Details Emerge About Padilla’s Treatment in Confinement

Get your news from a source that’s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily.


As you likely know, the trial of Chicago gang member and alleged terrorist Jose Padilla is going on now.

On Tuesday, his jailers were forced to testify about the conditions of Padilla’s secretive three-year-eight-month confinement in a naval brig as part of a hearing on whether or not Padilla is fit to stand trial; it is significant testimony because it’s the first time any of Padilla’s captors have been forced to speak publicly.

What was revealed:

– Padilla sometimes slept on a steel bunk without a mattress.

– The windows in Padilla’s 80-square-foot cell were blackened so no natural light was able to enter the cell.

– Padilla was given no timepiece, leading to an almost complete inability to tell time.

– The electric light in Padilla’s cell could only be activated by jailers and was frequently unavailable for unspecified reasons.

Padilla has alleged he was tortured while in military captivity. That has yet to be proven true or false. In fact, the hearing was limited in scope, and didn’t cover most aspects of Padilla’s detention, for example, how he was fed, how he was interrogated, etc.

In the hearing on Padilla’s competency to stand trial, government doctors and defense doctors differed on their evaluations of the Padilla’s mental health. Read the opinions in this New York Times story.

Mother Jones covered Padilla’s indictment after more than three years of detainment here, wondered if Padilla is anything more than the government’s perfect fall guy here, and discussed the plight of Padilla’s lawyer here.

PLEASE—BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things it doesn’t like—which is most things that are true.

We’ll say it loud and clear: At Mother Jones, no one gets to tell us what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please do your part and help us reach our $150,000 membership goal by May 31.

payment methods

PLEASE—BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things it doesn’t like—which is most things that are true.

We’ll say it loud and clear: At Mother Jones, no one gets to tell us what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please do your part and help us reach our $150,000 membership goal by May 31.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate