By Carol Rosenberg
The Miami Herald
GUANTANAMO BAY NAVY BASE, CUBA — A military judge has lifted his restraining order and is once again allowing female prison guards to touch an alleged war criminal while moving him between Guantánamo’s most clandestine prison and legal appointments.
Navy Capt. J.K. Waits lifted the restriction in a Feb. 24 ruling, according to lawyers who had seen it. It was still under seal at the Pentagon’s war court website on Sunday.
Last year, the judge forbade female guards from touching Abd al Hadi al Iraqi, 54, who invoked Islamic and traditional doctrine and said he had only been handled by men at Guantánamo. Hadi, captured in Turkey and sent here in 2007, is accused of commanding al-Qaida’s Army in Afghanistan after the 2001 U.S. invasion, and could be sentenced to life in prison if he’s convicted.
Some guards responded by lodging gender discrimination complaints against Waits and the military judge in the Sept. 11 mass murder case, who issued a similar no-touch order. The U.S. Southern Command investigated but has had no comment.
Full story: Navy judge named in discrimination complaint lifts Guantánamo female guard no-touch order