JURIST - Paper Chase: Germans may bar evidence from US interrogation of al Qaeda suspect as product of torture

A leading German prosecutor said Tuesday that if evidence obtained by US interrogators from captured Al Qaeda figure Ramzi bin al-Shaibah were led in the German case against Mounir El Motassadeq it would probably be successfully challeged by defense lawyers on grounds that it was obtained under torture and was therefore inadmissible under German law. Andrea Shultz told Reuters: "The defense would stand up and say: 'This is a clear violation of [German criminal code paragraph] 136a [prohibiting "mistreatment, exhaustion, physical intervention, administration of substances, torture, deception or hypnosis'] because the United States have said more than once they were using stress and duress techniques for questioning al Qaeda suspects... Everyone knows this is a technique which is not allowed by German law... This is a lost game from the beginning." Motassadeq was convicted in 2003 in connection with the September 11 hijackings but later won an appeal and is now free on bail pending retrial. Learn more about US use of stress and duress techniques from the DC-based Crimes of War Project. A 2003 Human Rights Watch report noted that the US State Department has repeatedly criticized other regimes around the world for using such techniques. Reuters has more.