Military Judge Suppresses KSM FBI Confessions Citing CIA Waterboarding and Extraordinary Abuse During Three-Year Detention

Air Force Lt. Col. Michael Schrama, the military judge in the Sept. 11 case, ruled on Friday that Khalid Sheikh Mohammad's January 2007 confessions to FBI agents at Guantanamo Bay are inadmissible, finding the prosecution failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the statements were voluntary 1234. Schrama wrote that the FBI interviews, conducted in a former CIA black site four months after Mohammad's transfer from CIA custody, did not represent a genuine break from his prior treatment, citing an "unbroken continuation" of CIA psychological conditioning 13. He described Mohammad's three-plus years in CIA custody as "extraordinary physical and mental abuse," including at least 183 instances of waterboarding, prolonged standing sleep deprivation, nudity, rectal rehydration, and threats to murder his child 1. Schrama also found FBI agents failed to give Mohammad Miranda warnings or tell him his prior CIA statements could not be used against him 134. Chief prosecutor Rear Adm. Aaron Rugh said his office is reviewing the ruling and will decide whether to appeal, with a five-day deadline that may be extended 134.