil Altawami, well. She had not yet spoken to her sister.

"I have travelled with the guide around 9 times, and he never exposed us to any danger," she told Reuters by telephone. "He protected us."

Gabriela Bejarano, Rafael's sister, cast doubt on the Egyptian government's account of the incident.

"I don't think they were mistaken (for militants)," she told local radio in Mexico. "As far as I understand ... they were dining when they came under attack ... They were in a permitted area. On this occasion they didn't stay to camp, because that was what was not permitted."

ISLAMIST INSURGENCY

Egypt is battling an insurgency that gained pace after the military ousted Islamist President Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood in mid-2013 after mass protests against his rule.

The insurgency, mounted by Islamic State's Egyptian affiliate, has killed hundreds of soldiers and police and has started to attack Western targets.

A joint force from the Egyptian police and military had been chasing militants in the country's vast western desert when it came across the tourist convoy, which it mistook for the militants it was pursuing, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.

Egypt's army spokesperson declined to comment and said only to refer to the interior ministry statement.

Islamic State released a statement carried by its supporters on Twitter saying it had repelled an attack by the Egyptian military in the western desert.

Security officials say militants operating from Libya to the west of Egypt have been trying to forge ties with Islamists in the Sinai on the east side of the country.

The vehicles used by the tourist convoy closely resembled those of the militants the joint force had been pursuing, security sources said.

'RESTRICTED AREA'

Egyptian tourism federation chairman Elhamy Elzayat told Reuters: "The area is a restricted area, and the company made a mistake by taking the tourists to that area without a permit. They must obtain a permit before going there."

Officials at the company that organised the tour were not immediately available for comment.

Despite the apparent danger of the area, there are no warning signs along the desert path, and the attack occurred despite an official police representative accompanying the tourist convoy, said tour guide syndicate leader Hassan al-Nahla.

"Because of this negligence and lack of coordination between the ministry of tourism and ministry of interior, Egypt...will pay the price when this affects tourism," said al-Nahla.

While the Islamist insurgency has been largely based in the Sinai Peninsula, attacks have taken place in Cairo and other cities.

(Reporting by Asma Alsharif; writing by Eric Knecht; additional reporting by Michael O'Boyle and Noe Torres in Mexico City; Editing by Mark Trevelyan, Simon Gardner, Grant McCool)

Who are the Kurdish militants fighting in Cizre?

The Patriotic Revolutionary Youth Movement (YDG-H) are widely known as an urban militant youth wing of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party
Members of the YDG-H in the southeastern Turkish province of Sirnik (Matthieu Delmas/MEE)

Arwa Ibrahim-Monday 14 September 2015

As a week long-curfew in the southeastern Turkish town of Cizre was lifted on Saturday, reports suggest that Turkish police forces in the area had been in a fight with a PKK-affiliate youth group called the YDG-H.

Turkish security forces have said that the military operations around Cizre and other provinces have been conducted to counter PKK attacks and to clear barricades and weapons from the areas.

According to French journalist Mattheiu Delmas, who was in Cizre throughout the blockade, the Kurdish fighters who were involved in the fighting with Turkish forces over the past week are largely Cizre natives in their twenties, born during the "scorched earth" policy of the 1990s used by the Turkish government in their fight against the PKK.

The youths make up the Patriotic Revolutionary Youth Movement (YDG-H) which is widely known to be the urban militant youth wing of the PKK in the predominantly Kurdish southeast regions of Turkey.

The group has been acting as a paramilitary force in Cizre for several months and has closed off several Kurdish neighbourhoods with their armed checkpoints and patrols, reported Vice News in a documentary about the group in February.

In the documentary, members of the YDG-H openly admit to being afiliated to and taking orders from the PKK, but residents of Cizre claim the local youths are not affiliated to the PKK’s guerrilla forces, say sources on the ground.

“Although some members [YDG-H] say they are not affiliated to the PKK, it seems obvious that they are. How else would they get their hands on weapons and Kalashnikovs,” said Delmas. “They all talk about learning to fight with the YPG in Kobane.”

The Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) is a militia affiliated with the PKK fighting Islamic State group in the Syrian town of Kobane or Rojava. The group liberated the town from an IS-imposed months-long siege earlier this year.

“The YDG-H and the PKK share the same ideology but they have different strategies,” explained Delmas. “They are all young people; a new generation of guerrilla fighters who grew up with Syria war and became cultured with the fight in Kobane.”

The PKK has traditionally followed a hardline Marxist-Leninist strategy since its founding by leader Adullah Ocalan in 1978. The group launched a violent guerrilla war in 1984 that led to thousands of deaths.

“While the PKK only conducts guerrilla warfare and are based in the mountains, the YDG-H has taken the combat zone to their home towns and cities,” he added.

According to Delmas YDG-H members, who are usually late teens and early twenties, only fight in their own neighbourhoods, leading many locals to support them.

“The YDG-H only fight in their own neighbourhood and therefore all the locals support them. They say they are our sons,” he told MEE.

At least 20 people were killed during the fighting - they were "terrorists" according to the Turkish government, civilians according to the locals. The majority were shot dead by snipers, according to members of the HDP and local civilians.

Civilian or fighter?

But Delmas says several of those killed would have most probably been members of the YDG-H.

“Locals in Cizre say the Turkish police forces only killed civilians. Even though it is impossible to differentiate between a fighter and a civilian during a funeral, the 21 killed must have included YDG-H members,” said Delmas. “YDG-H try to kill police and police try to kill them.”

Following a suicide bomb attack - blamed on Islamic State (IS) militants – that killed 33 people in Suruc, west of Cizre in July, PKK militants have renewed their armed campaign against Turkish forces.

An outbreak of fighting between the Turkish government and Kurdish militants has since escalated in predominantly Kurdish regions and towns of Cizre, Diyarbakir, Silopi and other cities in the southeast. As the Turkish police has targeted Kurdish militants, YDG-H youths have reportedly also shot at and killed police and barricaded their neighbourhoods.

Support for PKK grows

The violence has stalled the "solution process”, officially launched in early 2013, which sought to end the 30-year conflict between the PKK and the Turkish state.

In Cizre a sense of frustration with the Turkish state has led many locals to publicly support the PKK and its imprisoned leader Abdullah Ocalan.

“Everyone in the city supports Ocalan, the PKK and YDG-H. They say they are fighting for Kurdish freedom and democracy,” said Delmas. “They say Erdogan wants to kill us because we didn’t vote for him in the latest elections.”

The group’s attempt to establish self-autonomy in southeastern Turkish towns has previously placed it at loggerheads with other Kurdish groups.

As the Kobane crisis broke out last year, armed violence between the YDG-H and Huda-Par, the successor to Kurdish Hezbollah, escalated in southeast Turkey.

YDG-H members attacked Huda-Par religious centres, associations and party premises in Diyarbakir, Batman, Bitlis and Siirt as Hud-Par responded with arms and intensified clashes, reported al-Monitor in October 2014.

Diyarbakir’s mayor claimed at the time that Huda Par’s use of arms was supported by the government while Huda Par representatives accused the PKK of importing the chaos in Syria into Turkey, reported al-Monitor.

Since July, more than 100 members of the Turkish security forces have been killed by PKK and affiliated groups’ attacks, while hundreds of PKK militants have been killed in operations across Turkey and northern Iraq, including airstrikes, according to official Turkish sources.

- See more at: http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/who-are-are-kurdish-militants-fighting-cizre-1964600013#sthash.Sapz2vrE.dpuf

Guantánamo force-feeding videos released to US court in redacted form

News outlets work to see eight tapes revealed to public as attorney for released detainee Abu Wa’el Dhiab calls depicted actions ‘a national scandal’
Redacted videos of force-feeding at Guantánamo have been released to a court. Photograph: Brennan Linsley/AP

Spencer Ackerman in New York-Monday 14 September 2015

The US government has provided a court with redacted versions of eight videotapes showing forced feeding at Guantánamo Bay that detainees describe as torture.

Images on the tapes depict medical and security teams at Guantánamo restraining and feeding detainee Abu Wa’el Dhiab against his will. Dhiab has since been released.

Lawyers for Dhiab and news organizations including the Guardian are attempting to get the videotapes released. If they succeed, the version of the tapes the Department of Justice (DoJ) has turned over is likely to be what the public will see.

Although the DoJ continues to oppose public release of all 32 force-feeding videos, Dhiab’s attorneys said the new provision of the tapes – from which identifying information about Guantánamo personnel has been removed – indicates that national security would not be harmed by their disclosure.

In October 2014, federal judge Gladys Kessler ordered the disclosure of the eight tapes, and the DoJ finally provided versions of them to her under seal on 31 August, according to court filings.

The previous month, the department had asked Kessler to “reconsider” her order to disclose the Guantánamo tapes – a move which, if successful, would in effect restart the entire case.

The case began as part of Dhiab’s challenge to his 12-year Guantanamo detentionwithout charge, and included a challenge to the tube feedings as an abusive and punitive measure, rather than the medical necessity claimed by the Obama administration.

Dhiab spent much of his detention on a protest hunger strike. In December 2014, the Obama administration released him to Uruguay, where he remains.

Attorneys in the case have viewed the tapes, but said that classification restrictions prevent them from discussing the substance of their contents. They are said to show Dhiab being forcibly removed from his cell using a so-called “tackle-and-shackle” technique, as well as being fed through a tube inserted through his nose into his stomach while his limbs and head are restrained.

Cori Crider, an attorney for Dhiab through the human-rights group Reprieve, called the behavior depicted on the videotapes “a national scandal”.

Crider said: “If the American people could see the force-feeding tapes I’ve watched, they would understand that abuse in Guantánamo is not just in the ‘bad old days’ of the past, but continues right up to the present.”

Although the US has provided Kessler with sanitized versions of eight of the 32 videos, it continues to resist their release to the public. Next month, attorneys for the government and for Dhiab are expected to discuss the manner of their disclosure with Kessler, but the DoJ still has legal options that can at minimum delay the release.

In a 22 July filing, the then commander at the Guantánamo detention facility said that if the tapes were released, the information on them could “be provided to detainees, allowing them to manipulate the system, disrupt good order and discipline within the camps, and enable them to test, undermine and then threaten physical and personnel security”.

Releasing the tapes beyond Guantánamo, rear admiral Richard Butler told the court, “would facilitate the enemy’s ability to conduct information operations and could be used to increase anti-American sentiment, thereby placing the lives of US service members at risk”.

The DoJ declined to comment.

Crider agreed that the government needed to protect its personnel through redacting the videos but said it should not be permitted to cover up “what is really a national embarrassment”.

“Those who wish us harm have no dearth of material for their propaganda already – and where does the logic of censorship end?” she asked. “Suppressing the Eric Garner footage? The Rodney King tapes? The Abu Ghraib photos? Guantánamo’s continued existence is one of the biggest recruiting sergeants of them all.”