February 17, 2006

U.N. Report: Close GITMO

In a statement posted to its website, the United Nations announced the release of a joint report on the treatment of foreign terror suspects held at the United States naval facility in Cuba, calling on the United States “to close immediately the detention centre in Guantánamo Bay and bring all detainees before an independent and competent tribunal or release them.”

The result of an 18 month investigation, the report’s findings were based upon interviews with former detainees, public documents, media reports, attorney interviews and a government questionnaire, the Washington Post reports. The U.N.'s five member panel concluded that detainees are entitled to (1) challenge the legality of their detention before a judicial body, and (2) obtain release if detention is found to lack a proper legal basis. Finding some of the interrogation techniques employed "meet four of the five elements in the Convention definition of torture," the report calls for the closure of the prison facility "without further delay."

While U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan did not agree with everything contained within the report, he did nevertheless echo the report’s conclusion that detainees could not be held in perpetuity without charge or the opportunity to defend themselves, CNN reports.

Annan likewise agreed that the prison’s closure should occur as soon as possible.

The White House summarily rejected the U.N. report's claims as “largely without merit.” While the human rights experts who authored the 54-page report were invited to Guantanamo, they declined after U.S. authorities said they would not be permitted to interview the detainees.

Responding to inquiries about the report during his daily press briefing, White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan offered, “I think that what we are seeing is a rehash of allegations that have been made by lawyers representing some of these detainees," maintaining "The military treats detainees humanely, as directed by the President of the United States.”

Also weighing in on the report, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said at the Council on Foreign Relations meeting, "There is no torture, there is no abuse...It’s being handled honorably.”

The U.N. report in its entirety may be viewed here.

February 11, 2006

DoD Announces Latest Detainee Transfer and Release

As a result of Administrative Review Board decisions - an ongoing process established to review the status of detainees - the Pentagon announced it has transferred 4 detainees from the prison facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, including 3 detainees to Morocco and 1 detainee to Uganda.

Additionally, 7 detainees have been released and repatriated to Afghanistan. As the Washington Post reports, Pentagon spokesman Cmdr. J.D. Gordon said the intent of the arrangement is to shift the responsibility for holding enemy combatants from the United States to other nations.

February 10, 2006

Administrative Review Board Decisions Completed

In a press release posted to its website, the Department of Defense announced it has completed the first round of Administrative Review Board (ARB) decisions. Conducted from December 14, 2004 to December 23, 2005, the annual review process - established to assess whether those picked up in the War on Terror and detained at Guantanamo continue to pose a threat to the United States or its allies - resulted in 14 releases and 120 transfers; 329 detainees will continue to be held.

January 24, 2006

Pentagon Ordered to Release Detainee Identities

As The New York Times reports, in response to a 2005 lawsuit filed by The Associated Press, a federal judge has ordered the Pentagon to release the names and nationalities of hundreds of terror suspects picked up in the War on Terror and detained at the prison facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

In April 2005, a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request granted the AP access to 2,000 pages of information related to the military tribunals held at Guantanamo. While the Pentagon did in fact release transcripts of 558 tribunals, prisoners' names were blacked out, and other identifying information was altered. As a result, the news agency contends it was only able to report anecdotally on the proceedings, which it maintained were "unquestionably of great interest to the public." The organization then filed a federal lawsuit against the DoD, asking the court for the release of all transcripts and documents related to the military hearings, as well as written statements and other documentation submitted by detainees.

The Pentagon must provide the AP with unredacted copies of the transcripts by January 30. As Reuters reports, the government has until tomorrow to ask the judge to suspend the order if an appeal is to be made.

Judge Jed Rakoff's ruling rejects the Pentagon's contention that privacy issues are the raison d'etre for witholding information. The government has maintained that prisoners' identities should not be disclosed to ensure the safety of detainees as well as their families, citing the threat of retailiation should terrorist groups become displeased by something a detainee reveals during his tribunal.

However, in a six-page order issued earlier this month, Judge Rakoff wrote, "The Department of Defense has failed on this motion to establish any cognizable privacy interest on the part of the detainees Accordingly, the defendant's summary judgment motion is denied," ABC News reports.

In August, the judge ordered the Defense Department to poll the 317 detainees who had undergone enemy combatant hearings to see whether they objected to having their names published. According to a January 4th ruling, the judge said there was not a significant number of detainees in opposition to such disclosure.

January 16, 2006

Hundreds Released from Abu Ghraib

Announcing the latest in a spate of large scale detainee releases,
American Forces Press Service reports approximately 500 prisoners have been released from the U.S.-run Abu Ghraib prison facility west of Baghdad.

According to officials, the freed were not guilty of serious or violent crimes, such as bombing, torture, kidnapping, or murder, and all have admitted their crimes, renounced violence, and pledged to be good citizens of a democratic Iraq.

As Stars and Stripes reports, U.S. officials plan to close Abu Ghraib and hand it over to the Iraqis, while three other facilities -- Camp Cropper, Fort Suse and Camp Bucca -- will be the main detention facilities in Iraq.

December 13, 2005

Pentagon Invites Human Rights Specialist to Guantanamo

The Pentagon announced it has extended an invitation to a representative for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to visit the detention facility at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Station in Cuba.

As the DoD release explains, "Although department policy does not provide for such visits to military detention facilities, the department has determined on an exceptional basis to extend this invitation. The department strives for transparency in our operations to the extent possible in light of security and operational requirements and the need to ensure the safety of our forces."

According to the American Forces Press Service, Belgian politician and OSCE representative Anne-Marie Lizin accepted the DoD's invitation, and will be permitted to observe operations at the facilities at Guantanamo and ask questions of the command, staff and U.S. officials who would accompany her.

A DoD spokesman said he did not yet know when Lizin's visit would take place.

November 19, 2005

5 More Gitmo Detainees Formally Charged

Five more Guantanamo detainees have been formally charged with war crimes, triable by military commissions. Trial dates have not yet been set.

The latest announcement raises the number of formally accused, suspected terrorists detained at the prison facility in Cuba to nine.

In a press released posted to its website, the Department of Defense announced charges were approved for Ghassan Abdullah al Sharbi and Jabran Said bin al Qahtani of Saudi Arabia; Sufyian Barhoumi of Algeria; Binyam Ahmed Muhammad of Ethiopia; and Omar Ahmed Khadr of Canada.

Al Sharbi, al Qahtani, Barhoumi and Muhammad are charged with conspiracy to commit the following offenses: attacking civilians; attacking civilian objects; murder by an unprivileged belligerent; destruction of property by an unprivileged belligerent; and terrorism.

Omar Ahmed Khadr is charged with conspiracy to commit murder by an unprivileged belligerent; attempted murder by an unprivileged belligerent; and aiding the enemy.

Transcripts of the charges for all nine suspected terrorists are available here.

November 06, 2005

4 Detainees Depart Gitmo

In a press release posted to its website, the Department of Defense announced four detainees have departed the prison facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The latest transfer includes the release of one detainee to Saudi Arabia, and the transfer of three detainees to Bahrain.

For operational and security purposes, the names of the released and transferred have not been disclosed.

The latest transfer increases the number of detainees who have departed the US naval base in Cuba to 256.

November 03, 2005

5 Detainees Depart Guantanamo

In a release posted to its website, the Department of Defense announced the transfer of five detainees from the prison facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to Kuwait.

For security purposes, neither the names nor the identities of those transferred have been disclosed.

The latest transfer raises the number of detainees who have departed Guantanamo to 252. Approximately 500 detainees remain at the prison facility.

November 01, 2005

500 Detainees Released from Abu Ghraib Prison

As Reuters reports, in a goodwill gesture marking Eid al-Fitr - the Muslim holiday ending the Holy Month of Ramadan - Coalition Forces have released 500 detainees from the Abu Ghraib prison facility west of Baghdad. The men were given $25 and a Koran upon their release.

In an American Forces Press Service article posted to the Department of Defense website, a spokesman explains,

"These detainees were selected for release following a careful and thorough review of their files by a special Iraqi-led review board, which determined they had not committed serious crimes against Iraqi forces, the citizens of Iraq or coalition forces."

He continued, "It was decided to release the detainees to allow them to be with families and loved ones on this day to help in the process of building a new Iraq."

October 06, 2005

Senate Votes to Regulate Detention & Interrogation Policy

In an attempt to codify what many consider to be the military's conflicting policies and procedures for the interrogation and treatment of those under the detention, custody, or control of the U.S. Government, the Republican-controlled Senate yesterday overwhelmingly approved a measure that would ban the use of cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment of foreign enemies, The New York Times reports.

Contained within a $440 billion Defense Department spending bill, the measure was approved by a 90-9 vote. According to the Washington Times, the nine Republican senators who voted against the proposal were Wayne Allard of Colorado, Christopher S. Bond of Missouri, Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, Thad Cochran of Mississippi, John Cornyn of Texas, James M. Inhofe of Oklahoma, Pat Roberts of Kansas, Jeff Sessions of Alabama, and Ted Stevens of Alaska. New Jersey Democrat Jon Corzine was the only senator not to vote.

As quoted by the Associated Press, Senator Stevens of Alaska opined, "This is a different war now... We're in a war against terrorists, and I don't think they're entitled to the same type of treatment that we give to prisoners of war."

Despite such sentiment, the anti-torture legislation has attracted broad, non-partisan support. Vietnam War P.O.W. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) - himself the victim of torture - is the bill's primary sponsor. As the International Herald Tribune reports, over two dozen retired senior military officers - including John Shalikashvili and Colin Powell, both former chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff - have also endorsed measures that ensure detainees are treated humanely.

In a letter read by Senator McCain on the Senate floor, former Bush White House Secretary of State Colin Powell expressed, "The world will note that America is making a clear statement with respect to the expected future behavior of our soldiers... Such a reaction will help deal with the terrible public diplomacy crisis created by Abu Ghraib," the Associated Press reports.

The following - taken from a press release posted to his website - is an excerpt of Senator McCain's statement to the Senate:

"This amendment would (1) establish the Army Field Manual as the uniform standard for the interrogation of Department of Defense detainees and (2) prohibit cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment of persons in the detention of the U.S. government.

Mr. President, to fight terrorism we need intelligence. That much is obvious. What should also be obvious is that the intelligence we collect must be reliable and acquired humanely, under clear standards understood by all our fighting men and women. To do differently would not only offend our values as Americans, but undermine our war effort, because abuse of prisoners harms -- not helps --us in the war on terror.

First, subjecting prisoners to abuse leads to bad intelligence, because under torture a detainee will tell his interrogator anything to make the pain stop.

Second, mistreatment of our prisoners endangers U.S. troops who might be captured by the enemy -- if not in this war, then in the next. And third, prisoner abuses exact on us a terrible toll in the war of ideas, because inevitably these abuses become public. When they do, the cruel actions of a few darken the reputation of our country in the eyes of millions. American values should win against all others in any war of ideas, and we can't let prisoner abuse tarnish our image.

And yet reports of detainee abuse continue to emerge, in large part, I believe, because of confusion in the field as to what is permitted and what is not. The amendment I am proposing will go a long way toward clearing up this confusion."

As the Washington Post reported back in July, the Bush Administration has tried to quell what it views to be an incipient Republican rebellion. Lobbying to block such legislation, the White House maintains it would restrict the President's authority "to protect Americans effectively from terrorist attack and bring terrorists to justice."

The Senate is expected to vote on the overall spending bill by the end of the week.

In his daily press briefing, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said the President will most likely veto the defense budget if the amendment remains part of the spending bill.

"We have put out a Statement of Administration Policy saying that his advisors would recommend that he vetoes it if it contains such language."

October 02, 2005

Egyptian Released From Gitmo

In a release posted to its website, the Pentagon announced the release of one detainee to Egypt from the prison facility at Guantanamo.

The detainee was found no longer to be an enemy combatant by a Combatant Status Review Tribunal. For security purposes, his identity has not been disclosed.

The latest transfer raises the number of detainees who have departed Guantanamo to 247. Approximately 505 detainees remain at the prison facility.

September 28, 2005

Female Face of Abu Ghraib Scandal Sentenced to 3 Years

Following Monday's conviction of Pfc. Lynndie R. England - who was found guilty on six out of seven counts of conspiracy and maltreatment of prisoners - the Army reservist was sentenced to three years in prison for her role in the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal, and was given a dishonorable discharge, The Washington Post reports.

Pvt. England became the so-called "face of the Abu Ghraib scandal," posing alongside naked and shackled prisoners, and smirking in the now infamous "leash photograph."

As The Post reports, England apologized to the court.

"After the photos were released, I've heard that attacks were made on U.S. armed forces because of them. I apologize to coalition forces and all the families."

England also apologized to "detainees, the families, America and all the soldiers."

While the Pentagon has remained steadfast in its position that the abuses carried out in the U.S.-run prison facility in Iraq were an aberration - attributed to a few bad apples - England's defense averred their client was made a scapegoat for the Army's broader policies of abuse for intelligence-gathering purposes. England's attorneys characterized her as young and impressionable, as the 22 year-old claimed she was used by her former lover, reputed ringleader of the abuse scandal, Corp. Charles A. Graner.

Back in January, Graner - the father of England's infant son - received a 10 year sentence for his role.

England�s trial was the last of 9 courts-martial or plea-deals of reservists charged in the prisoner abuse scandal that broke in 2003.

September 21, 2005

Pentagon: Hicks Trial to Resume at Gitmo

As Reuters reports, two months after a federal appeals court reversed a ruling in the case of detained Yemeni Salim Ahmed Hamdan, finding military commission trials to be lawful, the Defense Department announced it was essentially starting from scratch on the long-delayed military trial of Australian detainee David Hicks. Officials say preliminary hearings are scheduled to begin within the next 30 days.

Accused of fighting alongside al Qaeda, Hicks was captured in Afghanistan and has been detained since late 2001. He pleaded not guilty to conspiracy, attempted murder and aiding the enemy.

Last month, responding to widespread criticism that the trials were unfair, DoD instituted a series of changes to the trial process. The changes were intended to promote more efficient trials, making the process resemble a traditional judge and jury model. As Reuters explains, "the presiding officer will now act more like a judge, deciding legal issues, while other panel members will act more like a jury, deciding on a verdict and sentence."

Notwithstanding these changes, human rights activists and military defense lawyers continue to criticize the commission process, contending it favors prosecutors, allows evidence obtained through torture and hearsay and permits no independent judicial review.

"Clearly they've decided to use Mr. Hicks as the guinea pig and the test case for the commission system," commented Marine Corps Major Michael Mori, Hicks' Pentagon-appointed attorney. He continued, "The military commission system will not provide a full and fair trial, whether it starts today, in a month or in three months. The rules are constantly changing. The system is controlled by those who have already condemned Mr. Hicks."

Nevertheless, Pentagon spokesman Major Michael Shavers maintains, "I'm very confident that David Hicks will receive a full and fair trial under the military commissions process."

Of approximately 505 men held at Guantanamo, only four have been charged. Initial trial proceedings for Australia's Hicks, Yemenis Salim Ahmed Hamdan, Ali Hamza Ahmed Sulayman al Bahlul and Sudanese Ibrahim Ahmed Mahmoud al Qosi began last August, and were halted three months later when a federal judge ruled that the trials were unfair and unlawful, and violated prisoners' rights under the Geneva Conventions. Of the four halted, the Hicks case is the only one scheduled to resume.

September 01, 2005

Critics Respond: Revisions to Commission Procedures Cosmetic; Fundamental Flaws Remain

Despite the Pentagon's latest announcement that it is changing military commission procedures, extending additional rights to terror suspects, some of the commission's earliest and staunchest critics maintain the changes are trivial, submitting the process to try Guantanamo detainees remains unfair and inherently flawed.

In a press release posted to its website, Human Rights Watch expressed concern that military commissions will continue to function entirely within the military and executive branch, in the absence of independent judicial review.

"The new rules are aimed to deflect criticism of the commissions, but fail to address their most fundamental problems. Without review by civilian courts, there is no means of ensuring that any fair trial rules are in fact respected," said Jamie Fellner, the organization's U.S. program director.

Fellner continued, "Those responsible for war crimes should be tried by real courts using real rules, not commissions created from scratch."

Amnesty International reiterated HRW's contention that many of the commission's problems remained, specifically, allowing the admission of evidence obtained through torture or hearsay, a violation of Article 15 of the Convention Against Torture.

"If the U.S. government really wanted to provide full and fair trials, the defendants would be tried in an established system of justice such as U.S. federal court or in a court martial. By insisting on going forward with these ill-conceived commissions, the administration is confirming its desire to apply sub-standard justice to foreign nationals. The announced rule changes to the military commissions amount to little more than hanging curtains on a condemned house and marketing it as renovated," said Jumana Musa, Amnesty International's observer to the military commissions.

Also weighing in on the Pentagon's announcement was the U.S. military-appointed counsel for Australian terror suspect David Hicks, who told Australia's The Age the changes were "meaningless" and a "publicity stunt."

"There are no changes at all," said Major Michael Mori.

"This is totally cosmetic. It's totally for show. It's because they realise that no one in the world accepts it as a fair system and are desperate to convince somebody.

"You can slap a new coat of paint on the outside of a house with broken foundations, but it doesn't fix the problem."

August 31, 2005

DoD Makes Procedural Changes to Commissions, Expands Trial Rights for Detainees

Criticized by legal and human rights groups - as well as military defense lawyers - for procedures that subject terror suspects to unfair disadvantages, the Defense Department announced today that it is instituting procedural changes to the controversial Military Commissions established to try terror suspects picked up in the War on Terror and detained at Guantanamo.

Following a Special Defense Department Briefing on Military Commissions, the Pentagon issued a press release explaining the changes - effective immediately - intended to promote more efficient trials, including �making the process more like a judge and jury model.�

Among the procedural changes, defendants will now be given additional rights to attend their trials and will be granted access to classified evidence against them.

While initial trial proceedings began last August at Guantanamo, the process was halted three months later, when a federal judge ruled that the trials were unfair and unlawful, and violated prisoners' rights under the Geneva Conventions.

For the Department of Defense Fact Sheet, "Changes to Military Commission Procedures," click here.

For the Department of Defense Fact Sheet, "Military Commission Procedures," click here.

August 30, 2005

Judge Requires Detainee Approval Before Identities Made Public

Yesterday in federal court, a judge ruled that Guantanamo detainees must provide consent prior to the disclosure of their identities.

As the Associated Press reports, District Judge Jed S. Rakoff instructed the government to draft a one-page document asking detainees at the U.S. run prison facility in Cuba if they want their personal information released to the news media. Back in April, a FOIA request granted the AP access to 2,000 pages of information related to the tribunals. In those documents, prisoner's names were blacked out, and other identifying information was altered. As a result, the AP contends it was only able to report anecdotally on the proceedings, which it maintains are "unquestionably of great interest to the public." The AP then filed a federal lawsuit against the DoD, asking the court for the release of all transcripts and documents related to the military hearings, as well as written statements and other documentation submitted by detainees.

Citing privacy concerns, DoD maintains that identities should be kept secret to ensure not only the safety of detainees, but the safety of their families as well, who they argue are at risk should terrorist groups become displeased by something a detainee reveals during his tribunal.

August 23, 2005

3 Detainees Transferred from GITMO

The Department of Defense announced the release of three more detainees from Guantanamo, including one detainee to Yemen, one detainee to Tajikistan, and one detainee to Iran.

Two of the detainees - the Yemeni and the Tajik - were among the 38 detainees found no longer to be enemy combatants and cleared for release by the Combatant Status Review Tribunal. Nine of those detainees still await transfer.

The third detainee was transferred to Iran following the recommendation of an annual Administrative Review Board.

Citing security concerns, the names of those released or transferred have not been disclosed.

According to the Pentagon, the latest movement raises the number of detainees who have departed Guantanamo to 245. Approximately 505 detainees remain at the prison facility.

July 20, 2005

8 Detainees Depart Guantanamo

In a release posted to its website, the Department of Defense announced the release and transfer of eight detainees from the prison facility at Guantanamo, including one to Sudan, two to Afghanistan, three to Saudi Arabia, one to Jordan and one to Spain.

For security purposes, neither the names nor the identities of those released or transferred have been disclosed.

The latest transfer raises the number of detainees who have departed Guantanamo to 242. Approximately 510 detainees remain at the prison facility.

July 18, 2005

GITMO Detainee Extradited to Spain

Reuters reports that the U.S. has extradited suspected Islamic militant and former Guantanamo detainee Lahcen Ikassrien to Spain, where he is wanted for an investigation into al Qaeda. Following the September 11th attacks, Spain issued an arrest warrant for the Moroccan nationalist, alleging he has links to an al Qaeda terrorist cell in Spain that helped plot the September 11th attacks.

July 16, 2005

Fed. Appeals Court Upholds Use of Military Tribunals at Guantanamo

Ruling unanimously that military commissions established to try enemy combatants detained at Guantanamo do not violate the Constitution, international law or American military law, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has allowed war crime trials to resume at the U.S. run prison facility in Cuba, The New York Times reports.

Back in November, a federal judge in Washington ruled unfair and unlawful - and immediately halted - the military commission of Osama bin Laden�s former driver and alleged terrorist Salim Ahmed Hamdan. The 34-year old Yemeni was to be the first detainee to be tried as a war criminal by the newly constituted military commissions at Guantanamo. In Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, 04-CV-1519, Judge James Robertson of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia declared President Bush �had both overstepped his constitutional bounds and improperly brushed aside the Geneva Conventions in establishing military commissions to try detainees at the United States naval base here as war criminals."

According to the 45-page memorandum opinion, Judge Robertson found that the administration contravened Geneva Convention guidelines, disregarding a basic provision which requires the United States to treat Hamdan as a prisoner of war (P.O.W.), unless he appears before a special tribunal described in Article 5 of the Third Geneva Convention that determines he is otherwise.

Yesterday�s decision, handed down by a three-judge panel, is a victory for the White House. The Bush administration contends that Hamdan and other suspected terrorists designated as �enemy combatants� are not entitled to P.O.W status and as such, do not merit protections conferred by the Geneva Conventions - which governs the treatment of civilians and soldiers in wartime - because al Qaeda did not sign the treaty.

Responding to the ruling Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales commented, "The president's authority under the laws of our nation to try enemy combatants is a vital part of the global war on terror...and today's decision reaffirms this critical authority."

Hamdan's attorney, Georgetown University law professor Neal K. Katyal said he would consider an appeal.

July 03, 2005

Pentagon Reaffirms Medical Policies for Detainees

Amid a storm of criticism against U.S. medical ethics at Guantanamo, the Department of Defense posted to its website a reaffirmation of its medical policies for detainees:

"The Department of Defense posted today recently issued guidance to the military services and commands reiterating policies regarding the care and handling of enemy prisoners of war, detainees, retained persons, and civilian internees.

Healthcare personnel have a duty to protect the physical and mental health of such individuals and to provide appropriate treatment for disease and injury, according to a policy memorandum released by Dr. William Winkenwerder, Jr., the assistant secretary of defense for Health Affairs.

The policy memorandum, available here details a set of principles and procedures that address the scope of healthcare personnel responsibilities and activities in which they may not participate. In all cases, healthcare personnel will be guided by applicable law and are expected to act humanely and with professionalism.

'Our policy is meant to make clear for our medical care providers that if a detainee provides information that directly bears upon a national security issue --for example, plans to commit a terrorist act that kills or harms Americans --the medical provider should, with proper documentation and approval, pass along the information to responsible security and intelligence authorities,' Winkenwerder said.

Specific guidance in the overall policy includes: direction to accurately and completely create and maintain medical records on all detainees; to ensure clear separation of duties between personnel providing healthcare to detainees and behavioral science personnel consulting with interrogators; to carefully record disclosure of all patient-specific information for lawful purposes other than treatment; to report possible violations of applicable standards for the protection of detainees; and to ensure healthcare personnel have appropriate training regarding the care and treatment of detainees.

Although detainees do not have an absolute right of confidentiality with respect to information they share with medical care providers, the general guidance is to maintain such information confidentially, except for approved and documented specific reasons. This is the same standard that would apply in U.S. federal prisons.

'Any detainee related information provided by healthcare personnel for reasons other than treatment must be for a specific purpose, documented and approved by a medical commander before it is released, Winkenwerder said. This process creates a strict set of guidelines to ensure the information is used only for appropriate purposes and is not misused.'

'To the best of my knowledge we have no credible evidence that a military physician participated in detainee abuse,' said Winkenwerder. 'The department investigates credible allegations and if substantiated, holds accountable those who are responsible. We expect military medical personnel, and all other service members, to abide by policies that require detainees be treated humanely and to report any suspected detainee mistreatment.'"

July 02, 2005

Pentagon Disputes Medical Journal Findings

During a news briefing conducted by Pentagon spokesman Lawrence Di Rita, questions were raised regarding the use of medical information during interrogations at Guantanamo, and specifically, what departmental policy is for sharing a detainee's medical information for purposes of devising interrogation strategies specific to that detainee. A partial transcript of that briefing is as follows:

Q: Larry, with regard to the controversy over the use of medical information in interrogations in Guantanamo, can you clarify, is it department policy that information provided by detainees to their medical care givers can be routinely shared with interrogators in devising strategies and tactics for those specific detainees?

MR. DI RITA: Well, I think we've briefed on this extensively. And there's a transcript available -- you haven't had a chance to look at it. But we have medical professionals down there that are there for the purposes of treating the detainees. And, you know, they've described what they do, which is medical care as you would understand it.

It is not uncommon to use behavioral science specialists, people that are known to have sort of an expertise in -- the kinds of things -- I wouldn't want to use this term to make the direct comparison, but others have -- profiling, so that as you understand what an individual is like, you might be able to affect the approaches that the interrogators would take on him. It's quite a different thing from saying we're using information out of his medical record. That's not really what, as I understand it -- and as I said, we've briefed this, so if there's -- we can maybe provide you some additional information. But it's more of a generic use of the specialty than it is specific knowledge of an individual's medical records.

Q: Actually, it's both. But the New England Journal article and its author specifically alleged that that sort of normally private medical information is funneled into that process. And my question was whether that is allowable under DOD policy.

MR. DI RITA: Well, I don't want to speak to it in terms of what DOD policy is. What it is is a matter of what the medical professionals at Guantanamo assisting the interrogators might determine might be necessary. Remember, we are talking about people who are known or suspected terrorists. So, there is a well respected and well regarded -- and it's been observed by a lot of people -- care that's being provided to these terrorists. And they are terrorists, by our assessment. On the other hand, there may be information that can be gleaned from the knowledge of who these people are that can help -- or, the knowledge of how these people are behaving that can help the interrogators. And we're -- and we try and walk that line, and we try and be careful about it. But we are talking about people like UBL's bodyguards, like somebody who would have been on an airplane on 9/11, and the balance that we strike will be toward getting more intelligence and stopping future attacks on the United States. And that's the balance that we're challenged -- that we're working on.

There is no handbook on how to do this. It's never been done before. So we're trying to be very careful about it. I think we've now had over 200 members of Congress who have observed what's going on in Guantanamo. They're observed interrogations. They've observed the medical facilities. We, as a matter of routine, try and provide exposure to the way that the medical treatments are being conducted down in Guantanamo when members of Congress go down there. There's an awful lot of oversight. But there is not a textbook on how to do this, and we're being very careful -- with the objective of gaining intelligence to stop Americans from being killed. And that's the balance we need to strike.

June 27, 2005

APA Releases Statement on Psychiatric Practices at GITMO

Weighing in on recent reports of alleged medical ethics violations at the prison facility in Cuba, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) has posted to its website a Statement on Psychiatric Practices at Guantanamo Bay.

Announcing its intentions to review psychiatry and interrogation procedure - and develop a specific policy statement in the near future - the organization released the following statement:

APA is not neutral on physician practices and clearly recommends that psychiatric physicians practice in accordance with the APA ethics guidelines, which are also in accordance with the medical code of ethics set forth in the Principles of Medical Ethics of the American Medical Association (AMA).

APA's Principles of Medical Ethics with Annotations Especially Applicable to Psychiatry states the following:

* A physician shall be dedicated to providing competent medical care with compassion
and respect for human dignity and rights.

* A physician shall respect the law and also recognize a responsibility to seek change
in those requirements which are contrary to the best interests of the patients.

* Ethical considerations in medical practice preclude the psychiatric evaluation of any
person charged with criminal acts prior to access to, or availability of, legal counsel.
The only exception is the rendering of care to the person for the sole purpose of
medical treatment.

* A physician shall respect the rights of patients, colleagues, and other health
professionals, and shall safeguard patient confidences and privacy within the
constraints of the law.

To view The Principles of Medical Ethics with Annotations Especially Applicable to Psychiatry, click here.

June 25, 2005

New England Journal of Medicine: Medical Personnel Inappropriately Involved in Interrogations

In an article posted to its website and scheduled for inclusion into the July 7 issue, The New England Journal of Medicine maintains that mounting evidence - including the Pentagon's own "Church Report" - illustrates that the medical program at Guantanamo was in violation of international medical law, and that military medical personnel were complicit in interrogation tactics the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) deems 'cruel and inhuman treatment.'

The article's authors, Dr. M. Gregg Bloche of the Brookings Institution and a law professor at Georgetown and Dr. Jonathan H. Marks, a bioethics fellow at Georgetown contend stress-inducing tactics such as 'sleep deprivation, prolonged isolation, painful body positions, feigned suffocation, and beatings,' as well as alleged 'sexual provocation and displays of contempt for Islamic symbols' breach medical ethics.

"Since late 2003, psychiatrists and psychologists (at Guantanamo) have been part of a strategy that employs extreme stress, combined with behavior-shaping rewards, to extract actionable intelligence from resistant captives," the article states.

Also addressed is the rejection of (a presumption of) clinical confidentiality, as Drs. Bloche and Marks question to what extent military intelligence personnel routinely drew upon and exploited detainee's confidential health records to tailor their interrogation approach - a concern raised last year by the ICRC.

The laws of war, the article explains, "defer to medical ethics," citing,

"Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions provides that medical personnel 'shall not be compelled to perform acts or to carry out work contrary to the rules of medical ethics.'

Although the protocol has not been ratified by the United States, the principle has attained the status of customary international law.

Last August, another respected medical journal - Britain's The Lancet - reported that U.S. military doctors misused detainee medical records as part of the interrogation routine at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison, contending,

"The complicity of US military medical personnel during abuses of detainees in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay is of great importance to human rights, medical ethics, and military medicine. Government documents show that the US military medical system failed to protect detainees' human rights, sometimes collaborated with interrogators or abusive guards, and failed to properly report injuries or deaths caused by beatings."

June 20, 2005

On Extended Detentions, Clinton Admits He Was "Not Blameless"

In a transcript of the interview Bill Clinton gave to the U.K.'s Financial Times, the former President argued against holding terror suspects in perpetuity and without due process, despite an admission that his administration was "not blameless" when it came to detaining terror suspects for an extended period of time and without trial.

"We had a law on the books when I was President, that was enforced from time to time, which permitted the Justice department to hold suspected terrorists beyond the normal length of time they could them without trial, if, bringing the indictment and the trial would require the presentation of evidence which would reveal the identity of the intelligence source, compromise the life of the intelligence source, maybe risk the life of the intelligence source, but more importantly dry up what we thought we were finding out about terror networks.

"It sounds so reasonable but if you're the guy who's in prison and you're not guilty, you could be held there three, four, five years and there has to be come limit to that.

"But the more important thing and I want to make some explicit statement here because I think people in the West who feel threatened by terror may be tempted to become more tolerant of the need to be tougher with suspected terrorists."

Later in the interview, President Clinton added,

"But I still don't think you can just hold these people forever. I think sooner or later you've got to move or let them go, you can't say, 'we know' because its all secret. It is just inimical to a free society."

Former President Clinton on GITMO: Close it or Clean it Up

As did former President Jimmy Carter last week, former President Bill Clinton added his voice to the debate mounting in the U.S. and abroad over the future of the prison at Guantanamo Bay, calling for the U.S.-run facility in Cuba to "be closed down or cleaned up."

During an interview with the U.K.'s Financial Times, in addition to ethical concerns President Clinton cited practical reasons for the irreproachable treatment of detainees opining,

�If we get a reputation for abusing people it puts our own soldiers much more at risk and second, if you rough up somebody bad enough, they'll eventually tell you whatever you want to hear to get you to stop doing it."

Amid the public relations nightmare fomented by alleged and confirmed instances of detainee abuse, the White House appears to be divided over the issue of Guantanamo's future, with President George Bush hinting at the facility's possible scale-down or closure. Nevertheless, senior officials including Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretatary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld remain steadfast in their position that the prison facility is essential, no practical alternative to Guantanamo exists, and "enemy combatants" detained at the camp continue to provide valuable intelligence, crucial to winning the ;'War on Terror.'

June 17, 2005

Pentagon Releases New Guidelines for Military Medical Personnel

Responding to allegations that military doctors and medics were complicit in committing and/or concealing detainee abuses, the Pentagon has issued a new set of guidelines for military medical personnel. According to a press release posted to the Department of Defense website, the new rules are specifically aimed at defining medical personnel's role with prisoners, addressing - but not limited to - issues such as patient care, interrogations and medical-record confidentiality.

Likewise, the new guidelines require all medical personnel to report suspected cases of abuse.

As the Associated Press reports, the guidelines were issued by Dr. William Winkenwerder, the assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, and make clear the only role of medical personnel involved in treating detainees is to ''evaluate, protect or improve their physical and mental health.'' As the AP article notes, while ancillary medical staff and experts such as the psychologists, profilers and forensic pathologists who advise interrogators are not to be involved in the treatment of detainees, they too are obligated to adhere to the principles of humane treatment, despite the dual and often competing loyalties presented in a war-time environment.

While Dr. Winkenwerder did not say whether the guidelines depart from existing medical policy for dealing with detainees, he did say their intent is to prevent future instances of abuse.

Red Cross: U.S. is Improving Treatment of Terror Suspects

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) stated today that despite accusations raised by its critics, the U.S. government is in fact cooperating to improve the treatment of terror suspects detained at Guantanamo and elsewhere, the Associated Press reports.

"The US government and the ICRC have good and trustful relations," assured Jakob Kellenberger, ICRC president.

Referring to past meetings with President George Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Kellenberger explained, "The quality of the dialogue up the highest level enables both sides to discuss openly all issues, including those where there are differences of view, and there are."

As Reuters reports, President Kellenberger dismissed a report critical of the ICRC by the Republican Policy Committee in the Senate, which alleged the ICRC leaked confidential reports on U.S. detainees and that a delegate from the Swiss-based humanitarian agency visiting a prison in Iraq compared it to a Nazi concentration camp.

"The ICRC has never leaked to the public or the media any of the confidential reports submitted to the US authorities," Kellenberger averred, maintaining the leak was attributed to a source outside the agency.

He then added, "ICRC staff has never compared U.S. soldiers to the Nazis."

June 16, 2005

Senate Holds Hearings on Guantanamo Bay

The Senate Judiciary Committee held hearings yesterday to review the Bush administration's legal framework for detaining and interrogating terror suspects and ultimately, to determine the future of the prison facility at Guantanamo Bay, Reuters reports. The hearings come amid the most recent spate of criticism directed towards GITMO, particularly the controversial report released by Amnesty International describing the facility as "the gulag of our times," and increasing pressure by activists and lawmakers to close the U.S.-run prison in Cuba.

Several Senate Democrats, including Vermont's Patrick Leahy, reiterated concerns about the treatment of the detainees.

"Guantanamo Bay is an international embarrassment to our nation, to our ideals and it remains a festering threat to our security," Leahy argued, adding "Our great country, America, was once viewed as a leader in human rights and the rule of law, and justly so. Guantanamo has undermined our leadership, has damaged our credibility, has drained the world's goodwill for America at an alarming rate."

Pentagon officials however, continued to defend the conditions of and practices at the U.S. naval base, testifying the United States has the right to hold foreign detainees for the duration of the U.S.-led War on Terror, and that the annual reviews are both "rigorous and fair."

"I think we can hold them as long as the conflict endures,"stated Brigadier General Thomas Hemingway, who overseas the military commissions.

Deputy Attorney General Michael Wiggins echoed Hemingway's contention maintaining, "It is our position that legally they can be held in perpetuity."

Rear Admiral James McGarrah, who monitors the enemy combatant detention program likewise defended detention procedures. "The primary basis for detaining individuals, whether it be at Guantanamo or elsewhere, is their determination as enemy combatant and the authorization under the law of armed conflict and the acceptable laws of war to keep those combatants from returning to the battlefield."

Nevertheless, a perceived image problem at Guantanamo seems to be dividing the Bush administration. With members of the G.O.P. now echoing the concerns of activists, denunciation of the indefinite detention of suspected terrorists without charge is becoming increasingly bipartisan.

Currently, the U.S. holds approximately 520 detainees. While most have spent more than 3 years at the prison, only four have been charged. As such, Senator John McCain argued, "Try them or release them."

The Arizona republican continued, "I think the key to this is to move the judicial process forward so that these individuals will be brought to trial for any crime that they are accused of rather than residing in the Guantanamo facility in perpetuity."

Similarly, Chairman of the Judiciary Committee Senator Arlen Specter (R-Pa) called for legally defining the rights of terrorism suspects being held at Guantanamo Bay.

"It is a genuine crazy quilt to try to figure out where the due process rights lie." The Supreme Court says there are due process rights."

June 08, 2005

President Carter Calls for GITMO Closure

In order to demonstrate its historic commitment to promoting freedom and democracy around the world, Jimmy Carter says the United States should close the Guantanamo Bay prison facility, The New York Times reports.

At his Atlanta-based human rights center, the former president joined human rights defenders from 14 nations, and together with representatives from major U.S. human rights organizations participated in a conference entitled "Human Rights Defenders on the Frontlines of Freedom: Advancing Security and the Rule of Law." According to a press release posted to The Carter Center website, the two-day conference proposed several recommendations:

Close down Guantanamo and the two dozen secret detention facilities run by the United States as soon as practicable;

Reaffirm the United States' commitment to fundamental principles of due process and to international law and give unequivocal assurances that all provisions of the Geneva Conventions on the treatment of prisoners and the Convention Against Torture and Cruel, Inhuman, and Degrading Treatment, including during interrogations, will be strictly enforced;

Assure that no detainees will be held incommunicado and that all will know the charges against them and be insured of international standards for fair trials;

Terminate the policy of "extraordinary rendition" (the transfer of detainees to foreign countries where torture has been reported);

Establish an independent, blue ribbon commission with authority to investigate places where terrorism suspects are held in U.S. custody and make a full report to the world, as called for by bipartisan congressional leaders, and

In its policies towards other nations, the United States should look to multilateral mechanisms when seeking to advance freedom and democracy, especially the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, which is a willing partner in this endeavor.

Despite his criticism of U.S.-run prison facilities in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and allegations of prisoner mistreatment that have caused the U.S. to suffer a "terrible embarrassment and a blow to our reputation," President Carter was careful not to confine his critique to the United States, acknowledging the existence of serious human rights violations in other nations as well, CNN reports.

"All free nations should unite in condemnation of those countries guilty of such abuses, with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as the standard," he urged.

President Carter likewise denounced Amnesty International's recent portrayal of the prison facility at Guantanamo as "the gulag of our time," contending the alleged abuses at the U.S.-run prison in no way compare to the forced labor camps administered by the former Soviet Union.

June 07, 2005

Safety Concerns Stall Repatriation for 15 Detainees

The Washington Times reports that 15 detainees determined no longer be "enemy combatants" and slated for release from Guantanamo more than three months ago remain at the prison facility, because the United States is unable to insure the safe return to their home countries.

According to defense officials, the delay is attributed to concerns about the potential treatment the detainees face from their home governments upon repatriation. Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said it is U.S. policy not to return detainees to their countries if it is believed "more likely than not that they'll be tortured or subject to persecution."

The Pentagon has declined to provide the names or nationalities of the 15 men. Likewise, it has refrained from disclosing the foreign government that has prompted the concern.

According to the Times article, Army Brigadier General Jay Hood, who heads the prison camp at Guantanamo said "most of" the men awaiting release have been separated from the general population at the maximum security prison and are detained together in a part of the camp where they are afforded comforts - such as approved videos and communal meals - not bestowed on the rest of the inmate population.

"One of the non-enemy combatants," General Hood explains, "has not complied with instructions from the security force and so we removed him from that other group and he'll be held separately until we receive orders to return him to his country of origin."

April 26, 2005

2 Detainees Transferred to Belgium

In a release posted to its website, the Department of Defense announced the transfer of 2 detainees from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to the control of the Belgian government.

The latest transfer raises the number of detainees who have departed Guantanamo to 234.

Per the Department of Defense, prior to this transfer 232 detainees had departed Guantanamo - 167 for release, and 65 transferred to the control of other governments (29 to Pakistan, 5 to Morocco, 7 to France, 7 to Russia, 4 to Saudi Arabia, 1 to Spain, 1 to Sweden, 1 to Kuwait, 1 to Australia and 9 to Great Britain).

In total, 234 detainees have departed Guantanamo, approximately 520 detainees remain.

April 19, 2005

17 Afghans, 1 Turk Transferred from GITMO

In a statement posted to its website, the Pentagon announced 18 detainees found to no longer be enemy combatants by a Combatant Status Review Tribunal, were transferred from the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to authorities in their home countries.

The largest known detainee release since 2004, 17 detainees were transferred to Afghanistan, while one detainee was repatriated to Turkey.

For security purposes, neither the names nor the identities of those transferred have been released.

The latest transfer raises the number of detainees who have departed Guantanamo to 232. Approximately 520 detainees remain at Guantanamo.

April 14, 2005

NPR Report on the Future of GITMO and its Detainees

In her continuing coverage of Guantanamo, NPR's Justice Department reporter Jackie Northam explores the government's long-term plans for hundreds of suspected terrorists detained at the naval facility in Cuba, and considers what the future holds for the prison itself.

When the United States first leased the Cuban territory over 100 years ago, its intended function was to serve as a refueling base for American ships and aircraft. By the mid 1990s it assumed a new role, housing Cuban and Haitian refugees. The base began to downsize, buildings were razed and personnel was cut.

Following the September 11th attacks and the ensuing "War on Terror," the government was faced with the challenge of how to detain enemy combatants possessing intelligence value.

Accompanied by intelligence officers and military police, hundreds of suspected terrorists captured in Afghanistan descended upon the base in Cuba. Three years have passed since the facility was transformed, and the immediacy of the months following the terrorist attacks has since diminished.

Operations at Guantanamo - Northam submits - are now at a crossroads.

Former air-force attorney and military law expert Professor Scott Silliman of Duke University observes several factors necessitating a reevaluation of operations at Guantanamo, among them:

- the administration's frustration at its inability to extract significant amounts of accurate information from interrogations;

- the type of the intelligence being gathered proving inadequate to frame a specific criminal charge of the violation of the law of war;

- continued complaints regarding both the legality of holding the detainees and internal investigations; and

- the maelstrom of publicity over detainee abuse.

Any goal of reducing detainees by more than half, a US Central Command (CENTCOM) spokesman reveals, is not as straightforward as it sounds. Particularly as in excess of 30 detainees deemed eligible to leave the base are yet unable.

"There are difficulties returning them to country of origins because those countries can't guarantee their safety. Those are issues that the State Department and other agencies in our government are working on.'

Still other detainees should never be released, avers Marvin C. Ott Professor of National Security Policy at the National War College, whose argument for indefinite detentions further illustrates the complexities of downsizing the detainee population at Guantanamo.

As Ott explains, there are detainees who have emphatically declared that upon their release, they will try to kill Americans.

Their world view is absolutely black and white, fanatically devoted to a Jihadist vision, Ott says.

'The idea that these people would adopt peaceful pursuits in many, many cases is utter fantasy - they will not do it. What do you do with them?'

Despite plans to reduce the number of detainees at Guantanamo, several recent construction projects on the base belie any suggestion that the operation is temporary. Last year saw the completion of the high-tech Camp V, modeled after a maximum-security facility. While able to accommodate upwards of 100 detainees, much of the prison can be run from a central control center. More efficient than the neighboring Camp Delta, the new prison requires fewer guards, adding to the effort to streamline manpower at Guantanamo.

Other large-scale additions to the base include a hospital for the detainees, complete with a state of the art psychiatric wing, 4 huge wind turbines erected hillside to supply approximately one quarter of the electricity used at the base, and a high-security intelligence building capable of incorporating information from the CIA, the FBI and other intelligence agencies.

It is the drive for intelligence, Northam explains, that remains intrinsic to the future of Guantanamo.

April 07, 2005

White House Wants Ruling on Detainee Rights Reversed

In federal appeals court today, the Justice Department defended the Bush Administration�s prosecution of foreign terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay, and sought to overturn a federal ruling that deems unlawful military commission trials that do not afford foreign terror suspects the same legal protections as Americans, The New York Times reports.

Representing the government, assistant attorney general Peter D. Keisler said the trials that were halted �send a message that if you commit terrible crimes, we will capture you, we will give you a fair trial, and if you're convicted, we will impose a just sentence,� reports the Chicago Tribune.

Back in November, a U.S. District Judge ruled unfair and unlawful - and immediately halted - the military commission of Osama bin Laden�s former driver and alleged terrorist Salim Ahmed Hamdan. The Yemeni was to be the first detainee to be tried by a special military commission. In Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, 04-CV-1519, Judge James Robertson of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia declared President Bush �had both overstepped his constitutional bounds and improperly brushed aside the Geneva Conventions in establishing military commissions to try detainees at the United States naval base here as war criminals.�

According to the 45-page memorandum opinion, Judge Robertson found that the administration contravened Geneva Convention guidelines, disregarding a basic provision which requires the United States to treat Hamdan as a prisoner of war (P.O.W.), unless he appears before a special tribunal described in Article 5 of the Third Geneva Convention that determines he is otherwise.

The Bush administration contends that Hamdan and other suspected terrorists designated as �enemy combatants� are not entitled to P.O.W status and do not merit protections conferred by the Geneva Conventions - which governs the treatment of civilians and soldiers in wartime - because al Qaeda did not sign the treaty.

Among the points of contention: in military commission cases, the government cites national security concerns for classifying evidence. While legal counsel has access to this information, it may nevertheless be withheld from the defendant. Also, a defendant need not be present for all parts of the military commission trial.

�It makes no sense to say that we adhere to international law and the first thing we do at the beginning of a trial is violate a canon of international law,� said Navy Lt. Cmdr. Charles Swift, Hamdan�s Pentagon-appointed attorney.

�This is the law in Rwanda,� but not in the United States, Swift retorted.

Out of approximately 550 detainees at Guantanamo, 15 have been designated for military commission trials. Only four have been charged.

March 31, 2005

ACLU: Declassified Memo Suggests Abuse Sanctioned by Top Brass

In a statement posted to its website, the American Civil Liberties Union contends that a recently declassified 2003 Army memo signed by Lt. Gen. Ricardo A. Sanchez - commander of U.S. ground forces from June 2003 to July 2004 - raises concerns that Sanchez perjured himself during his May 19th testimony to Congress on Iraq prison abuse, during which he denied authorizing highly coercive interrogation methods in violation of both the Geneva Conventions and Army standards.

An excerpt from the ACLU statement:

"The memorandum, dated September 14, 2003, was signed by Lt. Gen. Sanchez and laid out specific interrogation techniques, modeled on those used against detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for use by coalition forces in Iraq. These include sleep "management," the inducement of fear at two levels of severity, loud music and sensory agitation, and the use of canine units to "exploit [the] Arab fear of dogs."

During sworn testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Lt. Gen. Sanchez flatly denied approving any such techniques in Iraq, and said that a news article reporting otherwise was false.

Specifically, Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) asked Sanchez, "today's USA Today, sir, reported that you ordered or approved the use of sleep deprivation, intimidation by guard dogs, excessive noise and inducing fear as an interrogation method for a prisoner in Abu Ghraib prison." To which Sanchez replied, using the acronym for Coalition Joint Task Force-7, "Sir, that may be correct that it's in a news article, but I never approved any of those measures to be used within CJTF-7 at any time in the last year."

"We deserve to know if our military commanders are being honest when reporting to Congress and the American people what's been done in our country's name," said Christopher E. Anders, an ACLU Legislative Counsel. "The attorney general clearly has to bring us those answers by appointing an independent investigator, and possible perjury is a good place to start."

As such, the ACLU submitted a request to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales asking him to open an investigation into Sanchez's possible perjury.

As Stars and Stripes reports, Pentagon officials defend the general, as Defense Department spokesman Lt. Col. John Skinner offered, "There have now been 10 major lines of inquiry, to include one done by an independent panel, that have found there was no policy that condoned or encouraged abuse of any type."

March 30, 2005

DoD: Combatant Status Review Tribunals for all GITMO Detainees Completed

During the 9th and most recent Defense Department Special Briefing on Combatant Status Review Tribunals (CSRTs) Secretary of the Navy Gordon England, Secretary Rumsfeld�s designated civilian official for the Detainee Administrative Review Processes at Guantanamo, announced that the CSRTs for all of the DoD detainees at Guantanamo - 558 in total - have been completed.

Secretary England explained the process:

�Once the hearing is completed, the record of the tribunal is compiled and forwarded to the convening authority, Admiral McGarrah, for sufficient review and for final action. Of the 558 CSRT hearings conducted, the enemy combatant status of 520 detainees was confirmed. The tribunals also concluded that 38 detainees were found to no longer meet the criteria to be designated as enemy combatants. So 520 enemy combatants, 38 non-enemy-combatants.�

�The Department of State has been notified of all of these determinations, and State is coordinating the return of the 38 non- enemy-combatants to their home countries. As of today, five of those 38 persons have returned to their home countries, and the Department of State is working to coordinate the return of the remaining 33 as expeditiously as possible.�

�As you know, we do not discuss individual cases, but I can share with you some of the common features of those cases to give you a sense of their complexity. Each case is different, and each case is difficult. Even for the detainees who have been determined by our CSRTs to be no longer to be designated as enemy combatants, the files on those detainees often contain information that suggests that they could be classified as enemy combatants. There is often conflicting information that has to be sorted through very carefully by the CSRT members.�

�It should be emphasized that a CSRT determination that a detainee no longer meets the criteria for classification as an enemy combatant does not necessarily mean that the prior classification as EC was wrong.�

March 20, 2005

C.I.A.: Approved Interrogation Techniques - Past & Present - Are Lawful

In response to The New York Times March 18th article on testimony given by C.I.A. director Porter J. Goss - which the C.I.A. contends "creates the false impression that U.S. intelligence may have had a policy in the past of using torture against terrorists captured in the war on terror" - the agency released a statement assuring, "All approved interrogation techniques, both past and present, are lawful and do not constitute torture."

In a written statement, the agency's director of public affairs Jennifer Millerwise maintained, "C.I.A. policies on interrogation have always followed legal guidance from the Department of Justice."

Millerwise continued, "If an individual violates the policy, then he or she will be held accountable."

March 13, 2005

3 More Detainees to be Released from Guantanamo

In a release posted to its website,the Pentagon announced that 3 detainees found no longer to be �enemy combatants� by Combatant Status Review Tribunals will be transferred from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to Afghanistan, Maldives and Pakistan.

Neither the names nor the identities of those released have been confirmed.

Prior to the most recent transfer 211 detainees had departed Guantanamo: 146 for release, and 65 transferred to the control of other governments (29 to Pakistan, 5 to Morocco, 7 to France, 7 to Russia, 4 to Saudi Arabia, 1 to Spain, 1 to Sweden, 1 to Kuwait, 1 to Australia and 9 to Great Britain).

In total, 214 detainees have departed Guantanamo, while approximately 540 detainees remain at the prison facility.

March 12, 2005

Abu Ghraib Commander Given Letter of Reprimand

Quoting Army and congressional sources, Stars and Stripes reports Janis Karpinski - the Army Reserve Brigadier General in charge of the U.S. run prison - was "quietly handed a letter of reprimand."

Karpinski was suspended from her duties as Commander of the 800th Military Police Brigade following the 60 Minutes broadcast that alerted the world to the prisoner abuse scandal. She denied involvement in, and prior knowledge of the abuses, telling the BBC she was a 'convenient scapegoat' for abuse ordered by others.

Officials say a decision has not yet been made as to whether Karpinski would receive additional punishment.

March 11, 2005

Latest Pentagon Report: Detainee Abuses Not Sanctioned by Civilian or Military Policy

Echoing the findings of previous DoD-commissioned investigations, the Pentagon's latest probe into detention operations concluded that neither civilian defense officials nor military leadership sanctioned or encouraged prisoner abuse, finding "no single overarching explanation" for the numerous cases of prisoner mistreatment that have come to light since the notorious Abu Ghraib scandal.

As the Washington Post reports, unlike previous inquiries, the latest investigation did not focus solely on interrogation practices at the U.S.-run Abu Ghraib prison facility in Iraq but rather, extended its scope to include the treatment of detained suspects dispersed throughout the various theaters of the War on Terrorism.

Ordered by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and headed by former Navy Inspector General Vice Admiral Albert T. Church III, the latest investigation traced the evolution of U.S. military interrogation policies between 2002 and 2004. During this period, the Bush administration determined the Geneva Conventions were neither applicable to the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan nor to the U.S.-run detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba - but that they were in fact, applicable to the war in Iraq. According to the Post, while the Church investigation found no linkage between sanctioned interrogation techniques and detainee abuse - and that "for the most part" military personnel complied with U.S. and international standards for treating detainees humanely - interrogators that transferred from one battlefield setting to another carried with them procedures from previous assignments. When directives were vague the article explains, interrogators improvised, often resulting in confusion insofar as what was - and was not - permissible conduct when dealing with detainees.

Released yesterday, the resulting 368-page report concludes that there was never a deliberate policy that allowed interrogators to torture detained suspects and that when required, the military investigated allegations of mistreatment, and subsequently punished offending soldiers when appropriate.

Briefing congressional leaders, Admiral Church told the Senate Armed Services Committee that a lack of guidelines and oversight, bad planning and a slow response to Red Cross warnings of abuse contributed to the mistreatment of prisoners in Afghanistan and Iraq.

An executive summary of the results of the Department of Defense review of detention operations and interrogation techniques can be found here.

February 16, 2005

Armed Forces Press Service on Current Conditions at GITMO

Reporter Kathleen T. Rhem of the American Forces Press Service provides a glimpse into the conditions under which terror suspects are currently being held. In an article posted to the Department of Defense website, the tarnished image of a scandalized Guantanamo is replaced by a detention facility in compliance with correctional, legal and humanitarian standards; a detention facility that embodies the mission of the Joint Task Force, ensuring "the safe, secure, humane custody of the detainees."

As Rhem reports, at the base's detention camps prisoners are divided into 4 levels. The levels are unrelated to detainee's intelligence value but rather, they are based on how well detainees comply with camp rules and cooperate with guards instructions.

Typically, level 1 detainees are obedient, and are inclined to follow camp rules. They occupy communal living quarters, and wear uniforms that are white - a culturally respected color that serves as an incentive to detainees in other camps.

In contrast, level 4 detainees often have a history of offenses, ranging from threatening guards and other detainees, to hurling bodily fluids, to refusing to exit their cell when ordered. Level 4 detainees wear orange, hospital type uniforms, and are granted fewer privileges than level 1 detainees.

For detainees who cooperate, privileges may include extended access (7-9 hours per day) to an outside exercise area, which features picnic and ping-pong tables, a soccer area and volleyball court. Games, books and other reading material, as well as electric fans and ice water may also be made available.

With regard to the camp's physical structure, the article illustrates how the concrete and open-air chain-link enclosures of the crude and hastily built Camp X-Ray have been replaced by more modern and permanent structures. Construction of Camp Delta began in 2002, eventually replacing the make-shift Camp X-Ray, which had never been intended for long-term detentions. Then in spring of 2004, a state-of-the-art $16 million detention facility was completed. Camp 5 was composed of four wings consisting of 12 to 14 individual cells each.

Last month, plans for a new prison - Camp 6 - were announced. The $25 million, 200 bed, medium-security facility will be restructured with an improved medical facility, including a $1.7 million psychiatric wing.

Together Camps 5 and 6 are said to represent 'the future of Guantanamo Bay,' which is being revamped to house those prisoners found to pose a continuing security threat.

Despite official pronouncements of its intentions to reduce prisoner population - as well as the contention held by many that GITMO will probably not become a fully-functional detention facility - the millions spent and earmarked for the construction of state of the art facilities suggests that the Department of Defense does in fact, have long-term plans for the U.S.- run prison in Cuba.

February 15, 2005

CSRTs: 6 More GITMO Detainees to Be Sent Home

The Pentagon has announced that a military review panel at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba has found six more detainees should no longer be classified as �enemy combatants.� While a spokesperson declined to identify the prisoners or their nationalities, they said the State Department was arranging their repatriations.

The Combatant Status Review Tribunals (CSRTs) consider whether detainees belonged to - or were associated with - the Taliban or al Qaeda, and whether they fought against or pose a threat to the United States and its allies. The target of myriad criticisms, the much-maligned CSRTs have also been deemed �overly vague.�

When asked if the panel�s findings did not suggest the men - some captured and held without charge for in excess of 3 years - were detained in error, Navy spokesperson Captain Beci Brenton explained, �The finding of the (tribunals) is that they no longer meet the criteria," Reuters reports.

While the panels have thus far ruled that 410 Guantanamo prisoners were "enemy combatants," only four have been charged with crimes since the U.S. began sending suspected terrorists to the U.S. naval facility in Cuba more than three years ago.

As of the latest announcement, 12 Guantanamo detainees have been designated for release.

February 03, 2005

CSRTs: 3 More GITMO Detainees No Longer Classified as "Enemy Combatants"

As reflected in the Pentagon�s updated summary of tribunal statistics, the Combatant Status Review Tribunals (CSRTs) have found 3 more Guantanamo detainees should no longer be classified as �enemy combatants.�

Since they began back in July, the CSRTs have found 387 Guantanamo detainees were correctly classified as enemy combatants, while 6 detainees were determined not to be enemy combatants.

While a Pentagon spokesman would not identify the 3 men or their nationalities, he did indicate that the State Department would arrange for their respective repatriations, Reuters reports.

January 31, 2005

District Judge: Pentagon Fails to Provide Due Process for GITMO Detainees

Rejecting the Bush administration�s request to dismiss lawsuits filed on behalf of 54 foreign-born terror suspects protesting their detentions at Guantanamo, a district judge ruled today that the U.S. government has improperly prevented non-U.S. citizens picked up during the "War on Terror" from contesting their imprisonments, deeming the Pentagon's procedure to determine whether they are in fact �enemy combatants� fundamentally unfair and unconstitutional.

By failing to satisfy several due process requirements, U.S. District Judge Joyce Hens-Green found the Combatant Status Review Tribunals (CSRTs) violate the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and in some cases, the Geneva Convention treaties on treatment of prisoners of war.

Judge Hens-Green noted that because the men distinguished as �enemy combatants� are not provided legal counsel, and because the government withholds some evidence as classified, detainees at Guantanamo do not have access to all the pertinent material that might buttress their cases.

As The New York Times and Washington Times report, Judge Hens-Green ruled that under June's Supreme Court decision, the detainees were entitled to challenge the basis for their detentions, despite the executive branch�s entrenched arguments to the contrary.

�Although this nation unquestionably must take strong action under the leadership of the commander in chief to protect itself against enormous and unprecedented threats, that necessity cannot negate the existence of the most basic fundamental rights for which the people of this country have fought and died for well over 200 years,� Judge Hens-Green noted.

Judge Hens-Green found the military greatly depended on detainee confessions in their determination of whether they are correctly identified as �enemy combatants.� As the Washington Post explains, the judge called into question the efficacy of such confessions because of allegations and evidence of abusive conditions during the interrogation process.

Despite the latest ruling, the Bush Administration remains steadfast in its position that the CSRTs are in fact, constitutional. During today�s White House press briefing, spokesman Scott McClellan stated, �we respectfully disagree with the decision. The Department of Justice will be looking at what the appropriate next steps are to take in this matter, so they'll be reviewing the matter.�

To be sure, Judge Hens-Green said nothing in her opinion �should be interpreted to require the immediate release of any detainee.� Nevertheless, she said the present system - deemed by many of its critics to have been hastily set up by the Pentagon - and in which a detainee who has not yet been charged with a specific crime could in fact be held in captivity longer than a criminal defendant who has been tried and convicted - can not continue without substantial changes.

As could be expected, civil liberties groups celebrated the latest ruling. In a statement posted to its website, Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) President Michael Ratner commented,

�Judge Green�s decision is extraordinary. It reaffirms that the Guant�namo detainees cannot be imprisoned outside the law, that they have a constitutional right to a fair hearing and that evidence resulting from torture and coercion cannot be used to continue their imprisonments. The judge also found that it was illegal for the President to unilaterally determine that an entire group of the Guant�namo prisoners were not POW�s protected by the Geneva conventions. This ruling has the potential to bring the U.S. back into the fold of nations under law. It is about time.�

Judge Hens-Green�s decision conflicts with an earlier ruling. On January 19th, Judge Richard J. Leon - a Bush appointee - threw out 7 suspected terrorists� requests for court review of their detention. Judge Leon said he found �no viable legal theory exists�' for a court to order the detainees� release.

Legal experts expect the issue to be resolved either by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia or possibly, the Supreme Court.

January 24, 2005

Mass Suicide Attempt at Guantanamo Revealed

The AP reports that during August 2003, 23 terror suspects detained at Guantanamo attempted a mass suicide.

The military has confirmed that nearly two dozen detainees tried to simultaneously hang or strangle themselves during a mass protest. In a statement posted to the NPR website, U.S. Southern Command describes the attempt as �a coordinated effort to disrupt camp operations and challenge a new group of security guards from the just-completed unit rotation.�

An excerpt:

� Of the 23 detainees involved, two required treatment in the Detention Hospital. Each of these detainees was treated for minor injuries, remained in the Detention Hospital for less than 48 hours for observation, and subsequently were transferred to the Behavioral Health Services Unit.

� The JTF medical staff evaluated the other 21 detainees at the Detention Hospital and then sent them to the Behavioral Health Services Unit for evaluation and monitoring.

� The JTF chain of command was notified of these incidents and reported them as required to SOUTHCOM.

� Of the 23 detainees who participated in this incident, 16 remain in the camps. Seven detainees have been transferred from Guantanamo Bay.

� The Joint Detention Operations Group continually assesses the camp's population for whom the informal leaders are, the mood of the detainees, and their ability to communicate with each other.

� That assessment has enabled the leadership to take numerous measures to reduce the opportunity for detainees to communicate a coordinated self-harm incident, or strike out at another detainee or the guard force.

� There have been no successful suicide attempts at GTMO. This is because of a vigilant, well-trained guard force, charged with the safe, humane custody of the detainees and because of that force's ability to rapidly and properly respond.

As reported by the AP, Alistair Hodgett of Amnesty International was critical of the delay in reporting the incident.

�When you have suicide attempts or so-called self-harm incidents, it shows the type of impact indefinite detention can have, but it also points to the extreme measures the Pentagon is taking to cover up things that have happened in Guantanamo,� he said.

Mission commander of Guantanamo Army General Jay Hood said that since the military set up a psychiatric ward at the facility, the number of incidents has decreased.

January 23, 2005

Update - Combatant Status Review Tribunals

On Saturday, the U.S. military held the last of the Combatant Status Review Tribunals (CSRT) at Guantanamo. A 30-year-old detainee was the last of 558 men who had their cases considered by the CSRT, convened to determine whether detainees are properly held as �enemy combatants.�

As per a statement issued by the Pentagon, the Office for the Administrative Review of the Detention of Enemy Combatants has conducted 550 tribunals since July 2004. The convening authority has reviewed and finalized 330 tribunals, of which 327 have remained classified as enemy combatants, and three have been determined to no longer be enemy combatants.

January 16, 2005

Kuwaiti Detainee Transferred from Guantanamo

The Pentagon announced it has transferred a detainee from Guantanamo to Kuwait for prosecution.

As the Washington Post reports, the detainee is identified as Nasser al-Mutairi, 26, who was captured in Afghanistan during the U.S.-led War on Terror. Designated an �enemy combatant,� he remained in custody at Guantanamo for the past three years ago.

Upon his return to the gulf nation, al-Mutairi was taken into government custody.

According to Voice of America, the detainee is the first of 12 Kuwaitis said to be doing charity work when captured by U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

As per DoD, prior to the latest transfer 202 detainees departed the naval prison facility at Guantanamo - 146 were released, while 56 were transferred to the control of other governments (29 to Pakistan, 5 to Morocco, 4 to France, 7 to Russia, 4 to Saudi Arabia, 1 to Spain, 1 to Sweden and 5 to Great Britain). In total, 203 detainees have departed Guantanamo, while approximately 550 detainees remain currently detained.

Abu Ghraib�s Graner Sentenced to 10 Years for Prisoner Abuses

In addition to a dishonorable discharge from the army, Reuters reports Specialist Charles A. Graner Jr. was sentenced yesterday to 10 years behind bars for his involvement in the detainee abuse scandal at the U.S.-run Abu Ghraib prison facility in Iraq.

While Graner claimed he was carrying out orders, and that he complained to superiors about the treatment he claims he was forced to mete out to detainees, he nevertheless admitted, �I didn�t enjoy anything I did there. A lot of it was wrong, a lot of it was criminal.�

January 15, 2005

Abu Ghraib �Ringleader� Convicted of Prisoner Abuses

Following a 4� day trial in Fort Hood, Texas, the reputed �ringleader� of the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal was found guilty on all charges.

Within 5 hours of deliberation, the 10-member military jury convicted Army Reserve Specialist Charles A. Graner Jr. on charges including conspiracy, dereliction of duty, maltreatment of prisoners, aggravated assault and indecent acts at the U.S.-run prison west of Baghdad, the Los Angeles Times reports.

For his actions Graner - a former corrections officer - faces a possible 15-year prison sentence.

It was the first court-martial resulting from the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal that embarrassed the nation, incited international outrage and drew the ire of the Arab world. As The New York Times points out, the verdict was returned a year to the day after the Pentagon began its investigation into the scandal. Thousands of damning photographs captured on a CD-ROM documenting the abuses prompted the military investigations, subsequently alerting the world last spring of the abuse.

As the LA Times explains, the abuses occurred from October to December 2003, as U.S.-led forces in Iraq were gathering intelligence in hope of averting the rising insurgency and finding Saddam Hussein. Against this backdrop, Graner�s attorneys argued that their client and his fellow military police were subject to extreme pressure from intelligence agents to employ physical violence to prepare detainees for questioning.

His civilian lawyer rationalized, �And the more aggressive you are, the better intelligence results you get.�

Despite arguments that Graner and his fellow MPs were the proverbial �fall guys� for their superior officers - with culpability ostensibly ascending the Defense Department�s chain of command - witnesses for the defense testified there had in fact, been no orders for the behavior depicted in the photographs. Such admission buttresses both the Bush Administration�s and the Pentagon�s contention that prisoner abuse was neither ordered nor condoned; rather than being endemic prisoner abuses were attributable to the actions of a handful of rogue soldiers, a few �bad apples.�

As the Washington Post reports, Graner had been a corporal but has since been demoted to the rank of specialist. To date, no officer at Abu Ghraib faces criminal charges.

Among the evidence introduced by the prosecution were previously unreleased emails sent to friends and family in which Graner appeared to pride himself on his brutal treatment of inmates.

The prosecution averred Graner�s actions were unjustified, that they were �for sport, for laughs.�

In total, seven soldiers have been charged in the scandal - three have pleaded guilty, three face court-martial. Sergeant Ivan Frederick was given a dishonorable discharge and sentenced to 8 years in prison. Private Lynndie R. England, who is also pictured in the sadistic photographs, infamously smiling and giving a thumbs-up in front of naked, hooded prisoners, is said to be Graner�s girlfriend.

While he chose not to testify on his behalf, Graner plans to address the jury during the sentencing phase, scheduled to begin later today.

January 11, 2005

Last 4 Britons, 1 Australian to be Transferred from Guantanamo

In a press release posted to its website, the Department of Defense announced it will be transferring 5 terror suspects - 4 Britons and 1 Australian - from Guantanamo. The announcement comes on the third anniversary of the U.S.-run prison facility in Cuba.

The Britons are identified as Moazzam Begg, Feroz Abbasi, Martin Mubanga and Jamaal Belmar. The Australian national is identified as Egyptian-born Mamdouh Habib. While the men have been held without charge or trial, their distinction as �enemy combatants� remains. As such, the governments of the United Kingdom and Australia have accepted responsibility for the men and upon their respective repatriations have provided assurance to the United States that they will �will work to prevent them from engaging in or otherwise supporting terrorist activities in the future,� The New York Times reports.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said the plan to release the 4 remaining Britons follows �intensive and complex� discussions with the United States. Upon their return, Straw said �the police will decide whether to arrest them� on terrorism laws.

Australia�s attorney general Phillip Ruddock and Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said the United States believed that �Mr. Habib had prior knowledge of the terrorist attacks on or before 11 September 2001. Mr. Habib has acknowledged he spent time in Afghanistan, and others there at that time claim he trained with Al Qaeda.�

The Times reports however, that according to the officials' statement, it seems unlikely Habib will face prosecution under Australian law.

Another Australian terror suspect, David Hicks, remains detained at Guantanamo. Among the first terror suspects to be charged, Hicks is scheduled for trial in March

The latest transfer is expected to occur within the next few weeks.

January 10, 2005

Long-Term Prison Planned for Guantanamo

On the eve of the prison's third year in operation, The Washington Times reports that in an effort to allow for the construction of a larger, more permanent facility, the United States is planning to release or transfer many of the 549 terror suspects detained at Guantanamo.

According to Britain�s Financial Times, the new prison - which will be called Camp Six - will be able to accommodate the 200 detainees that the United States considers of intelligence value and as such, does not yet want released. As CNN reports, the $25 million facility will be restructured with an improved medical facility, including a $1.7 million psychiatric wing, and a permanent guard force.

December 23, 2004

Rights Group Submits FOIA Request on Behalf of �Ghost Detainees�

In a press release posted to its website, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) announces it has submitted a FOIA request on behalf of �ghost detainees.�

Dedicated to "protecting and advancing the rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights," the rights group says the request was made in response to recent media reports suggesting the CIA has been secretly operating a holding and interrogation center at Guantanamo, as well as at various �undisclosed locations� around the world.

As the press release explains, the CCR �seeks records relating to the identity, location, authority over, and treatment of all Unregistered, CIA, and �Ghost� Detainees and all other individuals interdicted, interrogated, and detained by any agency or department of the United States.�

CCR deputy legal director Barbara Olshansky avers, �The use of secret detentions centers not only violates international and U.S. law�it undermines the critical pillars of our Democracy � justice and liberty -- and tosses aside the Framers concerns about the dangers of an overreaching executive.�

Olshansky continues, �How can we hold ourselves up as an example as the world�s preeminent democracy when we are violating the founding principles of our own?�

December 21, 2004

2nd Detainee to be Freed from GITMO; Tribunals Determine Improper Designation as "Enemy Combatant"

A Combatant Status Review Tribunal (CSRT) has determined a Guantanamo detainee was mis-classified as an �enemy combatant� by the Pentagon and as such, the State Department will arrange for his repatriation, the Associated Press reports.

For security reasons neither the detainee�s name/nationality, nor circumstances under which he was captured have been released.

The unnamed detainee is the second to be exonerated under the military process established in response to June's Supreme Court ruling, which found detainees at Guantanamo could challenge their designation through the U.S. courts. In September, the three-man panel determined a detainee was improperly designated as an �enemy combatant.� The detainee was later released and repatriated to Pakistan.

As per the AP article, Navy Secretary Gordon England - who oversees the detainee administrative review processes at Guantanamo - refrained from admitting the latest prisoner was wrongly held.

�I don�t think there�s a right or wrong answer to this. I think this is a gray area.�

According to the latest Special Defense Department Briefing on Status of Military Tribunals, the military has conducted 507 tribunals. Approximately 50 tribunals remain and are expected to be completed next month.

December 18, 2004

C.I.A.'s "Prison w/in a Prison," Reports Washington Post

The Washington Post reports that the C.I.A. operated a covert holding and interrogation facility for suspected senior al Qaeda operatives within the larger American military-run prison facility at Guantanamo.

As the article explains, the buildings used by the C.I.A. were off-limits to most personnel on the base, �shrouded by high fences covered with thick green mesh plastic and ringed with floodlights� within the larger Camp Echo complex, which was constructed to house the DoD�s high-value detainees, as well as those awaiting military trials.

Those picked up during the U.S.-led �War on Terrorism� and detained at Guantanamo are technically held not by the C.I.A. but by the Defense Department. They are guaranteed access to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and, as a result of June�s landmark Supreme Court ruling, may challenge their detentions through the U.S. courts.

C.I.A. detainees - by contrast - are governed by distinct rules, and with far greater secrecy.

�Under a presidential directive and authorities approved by administration lawyers,� the article explains, �the CIA is allowed to capture and hold certain classes of suspects without accounting for them in any public way and without revealing the rules for their treatment. The roster of CIA prisoners is not public, but current and former U.S. intelligence officials say the agency holds the most valuable al Qaeda leaders and many mid-level members with knowledge of the group's logistics, financing and regional operations.�

Officials from neither the C.I.A. nor the DoD were willing to discuss any aspect of the operation. When questioned about the arrangement between the C.I.A. and the U.S. military at Guantanamo, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said he was not at liberty to comment on operations of other agencies.

�As we have stated since the beginning of detention operations at Guantanamo, the ICRC has access to detainees at Guantanamo and is permitted to meet with them, consistent with military necessity.�

Whitman added, �all [Defense] detainees, including those at Guantanamo, are treated humanely, and in accordance with applicable law.�

While ICRC officials declined to divulge where - or with whom - they had been permitted to visit, a spokesman submitted �We have been granted broad access to the camp.�

He continued, �We are confident we have visited all of the people detained at Guantanamo, in all of the places they are being detained.�

Yet the Post article points out that the ICRC has not, in fact, been granted access to high-value detainees held at secret locations around the world.

It is unclear whether the facility is still in operation today.

December 02, 2004

Detainee Status Debated in Federal Court

In what is expected to be a protracted second phase of the legal battle over the government�s efforts to assign the fate of Guantanamo detainees to the U.S. military rather than the federal courts, the Defense Department continued to defend its Guantanamo prison policy before a federal court in Washington on Wednesday, The New York Times reports.

In the landmark June 29th ruling, the Supreme Court entered the first phase of the battle, issuing a blow to the Bush administration when it ruled that foreign terror suspects held at Guantanamo could in fact use the American legal system to challenge their detentions.

Arguments heard yesterday concerned the government�s motion to dismiss Habeas Corpus petitions filed on behalf of 54 Guantanamo detainees who have asked the courts to require government justification of its detentions. Lawyers for the detainees argue their clients have the right to a fair trial and should be given the proper opportunity to defend themselves.

Government lawyers however, remain steadfast in their position that the U.S. military can hold foreign terror suspects picked up in the �War on �Terror� as �enemy combatants� - a broadly defined classification that suggests they are not entitled to protections generally given to prisoners of war and as such, do not possess the constitutional rights to contest their detentions in court.

Of the Pentagon�s decision to detain suspected Taliban and al Qaeda fighters - some for 3 years - deputy associate attorney general Brian Boyle explained, �The military has an interest in holding people who pose a risk.�

�We're not detaining these people just because there's some enjoyment in it.�

Addressing the hotly debated and broadly defined description of �enemy combatants,� Judge Joyce Hens Green presented a series of hypothetical scenarios, one of which questioned whether the president could imprison �a little old lady from Switzerland� as an enemy combatant if she unintentionally made a donation to a terrorist organization that was fronted as an Afghan orphanage.

Possibly, Boyle replied.

�It would be up to the military to decide as to what to believe,� he said.

As the San Francisco Chronicle reports, Boyle explained that the military can detain any foreigner who provides support to terrorists or might have knowledge of their plans.

Boyle argued that the foreigners detained at Guantanamo have no constitutional rights enforceable in U.S. courts. He averred that they have nevertheless been provided a process, contending that was all they were entitled to under the June 28th ruling.

Following the hearing, attorney for 12 Kuwaiti detainees Thomas B. Wilner told reporters, �That�s really shocking.�

�People throughout the world will fear the United States is asserting the power to pick up little old ladies and men who made a mistake.�

Attorney Barbara Olshansky of the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) offered, �The government showed its true colors today.�

She continued, �If under this definition of enemy combatant a Swiss granny who gave money to charity can be detained indefinitely at Guantanamo, then anyone who unintentionally acts in a way the government finds suspicious is in danger of losing their freedom.�

November 30, 2004

NYT: Red Cross Memo Cites Psychological & Physical Coercion at Guantanamo

Acknowledging it has obtained a detailed memorandum of a confidential report, The New York Times claims that the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has accused the U.S. military of employing psychological and sometimes physical coercion �tantamount to torture� on detainees at Guantanamo.

An inspection team of ICRC delegates visited the prison in June and issued a report of its findings to the administration in July. Upon its receipt, the article explains, government and military officials summarily rejected its findings.

As per the recently obtained memo, The Times says ICRC investigators found a system devised to break the will of prisoners through �humiliating acts, solitary confinement, temperature extremes, use of forced positions.�

Responding to the article, the Pentagon reiterated its position that �The United States operates a safe, humane and professional detention operation at Guantanamo that is providing valuable information in the war on terrorism.�

Of the ICRC�s longstanding contention that indefinite detention of terror suspects at Guantanamo is analogous to torture, Lawrence Di Rita, spokesman for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld continued to reject such claims. �It�s their point of view,� he offered, one that is not shared by the Bush administration. He submitted that the administration believes it has the legal right to detain terror suspects until the end of the �War on Terror� because they are �unlawful combatants� and as such, are not subject to the protections conferred by the Geneva conventions.

Di Rita said he could not comment on specific Red Cross reports because they are provided to the U.S. government on condition they are kept confidential.

In a press release posted to its website, the ICRC maintains that in accordance with its policy the organization will not publicly confirm or deny the findings reported by The Times. Nevertheless, the Geneva-based group has always maintained that those detainees picked up in the �War on Terror� and detained at Guantanamo �should either be charged and tried, released, or be placed within a legal framework that governs their continued detention.�

The ICRC is the only independent monitor permitted to visit the U.S. detention facility in Cuba. Since early 2002, delegates have made regular visits to the base, monitoring detainees to ensure they are treated in accordance with applicable international humanitarian laws and standards.

For many of the detainees at Guantanamo, visits by ICRC delegates constitute their only contact with the outside world. Currently, in excess of 500 detainees from approximately 40 countries are being held at the U.S. naval base in Cuba. Identified as �enemy combatants,� most have been held without charge � or access to their attorneys - for over three years. Just recently have detainees been granted individual hearings in an attempt to formally decide their status.

Only four have since been charged.

November 13, 2004

White House Appeals Ruling on Hamdan Case

In a 2-page notice filed by the Justice Department, the White House presented its intention to appeal U.S. District Judge James Robertson�s November 8th ruling, which deemed unlawful the military tribunal trial of a Guantanamo detainee alleged to be an al Qaeda terrorist. No hearing date has been set, the Associated Press reports.

The case of 34 year-old Yemeni Salim Ahmed Hamdan - who was scheduled to be tried as a war criminal by the newly constituted Military Commissions at Guantanamo - was declared by Judge Robertson to be unlawful, and ordered not to continue until special hearings are held to determine whether the detainee should be afforded prisoner of war (P.O.W.) protection under the Geneva Conventions.

While Monday�s ruling contends the Bush Administration exceeded its constitutional authority and contravened the Geneva Conventions, the White House maintains its legal position that suspected al Qaeda and Taliban members picked up during the �War on Terror� were not acting on behalf of a legitimate government and as such, are not protected by the Geneva Conventions.

In Judge Robertson's Memorandum Opinion the former Navy officer cited "procedural problems with the Commission's rules," and ruled the Combatant Status Review Tribunals - comprised of a panel of military officers - were not equipped to decide whether detainees should be held or released. The ruling underscores how the legal position maintained by the Bush Administration is unprecedented, submitting

"The Government has asserted a position starkly different from the positions and behavior of the United States in previous conflicts, one that can only weaken the United States' own ability to demand application of the Geneva Conventions to Americans captured during armed conflicts abroad."

As The New York Times reports, departing Attorney General John Ashcroft decried Judge Robertson�s ruling.

�These encroachments include some of the most fundamental aspects of the president's conduct of the war on terrorism.�

Ashcroft continued, �The danger I see here is that intrusive judicial oversight and second-guessing of presidential determinations in these critical areas can put at risk the very security of our nation in a time of war.�

November 09, 2004

U.S. Judge Halts Guantanamo Tribunal, Ruled Unlawful

Five months after the Supreme Court ruled that foreign �enemy combatants� held at Guantanamo may challenge their detentions in civilian courts - rejecting the Bush administration�s contention that the military possessed sole authority over their legal fate - the pre-trial motion hearing for a terror suspect has been halted indefinitely by a federal judge, declaring invalid the military commission proceedings convened at Guantanamo to try suspected al Qaeda and Taliban fighters captured during the U.S.-led �War on Terror.�

As The New York Times reports, Judge James Robertson of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia issued the landmark decision yesterday. In Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, 04-CV-1519, the judge ruled President Bush �had both overstepped his constitutional bounds and improperly brushed aside the Geneva Conventions in establishing military commissions to try detainees at the United States naval base here as war criminals.�

According to the 45-page memorandum opinion, the judge ruled that the Bush administration contravened Geneva Convention guidelines, ignoring a basic provision which requires the U.S. to treat Osama bin Laden�s former driver and alleged terrorist Salim Ahmed Hamdan, as a prisoner of war (P.O.W.), unless he appears before a special tribunal described in Article 5 of the Third Geneva Convention that determines he is not.

At the end of the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan, the U.S. military did not conduct Article 5 tribunals, deeming them unnecessary. Government lawyers contended the president had already used his authority to label members of al Qaeda �unlawful combatants� who would be deprived of P.O.W. status and as such, would be out of reach of Geneva Conventions.

Picked up in Afghanistan in 2001 and detained ever since, Hamdan - a 34 year-old Yemeni - is one of approximately 63 Guantanamo detainees on whose behalf lawsuits have been filed in federal court, challenging their detentions. The lawsuits consist of habeas corpus petitions demanding that the government provide some explanation as to why they are imprisoned.

According to The Washington Post, yesterday�s ruling suggests detainees are to be viewed as P.O.W.s and should thus be entitled to the protections of international law, as well as be allowed a hearing on whether they qualify for those protections. Those arrested in or around Afghanistan in 2001, according to the ruling, must be treated as P.O.W.s should there exist any doubt as to their status.

The federal judge�s ruling coincided with � and abruptly halted - yesterday�s proceeding at Guantanamo. When presiding officer Col. Peter S. Brownback III received a note from a Marine sergeant, he immediately called a recess and rushed from the room. Upon his return he announced that the proceeding was in recess indefinitely.

Georgetown law professor and Hamden�s lead attorney Neal K. Katyal � who earlier this year in Slate characterized the ad hoc tribunals at Guantanamo as a �rush to create the fig leaf of justice� - told the confused courtroom audience �We won.�

The ruling is a major setback for the Bush Administration, which as the Boston Globe reports, vows to seek an emergency stay and a quick appeal. �By conferring protected legal status under the Geneva Conventions on members of Al Qaeda, the judge has put terrorism on the same legal footing as legitimate methods of waging war,� said Justice Department spokesman Mark Corallo.

�The process struck down by the district court today was carefully crafted to protect America from terrorists while affording those charged with violations of the laws of war with fair process, and the department will make every effort to have this process restored through appeal.�

�By conferring protected legal status under the Geneva Conventions on members of Al Qaeda, the judge has put terrorism on the same legal footing as legitimate methods of waging war,� he said.

In contrast, Monday�s ruling comes as a victory to those human and military rights advocates who have long assailed the arbitrary proceedings as a moral and legal outrage, and who have dismissed the commissions - perceived as unconstitutional and inconsistent with military law - as �fatally flawed.�

In a statement posted to its website, ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero expressed, �Today�s decision sends a clear message that the fight against terrorism does not give the government license to disregard domestic and international law.�

�As we have said all along, our own soldiers will have to suffer the consequences if the United States denies prisoner-of-war protection under the Geneva Conventions. We are gratified that the court has recognized this important legal and moral principle.�

November 05, 2004

New Pentagon Report Details Abuses at Guantanamo

In an 800-word response to a query made two months ago by The Associated Press, the Department of Defense released details of eight confirmed acts of prisoner abuse - previously cited in the Schlesinger Commission Report - that took place at Guantanamo. As The Associated Press and Knight Ridder report, it is the most detailed accounting of prisoner abuses at Guantanamo to date.

Without releasing the names of those responsible - who have since received reductions in rank, reprimands, or additional training - the behavior revealed reportedly ranges from �the petty to the bizarre.� While in stark contrast to the severity of abuse confirmed at Abu Ghraib, the acts detailed nevertheless reflect an abuse of power by the guards in charge.

Among those acts detailed:

�A female interrogator exposed her T-shirt to a detainee, ran her fingers through his hair and climbed on his lap in April 2003. A supervisor monitoring the session terminated it, and the woman was reprimanded and sent for more training;

� A prison barber gave two inmates "unusual haircuts," described as reverse Mohawks, in February, in an apparent attempt to humiliate them. The barber and his company were reprimanded;

� An interrogator in April 2003 told military police to repeatedly bring a detainee from a standing to kneeling position, so much that his knees were bruised. The interrogator received a written reprimand;

� In reprisal for a prisoner throwing toilet water at his guard, the guard "attempted to spray the detainee with a hose" in September 2002. The guard was reduced in rank and reassigned;

� A guard punched a prisoner while holding a walkie-talkie in his fist after the prisoner was subdued in a struggle for biting his guard in April 2003. The guard was demoted;

� An interrogator stained a prisoner's shirt with a red magic marker and told him it was blood in early 2003. The interrogator received a verbal reprimand;

� A guard squirted water from a bottle on a prisoner in February, engaging in "inappropriate casual conversation�; and

� A guard used pepper spray on a prisoner who was poised to throw unidentified liquid on an officer in March 2003. The guard was acquitted by a court-martial.

Brigadier General Jay Hood - commander of the taskforce that runs Guantanamo - says lessons have been learned from past abuses cases and detainees are being treated humanely.

�They�ve not been mistreated, they�ve not been tortured in any respect,� he said.

November 04, 2004

U.S. Soldier - Dressed as Detainee - Beaten at Guantanamo

Wednesday�s broadcast of CBS� 60 Minutes featured former Kentucky national guardsman Specialist Sean Baker, 37, who while dressed as a detainee during a military training exercise at Guantanamo, was brutally beaten.

The attack occurred while Baker - unbeknownst to his fellow soldiers/assailants - participated in a drill to practice extracting uncooperative prisoners. According to CBS, while such drills were routine - with a U.S. soldier assuming the role of a detainee - they generally did not wear the orange jumpsuit, nor were extractions carried out at full force.

Chronicling the attack that occurred on January 24, 2003, Baker told 60 Minutes correspondent Bob Simon how upon volunteering for the exercise, he was instructed to wear an orange jumpsuit similar to those worn by foreign detainees. Acting as a prisoner, he was told to crawl beneath a bunk on a steel floor in a dark cell, and wait.

An �extraction team� consisting of four soldiers were assigned to remove what was presumed to be a resistant terrorist from his cell. As none of the four soldiers were informed the situation was a drill, Baker was given the code word �red� as a distress signal, and his safety was assured by his superior.

�I�d never questioned an order before. But, at first I said, my only remark was, �Sir?� Just in the form of a question. And he said, �You�ll be fine,�� Baker told Simon. �I said, �Well, you know what�s gonna happen when they come in there on me?� And he said, �Trust me, Spc. Baker. You will be fine.��

As Baker recalled, �My face was down. And of course, they�re pushing it down against the steel floor, you know, my right temple, pushing it down against the floor�And someone�s holding me by the throat, using a pressure point on me and holding my throat. And I used the word, �red.� At that point I, you know, I became afraid.�

Despite giving the code word, Baker said he was badly beaten.

�And when I said the word �Red,� he forced my head down against the steel floor and was sort of just grinding it into the floor. The individual then, when I picked up my head and said, �Red,� slammed my head down against the floor.�

�I was so afraid, I groaned out, �I�m a U.S. soldier.� And when I said that, he slammed my head again, one more time against the floor. And I groaned out one more time, I said, �I�m a U.S. soldier.� And I heard them say, �Whoa, whoa, whoa,� you know, like he wanted to, he was telling the other guy to stop.�

When the incident was over, a bloodied and disoriented Baker returned to his unit. Aware that the drill was videotaped, he sent his squad leader to locate the tape.

�That was the only time that I heard that a tape had gone missing,� said Baker�s platoon sergeant, Michael Riley.

According to an affidavit given by Baker in June, he was told the camera malfunctioned.

That morning, Baker began having seizures, and was sent to the hospital at Guantanamo.

�[He looked like] he�d had the crap beat out of him. He had a concussion. I mean, it was textbook," says Riley. "[His face] was blank. You know, a dead stare, like he was seeing you, but really looking through you,� said Riley.

Baker was later airlifted to a Medical Center in Virginia, where doctors determined he had suffered an injury to the right side of his brain. Released after four days, he requested a return to Cuba.

Back at Guantanamo, Baker was no longer able to conceal his seizures. He was sent to the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, put in a psychiatric ward, and diagnosed with traumatic brain injury.

When asked what he thought would have happened if he had been a real detainee, Baker responded �I think they would have busted him up�I've seen detainees come outta there with blood on 'em. �If there wasn't someone to say, 'I'm a U.S. soldier,' if you were speaking Arabic or Pashto or Urdu or some other language in the camp, we may never know what would have happened to that individual."

The four soldiers involved in the incident said in sworn statements to Army investigators that they thought they were engaged with an actual detainee, according to CBS.

Baker was medically discharged from the military earlier this year.

While the criminal investigation into the incident continues, CBS said the Army declined to comment on the incident.

In a statement, the Army said training procedures have changed and no U.S. soldiers have been injured since Baker.

November 03, 2004

3rd US Soldier Pleads Guilty in Abu Ghraib Abuse Scandal

At a summary court-martial in Iraq to reduced charges of dereliction of duty for failing to prevent or report the maltreatment, Army Specialist Megan Ambuhl, 30, pleaded guilty to one count of dereliction of duty in connection with the Abu Ghraib Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal, Reuters reports. The deal with prosecutors spared the reservist prison time.

As The New York Times reports, Ambuhl maintained she was primarily �a bystander,� and that the notorious prisoner abuses were carried out by other military guards in her unit.

Ambuhl - who is not pictured in the disturbing photos that alerted the world to the prisoner abuses at the U.S. run detention facility in Iraq - is one of two females charged in the abuses, and the third of seven Army reservists from the Maryland-based 372nd Military Police Company to plead guilty to prisoner abuse charges. Two other soldiers from Ambuhl�s reserve unit - Staff Sgt. Ivan Frederick and Spec. Jeremy Sivits - previously plead guilty. Frederick was sentenced to eight years in prison after he pleaded guilty to five charges that included assault, committing an indecent act and dereliction of duty. Sivits was sentenced to a year in prison after pleading guilty to maltreating a detainee, conspiracy to maltreat and dereliction of duty.

As The Times reports, Ambuhl was convicted of having �willfully failed to protect Iraqi detainees from abuse, cruelty and maltreatment,� for which she received a reduction in rank to private, and was ordered to forfeit half a month�s pay. Under an agreement with prosecutors, initial charges of conspiracy, maltreatment of detainees and indecent acts were dropped. Ambuhl had faced up to 7-1/2 years in prison if convicted.

Hicks: GITMO Ordeal Pushing Him to �Brink of Madness�

In a letter sent to his family and released to Reuters, Australian terrorist suspect David Hicks expresses that as a result of his isolation and treatment, he is �on the brink of madness.�

Following widespread reports of prisoner abuses at U.S. detention facilities at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo - and earlier conversations with his father that he was in fact, mistreated by both Northern Alliance and U.S. soldiers � Hicks reveals �I feel as though I�m teetering on the edge of losing my sanity after such a long ordeal, the last year of it being in isolation.�

�I�ve reached the point where I�m highly confused and lost, overwhelmed if you like. I suffer extreme mood swings every half hour, going from one extreme to another,� he writes.

�The decisions I�m making, which are no doubt important, are often done without thought or sometimes care. All decisions are made in chains, including being chained to the floor.�

�Pressure, stress and bewilderment is a result of having a day or two visit after weeks of isolation.�

While Hicks has been detained as an �unlawful combatant� for almost 3 years, he was only formally charged this past August. His father Terry Hicks said he witnessed his son�s deteriorating mental state when he visited him in August, when he first appeared before the U.S. tribunal.

�You could tell talking to him that he had lost that light in his eyes, that sparkle was definitely gone, and he was getting quiet distressed telling us about his mental side and the physical treatment,� Terry Hicks said.

While he acknowledged his son looked physically fit, his mental state was nevertheless so fragile that he was concerned he might have said things in interrogations that could be used against him.

The elder Hicks averred, �He is telling them what they want to hear.�

Hicks� father said he was surprised to receive the uncensored letter - dated August yet received only three weeks ago - because previous correspondence from his son had been censored by U.S. forces.

November 01, 2004

Military Commissions to Begin Today at Guantanamo

For the first time since the end of World War II, when they were used to try and execute Nazi saboteurs, military trials are scheduled to begin today for two al Qaeda suspects at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba.

The first defendant is 29 year-old Australian David Hicks, a former cowboy and Muslim convert who fought alongside Islamic groups in Europe and Asia. Hicks is accused of conspiring with al Qaeda to attack civilians, attempting to murder American and coalition soldiers and aiding the enemy; he pleaded �not guilty� to all charges. The second defendant is 34 year-old Yemeni Salim Ahmed Hamdan, Osama bin Laden�s driver. Hamden is charged with conspiring with the terror network to attack civilians. Hamdan denies he was a member of al Qaeda, and that he was ever engaged in terrorist activities.

If convicted, each man faces up to life in prison.

The tribunals - called military commissions by the Pentagon - historically have been used to prosecute enemy combatants who violate the laws of war. Following the September 11th attacks President Bush reinstated the commissions, and in accordance with Military Order of November 13, 2001, foreign �enemy combatants� - defined by the Pentagon as individuals who were part of, or supported the Taliban or al Qaeda, or associated forces engaged in hostilities against the U.S. or its coalition partners. This includes any person who has committed a belligerent act or has directly supported hostilities in aid of enemy armed forces - picked up in the �War on Terror� and in the interest of protecting national security, are subject to the commissions.

Endowed with extraordinary prosecutorial privileges - including but not limited to the power to bring hearsay evidence and to shield from the men the identities of their accusers - the tribunal system has become the subject of controversy. Having faced a barrage of legal challenges, its critics claim the system ignores advances and boundaries of military and international law respectively.

Comprised of a three-member Review Panel of Military Officers, only one - the tribunal�s presiding officer Army Colonel Peter Brownback - has prior experience as an attorney and judge, and will review the case for errors of law. The three will hear defense counsel�s arguments, and respond as both judge and jury.

While legal counsel for Hicks and Hamdan are also military appointees, they nevertheless dispute allegations that their clients were members of al Qaeda. It is expected that they will move to dismiss charges their clients were involved in terrorist activities against Americans and coalition forces. Likewise, the lawyers have filed 50 or so motions challenging virtually all aspects of the commission framework, from whether the court itself is legitimate, to whether membership in al Qaeda constitutes a war crime, Knight-Ridder reports.

As the Washington Times reports, the tribunals will move the defendants - who have been in U.S. custody for almost three years - closer to the trial phase, despite a possibility that on the eve of the presidential elections the entire tribunal system may be dismantled if President Bush does not win re-election.

Senator John Edwards has been quoted saying that if Senator John Kerry is elected, his administration would do away with the tribunals. While Senator Kerry has yet to delineate his policy for dealing with �enemy combatants,� his running mate Edwards has said it would be based on the military court-martial system rather than special commissions.

Regardless of tomorrow�s outcome, commanders at Guantanamo say they are following the orders of their commander in chief. �Quite frankly, the commissions are going to proceed, detention and interrogations are going to proceed,� said Army Colonel David McWilliams, spokesman for the Miami-based Southern Command, which supervises the Guantanamo prison project.

�At the time that our leadership," quotes Knight-Ridder, "whether current or new, determines there needs to be a change in policy and direction, then we�ll make a change in policy and direction.�

October 31, 2004

British PM�s Wife Criticizes Bush�s Detainee Policy

The Associated Press reports during a closed-door address to students at Harvard University, wife of British Prime Minister Tony Blair tacitly criticized President Bush�s policy for holding terror suspects without judicial review. An internationally renowned human rights attorney in her own right, Cherie Booth lauded the Supreme Court decision which ruled in June that foreign detainees picked up during the �War on Terror� have the right to access the American legal system to challenge their imprisonment.

Booth deemed the landmark decision - which was opposed by President Bush - �profoundly important,� and a �significant victory for human rights and the international rule of law.�

While the comments were made just days before the U.S. elections, officials from 10 Downing Street said Booth�s remarks were not meant to be political. Booth has been in the United States on a lecture tour, and spoke in her capacity as an attorney, rather than as the prime minister�s wife.

October 28, 2004

Rights Group: Torture Conditions Persist, Independent Probe Needed to End Abuses

Six months after the world was alerted to the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, Amnesty International contends conditions for torture persist in U.S. policy for overseas detentions. On Wednesday, the human rights organization renewed its plea for a comprehensive, independent investigation into �all aspects of the USA�s �war on terror� detentions,� urging an end to the torture of detainees in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

In a 200-page report entitled Human Dignity Denied. Torture and Accountability in the �War on Terror,' Amnesty International called for "an independent commission of inquiry into all the (U.S.) interrogation and detention policies.�

�Many questions remain unanswered, responsible individuals are beyond the scope of investigation, policies that facilitate torture remain in place, and prisoners continue to be held in secret detention,� said Dr. William F. Schulz, Executive Director of Amnesty International USA. �The failure to substantially change policy and practice after the scandal of Abu Ghraib leaves the US government completely lacking in credibility when it asserts its opposition to torture.�

The report delineates patterns of human rights violations that took place in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo Bay. A 12-Point Program forms the basis of the report, reflecting Amnesty International�s key findings on how best to prevent torture. Corresponding with each of the 12 Points, the report illustrates how the U.S. failed to meet basic human rights safeguards under the pretext of ensuring national security, ostensibly contributing to an environment conducive to torture and inhuman or degrading treatment. The report cites in excess of 65 specific recommendations, among which is a plea for President Bush �to make public and revoke any measures or directives that have been authorized by him or any other official that could be interpreted as authorizing 'disappearances,' torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, or extrajudicial executions.�

A week before the presidential elections, UPI reports, Amnesty International criticized the candidates for sidestepping the issue during the campaign, urging them to commit to ending such treatment of detainees.

�In their presidential debates, President Bush and Senator Kerry failed to address the U.S.A.�s treatment of detainees in Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantanamo and in secret locations elsewhere...Each candidate should now promise that, if elected, he will take prompt action to address this issue head on.�

October 25, 2004

Senators McCain and Biden Voice Concern Over Alleged Prisoner Transfer

Responding to an article in Sunday's Washington Post citing a Justice Department opinion memo authorizing the CIA to remove Iraqis from their country for interrogation for a "brief but not indefinite period," leading senators expressed concern that the CIA secretly transferred as many as a dozen unidentified detainees out of unidentified locations in Iraq during the last six months, possibly violating international treaties, the Associated Press reports.

During a Sunday morning interview on ABC�s "This Week", Senator John McCain (R-Ariz) said that while interrogations can help extract crucial information from detainees on plans for future attacks against Americans, international law - including the Geneva Conventions - must nevertheless be followed.

"These conventions and these rules are in place for a reason because you get on a slippery slope and you don�t know where to get off�The thing that separates us from the enemy is our respect for human rights."

The CIA has come under fire for having as many as 100 "ghost detainees" - prisoners held without being registered with the International Committee of the Red Cross and whose whereabouts were not officially known in Iraq.

The report detailing how the CIA invoked a confidential memo to secretly transfer detainees out of Iraq was "another argument" for revamping the intelligence agency, averred Senator Joseph Biden (D-Del), senior Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who called for new leadership at the Justice Department.

Currently, Congress is considering legislation that would overhaul 15 agencies within the U.S. intelligence community and create a new powerful national intelligence director post.

October 23, 2004

Soldier Sentenced for Abu Ghraib Abuse

Army New Service reports Army reservist Staff Sgt. Ivan L. Frederick II, 38, was sentenced to eight years in prison after pleading guilty on eight specifications involving mistreatment of detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison facility in Iraq. Frederick�s sentence is the harshest to be handed down thus far in the Abu Ghraib abuse hearings.

Frederick - a member of the 372nd Military Police Company, who as a civilian also worked as a corrections officer - will also receive a dishonorable discharge and a reduction in rank to private. Six other military policemen have been charged along with Frederick, the most senior of those charged.

As the New York Times reports, Frederick pleaded guilty to eight counts of abusing detainees, describing in graphic detail how he had forced prisoners to masturbate, punched a hooded prisoner, and attached wires to another standing on a box who was made to believe he would be electrocuted if he fell off.

Frederick was found guilty of conspiracy to maltreat detainees, dereliction of duty for failure to protect detainees from maltreatment, assaulting a detainee and committing an indecent act.

As quoted by Army New Service, Frederick said he received little guidance from his brigade and battalion commanders, offering "I didn't think anybody cared about what we did."

"I just didn't have the courage to stop it�I knew what was going on was wrong. I knew my duty was to report it, but I chose not to."

September 23, 2004

American-born "Enemy Combatant" to Return to Saudi Arabia

An American-born Saudi detainee will soon be returned to Saudi Arabia, The New York Times reports. Yaser Esam Hamdi, 23, was picked up by U.S. forces on the battlefield in Afghanistan alongside surrendering Taliban in 2001, held for three months at Guantanamo then subsequently moved to military facilities in Virginia and South Carolina upon discovery by U.S. officials that he was a U.S. citizen.

For over two years Hamdi - designated an "enemy combatant" - had neither access to lawyers nor the right to stand trial. No criminal charges were ever brought against him.

In June, the Supreme Court ruled U.S. citizens held in America as "enemy combatants" have the right to legal counsel and the right to challenge their designation as well as their indefinite detention through the U.S. courts.

As agreed upon by Hamdi, his attorneys and the U.S. Justice Department, the conditions of the pending release stipulate Hamdi denounce his U.S. citizenship, and not return to the United States. Moreover, Hamdi is restricted from traveling to Afghanistan, Iraq, Israel, Pakistan, Syria, the West Bank and Gaza, and is obliged to notify Saudi officials if he ever plans to leave the country.

As reported by The Times, Justice Department spokesman Mark Corallo said the restrictions are meant to ensure Hamdi cannot again take up arms against the U.S. or its allies. Corallo said Hamdi no longer posed a threat to the U.S. and no longer possessed intelligence value.

"As we have repeatedly stated, the United States has no interest in detaining enemy combatants beyond the point that they pose a threat to the U.S. and our allies," Corallo said.

Saudi officials say Hamdi faces no charges there.

Upon Hamdi�s imminent release, only one other U.S. citizen distinguished as an "enemy combatant" - Chicago-born "dirty bomb" suspect Jose Padilla - will remain detained.

September 22, 2004

11 Afghan Detainees Released from Guantanamo

The Pentagon announced today 11 Afghan detainees held on suspicion of Taliban links have been released from Guantanamo, increasing the number of detainees who have left the Naval detention facility to 202.

�The men were escorted back to Afghanistan by a senior security official and are free to return to their homes,� The Associated Press reports.

With the first post-Taliban elections scheduled for October 9th, the latest detainee release appears politically motivated, as The Guardian reports, U.S. Army spokesman Major Scott Nelson said the detainees were released �per the request of the government of Afghanistan.�

While Hamid Karzai is favored to win in the polls, Taliban and Islamic militants have vowed to disrupt the U.N.-backed elections. As such, the interim president has made a concerted effort to appeal to former Taliban for their support of Afghanistan's reconstruction. Upon his decision last week to release senior Taliban member Mullah Mawlavi Qalamuddin from a Kabul prison, Reuters reported several hundred religious and tribal figures voiced their support for Karzai's U.S.-backed government. In recent weeks Karzai has likewise pressed hard for the release of Afghan nationals from Guanatanmo - and as The New York Times suggests - with the landmark elections approaching, the latest Guantanamo transfer could temper ethnic tensions and curb provinical violence in Afghanistan.

Of the latest release from Guantanamo Karzai's office offered, "The prisoners have shown their strong support for the peace-building and reconstruction process of the country and have intended to take active part in it."

Approximately 539 detainees remain at Guantanamo.

September 20, 2004

35 Pakistani Detainees Released from Guantanamo

As Voice of America reports, the U.S. has released 35 Pakistani nationals from the detention facility at Guantanamo. Of the 35, 29 were transferred to the control of Pakistan for continued detention, and 6 were repatriated to Pakistan for release. Pakistani officials estimate five nationals are still being held in the U.S. prison in Cuba.

Neither the names nor the identities of those released have been confirmed.

The announcement came a day before Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf left for the United States to address the U.N. General Assembly session. Pakistan has been a key ally of the United States in the global �war on terror.�

In a release posted to its website the Pentagon says the latest transfer includes the one detainee approved for release by DoD, and subsequently found to not be an enemy combatant by the Combatant Status Review Tribunal.

As of the latest release, the number of detainees who have departed Guantanamo is 191. There are now approximately 550 detainees remaining at Guantanamo.

September 15, 2004

275 Detainees Released from Abu Ghraib

Following a review by a joint Iraqi/U.S. military commission,The Army Times has announced 275 detainees were released Wednesday from the U.S.-run Abu Ghraib detention facility in Iraq.

As American Forces Press Service explains, the newly formed nine-member Combined Review and Release Board (CRRB) was established to determine if detainees continue to pose a security threat. Comprised of six Iraqi officials from the interim government�s ministries of justice, interior and human rights, and three senior officers from the U.S.-led multinational division, the CRRB considers several factors when reviewing each detainee's file, such as the circumstances surrounding their capture, the length of detention prior to review, the level of cooperation by the detainee and the detainee's potential for further acts of anti-Iraqi misconduct if released.

Quoting military spokesman Lt. Col. Barry Johnson, the San Francisco Chronicle reports that as a result of the review process �as many as 500 additional prisoners will be released by the end of the month.�

�Many more have been selected for release but are awaiting the guarantors from their local community,� the spokesman said.

Since the prisoner abuse scandal broke this past Spring, over 5,000 prisoners have been released from the facility.

September 13, 2004

Latest Hersh Book Alleges Administration Knew of Detainee Abuses

The New York Times reports that in his latest book "Chain of Command: The Road From 9/11 to Abu Ghraib" (HarperCollins), author and investigative journalist Seymour Hersh asserts that senior White House officials failed to heed repeated warnings of detainee abuse at U.S.-run detention facilities in Iraq and Cuba.

Specifically, Hersh writes that a C.I.A. analyst who visited Guantanamo in 2002 filed a report documenting abuses, drawing the attention of a deputy to National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice. In a Chapter Excerpt posted to the publisher�s website, Hersh explains that upon receipt of the "devastating findings" Dr. Rice�s deputy, retired four-star General John A. Gordon

"�was deeply troubled and distressed by the analyst's report, and by its implications for the treatment, in retaliation, of captured American soldiers. Gordon, according to a former Administration official, told colleagues that he thought "it was totally out of character with the American value system," and "that if the actions at Guant�namo ever became public, it'd be damaging to the President." The issue was not only direct torture, but the Administration's obligations under federal law and under the United Nations Convention Against Torture, ratified by the United States in 1994, that barred torture as well as other "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment." The C.I.A. analyst's report, in Gordon's view, provided clear evidence of degrading treatment. Things in Cuba were getting out of control."

Yet as The Times article reports, Hersh�s book contends that once the matter was brought to the National Security Advisor's attention, and it was discussed with Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, �no significant change resulted.�

In an interview with CNN�s Wolf Blitzer, Dr. Rice denied Hersh�s allegations, averring

�In the fall of 2002, we were made aware that there were some concerns that people might have been held at Guantanamo who didn�t meet the definition of unlawful combatant. There were also early on some concerns about conditions of overcrowding. But nothing that suggested, to my recollection, that there were abuses, anything -- abuses going on at Guantanamo, and certainly nothing that would suggest the kind of thing that went on in Abu Ghraib. What we did when we learned that there might be people who were being held there who didn�t meet the standard is that we went back, we looked at the cases, we put together a process to try and make sure that the right people were being held. So we have worked hard on Guantanamo to improve conditions there, to make sure that the right people are being held. But no, I do not recall being told of anything concerning prisoner abuse.�

Hersh - who won a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting of Vietnam�s My Lai massacre - authored a series of exposes for The New Yorker including �Torture at Abu Ghraib� , "Chain of Command" and �The Gray Zone,� describing in vivid detail the abuse of Iraqi detainees by U.S. Military Police at Abu Ghraib. He accuses the Pentagon of implementing a �secret system� to seize and interrogate terrorist leaders. Such furtive system of detention and interrogation Hersh claims, paved the way for prisoner abuses.

In anticipation of Hersh's latest book - released today - the Defense Department issued a statement decrying the �numerous unsubstantiated allegations and inaccuracies which he has made in the past based upon unnamed sources.� The Pentagon then added �If any of Mr. Hersh�s anonymous sources wish to come forward and offer evidence to the contrary, the department welcomes them to do so.�

September 11, 2004

2nd U.S. Soldier Convicted in Abu Ghraib Abuse Scandal

Reuters reports the first military intelligence soldier to stand trial for participation in the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal pleaded guilty to charges of maltreatment and conspiracy to maltreat detainees. He was sentenced to eight months in jail, demoted, and given a dishonorable discharge.

U.S. Army specialist Armin Cruz, 24, of Plano, Texas was assigned to the 325th Military Intelligence battalion at the U.S.-run detention facility in Iraq. The prosecution alleged the intelligence analyst forced naked prisoners to crawl along the floor and then handcuffed the prisoners together.

In May, Army reservist Jeremy C. Sivits plead guilty to four counts of abuse. He was sentenced to a year in prison, and also given a reduction in rank and dishonorable discharge.

As CNN reports, Cruz was named in the recently released Pentagon-led Fay-Jones Commission Report which concluded 2 dozen military personnel either requested, encouraged, condoned, solicited or participated in detainee abuse, or violated established interrogation procedures and applicable laws and regulations for interrogation operations. Additionally, Cruz was identified by a witness during a previous investigation as having taken part in the mistreatment of three prisoners.

Elsewhere CNN reports Cruz entered into a plea bargain, agreeing to testify for the prosecution against at least four or five others in exchange for immunity from his testimony.

Cruz�s attorney issued a statement saying his client was �extremely remorseful ... and he apologizes to the people of Iraq.�

Cruz is the eighth person to be indicted in the abuse scandal, which surfaced in April. Six other enlisted soldiers from the 372nd Military Police Company, an Army Reserve unit based in Cresaptown, Maryland face charges in the scandal, the AP reports.

September 10, 2004

1st. Suspect to Be Freed From GITMO - Tribunals Determine Detainee Poses No Threat

During a special Department of Defense Briefing, Navy Secretary Gordon England provided an update on the Combatant Status Review Tribunals (CSRT) currently underway at the U.S.-run military facility in Cuba.

As of Wednesday:
- 55 tribunals have been completed
- over 200 cases are currently open
- 30 of the 55 tribunal decisions have been reviewed by the convening authority, who concurred with the tribunal�s decisions that 29 of the 30 detainees were enemy combatants
- one detainee will no longer be classified as an enemy combatant

Whereas the tribunal determined the detainee �should not be classified any longer as an enemy combatant,� Secretary England said the suspect would therefore be returned to his home nation.

�I�ve notified the Department of State, and they are notifying that detainee�s home country," he announced. "We�ve also notified the detainee of that decision, and that detainee has been moved from the detainee camp to a transition facility at Gitmo until we complete the arrangements to transport him from Guantanamo to his home country. We will do that, obviously, as quickly as State Department can do that.�

Little detail was offered insofar as the suspect�s name, evidence held against him, or even his nationality, as Secretary England explained, �It�s really then up to the home country, working with our State Department, to release nationalities.� Pentagon officials say he was captured in Afghanistan in 2002 and later transferred to Guantanamo.

On the conditions the detainee is currently being held in during his transitional status, Secretary England offered, �I�m not sure I can describe it, but he�s no longer literally being held behind bars, so he obviously has more freedom now. And I�m not sure I know precisely -- I just know that he�s out of that environment, in a different environment on Guantanamo, waiting for State Department to make arrangements for him to return home.�

When asked if there was money, compensatory payment etc. that would be rewarded to the soon-to-be-released detainee, Secretary England reponded, "I wouldn't think so." When a follow-on question suggested the tribunal's findings were tantamount to an admission that a mistake was made - that the incarceration was ostensibly unjustifiable - he contended, "I'm not sure it's that clear cut. I mean, he was determined to be an enemy combatant at different times. We now have more data available, we have a different group of people--came to a different conclusion."

"Time has gone on. More data is available," he said. "That data may or may not have been available to prior people who reviewed this."

As The Washington Post reports, human rights groups decried the length of the detainees� incarceration.

�It should not take more than two years for the U.S. military to determine that we were holding someone who is apparently not an enemy combatant,� said ACLU executive director Anthony Romero. �While this announcement is welcome, hundreds of so-called enemy combatants still languish in legal limbo at Guantanamo Bay. The government's assertion that it is entitled to lock people up indefinitely without any access to the courts violates our most basic notions of fundamental fairness.�

At a previous briefing it was estimated that the tribunal process would be completed in four or five months. Secretary England averred that while it was in fact �going slower� than expected, that it was �much more complex� than anticipated, he nevertheless foresees the process being completed by year�s end.

August 31, 2004

UK Detainees Among the First at Guantanamo to Meet with Civilian Lawyers

Two months after the Supreme Court ruled detainees held at Guantanamo could challenge their detentions in U.S. court, the government has begun issuing clearances for civilian attorneys to travel to Cuba to meet with detainees to contest the legality of their capture and confinement.

For the first time during their two-year captivity Feroz Abbasi, 23, Moazzam Begg, 36, Richard Belmar, 23, and Martin Mubanga, 31 - the four remaining Britons detained at Guantanamo and held without charge or trial - will have access to legal counsel, Reuters reports.

Pentagon spokesman Major Michael Shavers said Gitanjali Gutierrez, Brent Mickum and Joseph Margulies were the first three civilian lawyers approved for travel to Guantanamo. Gutierrez met with Abbasi and Begg this past Sunday to begin preparation of habeas corpus petitions which she hoped could secure the Britons' eventual releases.

The Guardian reports that the Pentagon has imposed strict conditions on the civilian attorneys. Of those Gutierrez deems �unacceptable� are reading the notes made by the attorneys regarding their meetings with their clients, as well as monitoring correspondence between the attorneys and their clients.

One of the major challenges Gutierrez says she faces is conveying to her clients her commitment to their cases. �It's going to take a great deal of time to get their trust. They�ve been held in isolation for a year, and have only had contact with military interrogators and UK officials, some of whom have taken part in the interrogations.�

Moreover Gutierrez explains, she and other civilian attorneys are restricted from reporting the details of their visits to the detainees� families, nor are they allowed to convey messages from the families to the detainees. In an impassioned expression, Moazzam Begg�s father - who has tirelessly campaigned for his son�s release - said, �I won�t be able to ask anything about the visit by the lawyer or pass on any kind of message to my son. For almost three years he has not been able to speak to anyone and I�m worried about the effect it is having on him.�

Denied human contact, Begg has been held in isolation in a windowless room for up to a year. It has been reported that Begg and Abbasi have both suffered from mental health issues since their confinement.

The other two civilian attorneys - Brent Mickum and Joseph Margulies from the DC-based law firm Keller & Heckman - were scheduled to meet with Richard Belmar, 23, and Martin Mubanga, 29, but the meetings were postponed. As Reuters reports, the lawyers declined to make the trip to Guantanamo because of what they called �onerous last-minute conditions imposed by the Bush administration.�

As the BBC reports, while the arrival of lawyers at Guantanamo is perceived to be a breakthrough for legal and human rights campaigners, it remains unsatisfactory to some. In particular, President of the Center for Constitutional Rights Michael Ratner questions the governments ostensible �act of generosity,� offering, �We finally, after almost 1,000 days... are getting our first attorneys down to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba,� he said. �(But) everything she learns will be automatically, essentially, classified. She will be unable to say anything to anybody. She won't even be able to tell Mr. Begg the condition of his son.�

Five other Britons who spent up to two years at Guantanamo Bay were repatriated in March and were subsequently freed without charge.

August 29, 2004

Preliminary Hearings at Guantanamo: The Week in Review

Pre-trial hearings were held last week at Guantanamo for four men the Pentagon deems enemy combatants in the U.S.-led war on terror. An Australian, two Yemenis and a Sudanese have been held at the U.S. naval base since their capture by U.S. forces at the end of "Operation Enduring Freedom" in Afghanistan. Of the nearly 600 detainees held at Guantanamo, 15 have become eligible for trial by military commission for violations of the law of war.

The detainees appeared before a five member tribunal comprised of senior military officers; prosecution and defense attorneys present were also members of the U.S. armed forces. The hearings mark the beginning of what will be the first U.S. military tribunals since World War II.

The first prisoner formally charged with committing war crimes was 34 year-old Yemeni Salim Ahmed Hamdan, Osama bin Laden�s driver. Hamden denied the charge of conspiracy to commit violations of the law of war. His military-appointed attorney Navy Lieutenant Commander Charlie Swift questioned the suitability of four members of the panel judging him, contending they had personal connections with the 9/11 attacks and the subsequent "war on terror" and as such, would be prone to partiality. After conferring with his client Commander Swift requested a continuance. When the presiding judge Colonel Peter Brownback asked for a plea, the defendant exercised his right not to enter one at that time.

The next detainee to be arraigned was 29 year-old Australian David Hicks, a former cowboy and Muslim convert who fought alongside Islamic groups in Europe and Asia. Hicks was accused of conspiracy, attempted murder by an unprivileged belligerent, and aiding the enemy. Hicks plead "not guilty" to all charges. As did Hamdan�s attorney, Hicks� counsel Marine Major Michael Mori challenged the qualifications of the commissioners on the tribunal. Motions hearings are scheduled for November 2nd, and Hicks will be tried before a U.S. military commission on January 10th. If convicted, Hicks could be sentenced to life in prison.

The third commission hearing was the most chaotic of the four proceedings. 36 year-old Yemeni Ali Hamza Ahmed Sulayman al-Bahlul was an al Qaeda public relations man who made videotapes exalting the 2000 attack on the USS Cole in Yemen, and was charged with conspiracy to commit war crimes. Unlike Hamdan and Hicks, al-Bahlul did not accept military-appointed defense attorneys, and instead expressed a desire to represent himself, telling the tribunal, "If the American system will not allow me to defend myself, then I will be forced to attend and I will be a listener only." When his request was denied, he then asked to have a Yemeni attorney defend him. Al-Bahlul�s follow-on request was also denied. As explained in a Department of Defense Press Release, as per Military Commission Order Number One, neither detainees � nor foreign legal counsel � are permitted to attend sessions where classified information is discussed.

Nevertheless, Army Colonel Robert Swann, the tribunal's chief prosecutor, later commented that the Pentagon may reconsider allowing a defendant to act as his own attorney.

Through his translator the defendant confessed to being a member of al Qaeda, offering, "I testify that ... nobody has put me under pressure�I am from al-Qaeda, and the relationship between me and Sept. 11..." reports USA Today. Out of concern that al-Bahlul�s statement - which was not made under oath - would be inadmissible as evidence, Colonel Brownback ordered him to stop mid-sentence, concerned tribunal rules do not allow for the use of a defendant's self-incriminating statements. Colonel Brownback said al-Bahlul could appeal to change the procedure. The hearing was then adjourned, without setting a date for continuance.

The last of the four detainees to face pre-trial hearings was Ibrahim Ahmed Mahmoud al-Qosi, a 44 year-old Sudanese accountant and bodyguard for Osama bin Laden accused of conspiracy to commit terrorism and murder. His defense counsel Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Sharon Shaffer said that because of a proposed job change, she was ill-prepared to defend her client. As such, al-Qosi�s trial date is tentatively scheduled for early December.

As Voice of America reports, after the hearing Lieutenant Colonel Shaffer told reporters the Pentagon denied her the resources needed to mount an effective defense, including access to witnesses, as she expressed, "It's a shame because, with something that's happening that has not happened in over 50 years, this is a historical moment, and it�s important that all of the offices are completely staffed with what they need."

Challenges presented during the initial hearings did little to enhance the image of a widely controversial tribunal process. In addition to panel bias, the failure to provide proper oversight, and the lack of resources made available to defense attorneys and officers, the competency of Arabic-English translators - indispensable to three of the four defendants - also became a point of contention. The government�s translator for Ali Hamza Ahmed Sulayman al-Bahlul was unable to keep pace with the defendant, and was several times corrected. Similarily, while speaking on behalf of her client Ibrahim Ahmed Mahmoud al-Qosi, Lieutenant Colonel Shaffer remarked, "He was very, very, very disappointed in the interpretation. About half of the time, he indicated that the translation was broken up, and he wasn't getting the full picture of what was taking place."

Human Rights Watch maintains that such inaccuracies raise the likelihood that defendants could be convicted based on inaccurate testimony.

Upon conclusion of the trials, Colonel Swann indicated nine more cases were being developed, CNN reports. At least one of the new cases could be announced within "a couple of weeks," and he added that when the new group of nine becomes public, "the American people will recognize the names of the individuals."

August 24, 2004

Schlesinger Commission Report: Pentagon�s Military and Civilian Leadership Share Responsibility for Abu Ghraib Abuses

While a high-level investigation into the abuse scandal at Abu Ghraib concludes there was no official policy of abuse at the U.S.-run detention facility outside of Baghdad, it did nevertheless find U.S. soldiers who administered the prison directly responsible for detainee abuses. Likewise, the investigation finds fault up the Defense Department�s chain of command, concluding failure to provide sufficient oversight over detention policy contributed to the conditions in which the abuses occurred.

Chartered by the Secretary of Defense back in May - one month after the abuse scandal broke - the independent commission was established to provide objective findings and recommendations regarding the allegations and investigations of abuse at DoD detention facilities. The commission was chaired by Dr. James Schlesinger, former Secretary of Defense for Presidents Nixon and Ford, and former Secretary for Energy for President Carter. Dr. Schlesinger delivered the commission's finding this afternoon at a Press Conference with Members of the Independent Panel to Review Department of Defense Detention Operations.

Key excerpts are as follows:

With regard to the ratio of military police to the number of inmates, which ranged as high as 8,000, Dr. Schlesinger explained, �At Guantanamo, which is something of a model, the ratio of military police to detainees was one to one. At Abu Ghraib, the ratio of military police was one to 75. They were under-trained for detention operations and they had arrived with -- not in units, but with their equipment missing.�

With regard to the notorious photos that alerted the world to the mistreatment of detainees, Dr. Schlesinger declared the abuses depicted �did not come from authorized interrogation. They did not come from seeking intelligence. They were freelance activities on the part of the night shift at Abu Ghraib.�

With regard to allegations that there existed a �policy� of abuse Dr. Schlesinger submitted, �quite the contrary,� offering �Senior officials repeatedly said that in Iraq, Geneva regulations would apply. In Afghanistan and Guantanamo, it was quite different, but even there it was said, following the president's directive, that all activity should be consistent with the Geneva Accord.�

With regard to whether or not the abuse was carried out by �just a few individuals� - the official position of the Bush administration - Dr. Schlesinger countered, �there are now some 300 cases, more or less, of abuses being investigated, many of them beyond Abu Ghraib. So the abuses were not limited to a few individuals.� At Abu Ghraib, he continued, �this was not just a few individuals. They were unique in the sense that there was sadism on the night shift at Abu Ghraib, sadism that was certainly not authorized.�

The commission's chairman then characterized the facility as �a kind of animal house on the night shift. That is reflected in the fact that there was no such activities during the day shift when there were different noncoms in charge.�

It was expected that senior military brass, including Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld would be implicated either implicitly or explicitly in the abuses. While the report did not find Rumsfeld directly ordered the abuses, ABC News reports an unnamed official said it implicitly faults Rumsfeld, as well as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Richard Myers, by finding that those responsible for the military prison system in Iraq were operating under confusing policies on allowable interrogation techniques.

Another investigation into the abuses - conducted by the U.S. Army and headed by Major General George Fay - is forthcoming, and is expected to fault Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, at the time the top U.S. commander in Iraq, for leadership failures for not addressing problems at Abu Ghraib.

August 23, 2004

War Crime Hearings to Begin at Guantanamo

Four suspected al Qaeda terrorists captured during the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan and detained at Guantanamo will be formally charged with conspiracy to commit war crimes, The New York Times reports. Procedural arguments are expected to dominate the pre-trial hearings scheduled for Tuesday. The historic proceedings to follow will be the first military tribunals - or commissions - to convene since World War II.

Thus far, fifteen Guantanamo detainees have become eligible for trial by military tribunal. Of those fifteen, four terror suspects from Australia, Sudan and Yemen have been referred for prosecution. The men have had virtually no contact with the outside world during their 2 � year detainment, and will for the first time appear with their lawyers before a panel comprised of five U.S. military officers, who will read the charges being brought against them; the men can then enter pleas, and their attorneys can make motions. It could be months before the military tribunals commence.

If convicted, the accused could be imprisoned for life, said Lieutenant Susan McGarvey, a military lawyer and spokesperson for the trial commission. If acquitted, the men could be held indefinitely under the Bush administration policy that considers them enemy combatants in the global war on terror. They could only be freed if a separate military panel finds they do not pose a threat or an intelligence concern, said Colonel David McWilliams, also a spokesman for the commission.

Among the four accused Taliban and al Qaeda members is Australian detainee and convert to Islam David Hicks (29), whose case has attracted media interest worldwide. The government alleges that after fighting with Muslim-backed rebels in Kosovo, Hicks trained with al Qaeda and engaged in combat against U.S.-led coalition forces. Hicks is also accused of translating al Qaeda training manuals from Arabic to English, as well as conducting surveillance of U.S. and British embassies on behalf of al Qaeda. He is being tried on war crimes, and is expected to plead innocent.

In addition to Hicks, two Yemenis and a Sudanese - all allegedly body guards for Osama bin Laden - are scheduled for arraignment. Salim Ahmed Hamdan (34) of Yemen is accused of conspiring to commit murder, waging attacks on civilians, and terrorism. Ali Hamza Ahmed Sulayman al Bahlul (33) of Yemen and Ibrahim Ahmed Mahmoud al Qosi (44) of Sudan are each charged with conspiracy to commit war crimes.

Defense attorneys for all four men are expected to argue that U.S. interrogators coerced the detainees into making confessions, and that these should not be admitted as evidence.

While the defendants do not face the death penalty, they face a maximum sentence of life in prison.

The proceedings have been the subject of widespread controversy. The Washington Post cites military defense lawyers and human rights activists as dismissing the tribunals as unfair, as they explain, "the tribunals are reserved for foreign-born captives and it has been argued, they have lower standards for prosecution than those upheld in American civilian courts."

"If the U.S. attorney would be able to handpick each jury, everyone in the world would say that is clearly not fair," said Kevin Barry, a retired Coast Guard captain and director of the National Institute of Military Justice.

In a Briefing Paper on U.S. Military Commissions posted to its website, Human Rights Watch decries the tribunals' lack of independent judicial oversight contending,

"The military commissions do not allow for review by a court independent of the executive branch of government. Review of the commissions� proceedings is limited to a specially created review panel appointed by the Secretary of Defense. No appeal is permitted to U.S. federal courts or the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, a civilian court independent of the executive branch that handles appeals from the courts martial. The President has final review of commission convictions and sentences. The executive branch is thus prosecutor, judge, jury and � since the commissions can impose the death penalty � potential executioner. Persons tried and convicted by the commissions will have no opportunity for independent judicial review of verdicts, no matter how erroneous, arbitrary, or legally unsound. Review of commission decisions thus remain wholly within the control of the military. By skirting review by a civilian court, the military commissions depart from the well-established principle of civilian review in the U.S. military justice system."

The Pentagon has consistently defended the process, insisting it will be impartial.
"I am hopeful that people will see this process as a full and fair opportunity for each accused to have their case heard," said Lieutenant McGarvey. "And I hope that over the course of time people will see this as a proper venue for trying war crimes in the course of an ongoing conflict."

In November 2001 � in response to the September 11th attacks - President Bush issued a Military Order on the Detention, Treatment, and Trial of Certain Non-Citizens in the War Against Terrorism authorizing military tribunals as a way of prosecuting alleged al Qaeda and Taliban fighters captured during the war in Afghanistan. The administration said at the time that the circumstances surrounding the attacks were so unique that suspects could not be tried in normal courts without serious damage to national security.

With the exception of periods where classified information is discussed, the tribunals will be open to observers. Among those scheduled to attend are journalists, as well as representatives from human and legal rights organizations such as Amnesty International, the American Civil Liberties Union, Human Rights Watch and the American Bar Association.

August 20, 2004

Latest Abu Ghraib Probe: Culpability for Abuse Widens Beyond �A Few Bad Apples�

The New York Times reports a U.S. Army investigation into the mistreatment of detainees at Abu Ghraib finds detainee abuses the result of �leadership failings, confounding policies, lack of discipline and absolute confusion.�

The yet to be released 9,000 page report is just one of several investigations into the abuse scandal. Its conclusions reportedly contradict claims put forth by the Pentagon and buttressed by the Bush Administration that the abuses at the U.S.-run detention facility west of Baghdad were not indicative of a systematic failure of leadership but rather, the aberrations of a few rogue soldiers. Specifically, the report finds fault with the prison�s interrogation policy, as one unnamed defense official offered, �There was total confusion about the military intelligence tactics, techniques and procedures.�

As the Washington Post explains, the report extends culpability beyond the 7 MPs already charged, to 20 MPs. Five civilian contractors are also implicated in the abuses, as are military medical personnel, whom the report accuses of falsifying medical records to cover up the physical effects of torture.

NPR reports articles in both British and American medical journals allege U.S. medical staff were in fact complicit in the abuse and torture of Iraqis detained at Abu Ghraib. In a statement posted to The Lancet's website, the medical journal submits, �The complicity of US military medical personnel during abuses of detainees in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay is of great importance to human rights, medical ethics, and military medicine. Government documents show that the US military medical system failed to protect detainees' human rights, sometimes collaborated with interrogators or abusive guards, and failed to properly report injuries or deaths caused by beatings.� The journal then calls for an investigation into the conduct of medical personnel at Abu Ghraib, with the possibility of reforming military medicine.

Likewise, The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has expressed �profound concern� over the treatment of detainees at Abu Ghraib, specifically with regard to a policy whereby new detainees are not officially processed, thus resulting in the prison medical system failing to protect detainees' health, a requirement of the Geneva Convention.

Furthermore, the investigation reportedly criticizes the fact that many soldiers had knowledge of the abuses, yet refrained from reporting it to the authorities.

The report is expected to be released to the public early next week. An independent investigative panel appointed by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld plans to issue its report Tuesday, while the Senate Armed Services Committee announced yesterday separate hearings scheduled for September 9th will address the findings in both reports.

August 18, 2004

Riot Breaks Out at Abu Ghraib, 2 Detainees Killed

Reuters reports that 2 detainees were killed and 5 were wounded when a riot broke out earlier today at the Abu Ghraib prison facility in Iraq.

As per a statement released by U.S. Central Command, "The altercation among the detainees broke out at about 5:45 a.m., when guards observed a large group of security detainees attacking another detainee, using rocks and tent poles."

"Guards attempted to intervene with verbal warnings, but the situation continued to escalate and the number of detainees involved swelled to over 200, resulting in the use of non-lethal rounds to disperse the group."

"When this failed to quell the situation and it was determined that a detainee�s life was still at risk, lethal force was authorized, and the situation was brought under control."

Circumstances surrounding the incident are currently under investigation.

August 05, 2004

Detainee Hearings Opened to the Media

For the first time since they began Friday, Reuters reports review hearings at Guantanamo - officially referred to as Combatant Status Review Tribunals - are now open to the media. Today�s proceedings, the ninth since they began, were held in a windowless, carpeted, air conditioned hearing room inside a double-wide trailer on the naval base. The hearing was witnessed by a select pool of journalists for the duration of one-hour, after which it was closed for review of classified information.

At today�s hearing, an unidentified 31-year old Afghan detainee considered to be an �enemy combatant� challenged his 2� year detention at Guantanamo before a panel of three U.S. military officers.

In his testimony, the detainee explained how he heard on the radio that the Americans were �coming to get Osama bin Laden,� and that Taliban members were being arrested. He then sought out the Red Cross to arrange his surrender to U.S. forces.

Through his Pashto interpreter the detainee offered, �I surrendered myself to Americans because I believed Americans are for human rights�I had never heard Americans mistreated anybody in the past.�

U.S. military records show the man to have been a Taliban soldier who was captured alongside a Taliban leader. While the detainee admitted to his affiliation, he nevertheless denied fighting Americans, adding he bore no ill will toward those who had helped Afghanistan defeat the Soviet invasion by giving them �some very effective weapons.�

�Should I be crazy to be against Americans?� his translator quoted him as saying. �I am happy the Americans are rebuilding my country.�

As the AP reports, military officials say cases heard thus far include those of an Algerian who has threatened to kill Americans if freed, and one of a Yemeni who signed an oath of allegiance to Osama bin Laden. Both attended their hearings on Friday and Saturday, as did a third on Wednesday whose nationality wasn't immediately released. Five detainees including three Yemenis, one Saudi and one Moroccan have refused to appear before the panels.

This particular detainee officials claim, was the most talkative of all the panel participants.

Upon conclusion of the non-classified portion of his hearing, the panel then examines classified documents outside the detainee�s presence, then making a decision. The decision is then reviewed by military legal officials and the admiral in charge of the new �enemy combatant status reviews.�

A decision on the Afghan detainee�s status is expected in two weeks.

July 31, 2004

Guantanamo Holds First Detainee Hearing

For the first time in the 2 1/2 years since terrorism suspects captured in Afghanistan arrived at the U.S. detention facility in Cuba, a Guantanamo detainee went before a panel of U.S. military officers in a formal attempt to contest his designation as an "enemy combatant," and convince his captors that he should be set free.

As Reuters reports, the unidentified prisoner appeared before three "neutral" U.S. military officers on Friday afternoon for an administrative hearing to determine whether he is an enemy combatant who poses a continuing threat to the United States. The hearing was closed to both the public and the press.

"He appeared in person and he did not call any witnesses," said Pentagon spokeswoman Cmdr. Beci Brenton.

A decision has not yet been disclosed as to the legality of the detainee�s status, yet is expected within two weeks. The foreign national faces repatriation if the "Combatant Status Review Tribunal" decides he is not an enemy combatant.

July 30, 2004

DoD Releases Combatant Status Review Tribunal Procedures

Responding to recent media requests, Secretary of the Navy Gordon England has issued the implementation guidance for the Combatant Status Review Tribunal Procedures for enemy combatants at Guantanamo.

The guidance addresses Combatant Status Review Tribunal organization, purpose, function and structure, handling of classified material, detainee participation, conduct at hearings, and post-hearing procedures.

Among its contents the guidance contains:

- Combatant Status Review Tribunal Process;
- Recorder Qualifications, Roles and Responsibilities;
- Personal Representative Qualifications, Roles and Responsibilities;
- Combatant Status Review Tribunal Notice to Detainees;
- Sample Detainee Election Form;
- Sample Nomination Questionnaire;
- Sample Appointment Letter for Combatant Status Review Tribunal Panel;
- Combatant Status Review Tribunal Hearing Guide; and
- Combatant Status Review Tribunal Decision Report Cover Sheet.

Upon release of the Procedures, the Pentagon announced the first tribunal is scheduled for later today at Guantanamo.

July 23, 2004

Army Report on Abu Ghraib: Systematic Flaws Unrelated to Abuse

Reuters reports a 321-page report released yesterday by the Army Inspector General maintains that while military detention and interrogation operations in Iraq and Afghanistan were indeed flawed - citing poor training, haphazard organization and outmoded policies - systematic defects and the conditions they create were not responsible for cases of abuse discovered at Abu Ghraib.

The Detainee Operations Inspection was conducted by Lt. General Paul T. Mikolashek, and based upon interviews with 650 officers and enlisted soldiers in Afghanistan, Iraq and the United States from September 2002 to June 2004. The investigation's observations/findings and recommendations were presented unexpectedly yesterday during a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee, which convened to examine the causes of the prison scandal sparked three weeks ago by photographs showing the sexual humiliation and abuse of detainees at the Abu Ghraib facility.

In his briefing to the Committee, Lt. Gen. Mikolashek described a series of operational shortcomings, including ambiguous policies and unclear responsibilities for troops.

According to Army Public Affairs, the report�s major observations include the following:

- Doctrine does not clearly specify the interdependent and independent roles, missions and responsibilities of military police and military intelligence units in the establishment and operation of interrogation facilities;

- While officially approved Combined Joint Task Force 7 and 180 interrogation policies and procedures generally met legal obligations, some were vague and ambiguous. Further, implementation, training and oversight of those policies were inconsistent;

- MI units do not have enough interrogators and interpreters to conduct timely detainee screenings for usable tactical intelligence;

- Tactical MI officers lack the proper training to manage all aspects of the collection and analysis of human intelligence;

- Of the 16 detention facilities inspected in both countries, Abu Ghraib was the only one in an undesirable location, overcrowded and frequently attacked with mortar and rocket fire;

- Some CENTCOM civilian interrogation contractors worked without adequate formal training on military interrogation techniques or policy; and

- An �overwhelming majority� of Army officers and enlisted soldiers understand the requirement to treat detainees humanely, and are doing so.

Additionally, Lt. Gen. Mikolashek said he found �no evidence� of so-called ghost detainees, prisoners kept off the books by U.S. forces and hidden from the International Committee of the Red Cross.

As stated in the report�s Forward, �The abuses that have occurred are not representative of policy, doctrine, or Soldier training. These abuses should be viewed as what they are - unauthorized actions taken by a few individuals, and in some cases, coupled with the failure of a few leaders to provide adequate supervision and leadership. These actions, while regrettable, are aberrations when compared to the actions of fellow Soldiers who are serving with distinction.�

While the investigation found 94 cases of confirmed or alleged abuses and 39 deaths, 20 of which were ruled homicides or remain under investigation, Lt. Gen. Mikolashek nevertheless maintained, �I believe that we have isolated incidents that have taken place.�

Mikolashek�s findings were in stark contrast to those presented by Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba who in an earlier 53-page inquiry - Article 15-5 Investigation of the 800 Military Police Brigade - found and acknowledged systematic defects such as "egregious acts and grave breaches of international law" were directly related to prisoner abuses at Abu Ghraib.

Lt. Gen. Mikolashek's findings met with widespread dissatisfaction among human rights advocates, contradicted recent findings by the International Committee of the Red Cross, and left many Senate Democrats incredulous. �It is difficult to believe there were not systemic problems with our detention and interrogation operations,� said Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI.) As The New York Times reports, some Democrats implied the General was whitewashing the report's findings. "It seems to me that this is just again reinforcing the conclusion that there are five or six aberrant soldiers," said Senator Jack Reed (D-RI). "I don't think you've done the job that you have to do."

The depth of the investigation was also criticized, as the Army�s probe looked no higher than the brigade level for culpability. The latest findings will undoubtedly continue the partisan debate over how high up the chain of command accountability for the abuses resides.

The report nevertheless buttresses the Bush administration and Pentagon�s longstanding contention that alleged abuses were not part of an overarching pattern of abuse sanctioned by military leadership, but rather �aberrations� of rogue soldiers.

Since the prisoner abuse scandal broke this spring, when photographs surfaced showing beatings and sexual humiliations of Iraqis held at the Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad, seven Army enlisted soldiers have been charged with abusing detainees at the prison outside Baghdad. One has pleaded guilty and been sentenced to a year in prison and a dishonorable discharge.

9-11 Report Criticizes Detainee Handling; Calls for Balancing "Humanity & Security"

The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (also known as The 9-11 Commission) released its final report yesterday detailing circumstances surrounding preparedness for, and response to, the September 11th terrorist attacks. In addition to its much-anticipated conclusion - which finds the attacks were in fact preventable - the 570-page report provides recommendations for a sweeping overhaul of intelligence and operational planning to include current policy regarding the detention of �enemy combatants.�

The report is sure to be another blow to the Bush administration, particularly with regard to its decision not to grant prisoner of war status to detainees at Guantanamo. As the report explains:

�Coalition warfare also requires coalition policies on what to do with enemy captives. Allegations that the United States abused prisoners in its custody make it harder to build the diplomatic, political, and military alliances the government will need. The United States should work with friends to develop mutually-agreed on principles for the detention and humane treatment of captured international terrorists who are not being held under a particular country�s criminal laws. Countries such as Britain, Australia, and Muslim friends, are committed to fighting terrorists. America should be able to reconcile its views on how to balance humanity and security with our nation�s commitment to these same goals.

The United States and some of its allies do not accept the application of full Geneva Convention treatment of prisoners of war to captured terrorists. Conventions establish a minimum set of standards for prisoners in internal conflicts. Since the international struggle against Islamist terrorism is not internal, those provisions do not formally apply, but they are commonly accepted as basic standards for humane treatment.�

The commission then offers its recommendation:

�The United States should engage its friends to develop a common coalition approach toward the detention and humane treatment of captured terrorists. New principles might draw upon Article Three of the Geneva Conventions on the law of armed conflict. That article was specifically designed for those cases in which the usual laws of war did not apply. Its minimum standards are generally accepted throughout the world as customary international law.�

CNN reports Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) urged their colleagues to take immediate action upon the report�s recommendations, suggesting Congress be called into special session to do so. �This is a straight-talking, tough, bold, nonpartisan report,� Sen. Lieberman, who was an early supporter of the creation of the panel along with Sen. McCain. �But we all know this report is only the end of the beginning,� Lieberman said.

Presidential hopeful John Kerry likewise called for immediate action to be taken on the report�s recommendations. �This is not a time for bickering. It is not a time for politics. When it comes to protecting our people and securing our homeland, there are no Democrats. There are no Republicans. There are only Americans who will do anything to defend America and our way of life.�

Some lawmakers however, have said Congress is unlikely to take any action on the report until next year.

In contrast, the administration continues to defend its post-September 11th anti-terrorism policies, and expressed less of a sense of urgency to act on the report�s findings. President Bush, who initially opposed creation of the commission, and consented only under pressure from Congress and 9/11 families, nevertheless offered his appreciation for the commission�s hard work, �and the spirit in which their recommendations are written.� The panel's �very constructive recommendations� Bush reacted to with less immediacy, stating only �We will give serious consideration to every idea, because we share a common goal: to do everything in our power to prepare for, and to stop, any terrorist attack.�

Military Hearings to Begin at Guantanamo

The Associated Press reports today that military hearings at Guantanamo may begin as early as Friday.

The hearings will be the first opportunity detainees have had to challenge their detention and argue for their release before American courts. Nearly 600 foreign nationals from almost 40 countries remain detained at Guantanamo. Some have been held in excess of two years. With only a few exceptions, detainees have not been granted access to legal counsel.

While the DoD assures the process will be impartial, advocacy groups dismiss the hearings as a �sham.� Human Rights Watch (HRW), a vocal critic of the Pentagon�s promise of neutrality reports on the HRW website that no less than seven inquiries are being conducted by - or at the very least involve - the military investigating itself, further buttressing its contention the investigations are inherently biased. �How is a panel appointed by Secretary Rumsfeld going to determine if Rumsfeld is responsible for torture? How can an inquiry run by uniformed military personnel investigate decisions made by civilian policy makers?� questioned Kenneth Roth, Executive Director of HRW.

As such, the group has called upon Congress to establish a special commission along the lines of the 9-11 Commission to investigate the issue of detainee abuses. As conceived by HRW, such commission would conduct hearings, be endowed with full subpoena power, and be empowered to recommend the creation of a special prosecutor to investigate possible criminal offenses. The commission would examine, among other things, the link between Bush administration policy discussions and memos, and actual practices in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo.

HRW contends that the establishment of military panels is further evidence of the Pentagon�s struggle to retain control over detainees. �What we object to most is that they�re starting with a presumption that they are enemy combatants,� said director Jamie Fellner. �A process similar to this was what was called for two-and-a-half years ago ... when these guys were captured.�

Fellner said Human Rights Watch has received authorization to attend the tribunals, and it also will ask to attend the review panels. He said it�s important all hearings be open to public scrutiny, contending justice �can�t be done behind closed doors.�

Poll: Public Rejects Nearly All Forms of Torture or Coercion

The Associated Press reports today that results of a nation-wide poll show 66% of respondents said that the U.S. should abide by the international law that �governments should never use physical torture,� while 29% found that standard �too restrictive.�

Entitled �Americans on Detention, Torture, and the War on Terrorism,� the poll was conducted by The Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) and Knowledge Networks (KN) at the Center for International and Security Studies at University of Maryland, School of Public Affairs. The poll was conducted with a nation-wide sample of 892 American adults between July 9-15th, with a margin of error +/-3.3%.

Among the poll�s findings, 88% of respondents favored having international laws governing detention. Large majorities endorsed requiring registration of all detainees (92%), providing access by the Red Cross (93%), allowing communication with family members (77%) and the right to a hearing (81%).

Even if there is reason to believe a detainee is withholding information that could prove critical to preventing another terrorist attack in the U.S., a majority of those polled rejected most forms of coercion. Within the context of the poll, coercion is defined as �methods formally approved by the Department of Defense including using threatening dogs (rejected by 58%) and forcing detainees to go naked (75% rejected). Other forms rejected by even larger majorities included sexual humiliation (89%) and holding a detainee�s head under water (81%).� The only coercive technique consistently endorsed by a majority of those polled was sleep deprivation.

As principal investigator Steven Kull observes, �Basically, the public supports the system of international laws restricting torture and coercion, though it would consider making some limited exceptions if there was high confidence that a catastrophic outcome would be prevented.�

July 20, 2004

Pentagon Announces Creation of Office of Detainee Affairs

In response to the leaked 24-page report prepared by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and first reported on by The Wall Street Journal - which finds prisoner treatment by coalition soldiers at Abu Ghraib �tantamount to torture,� the Pentagon has announced the creation of an Office of Detainee Affairs. The office will be a single point of focus for detainee affairs, and while it will not be setting policy, it will nevertheless be responsible for developing strategy and policy recommendations to monitor and improve detainee management. The �detainee� distinction includes all foreigners that the DoD has custody over, as well as conventional POWs.

Recent claims by the ICRC that it feared the abuse scandal could be broader than originally believed, suggesting Americans may be hiding prisoners taken in Iraq or Afghanistan in undisclosed locations that the ICRC has not yet been able to visit, have been rejected by the Pentagon.

When asked how the office would respond to the multitude of investigations, inquiries, reviews, etc. already in progress, Principal Deputy Undersecretary for Policy C. Ryan Henry said it would entail �looking at how we can do training differently, how we can resource differently, how the exact operations go. It�s an across-the-board look from a number of different angles on what went wrong and how we can do a better job in the future.�

Pressed if the new office was a tacit acknowledgement by the Pentagon that to date detainee operations hade been handled poorly, Henry remained non-committal, offering only that the handling of matters related to prisoners had been �somewhat disparate and spread out over the organization, and so it�s a means which to focus it in.�

With regard to recent allegations made by journalist Seymour Hersh that damning videotapes show Iraqi boys being sodomized by prison guards at Abu Ghraib, Henry responded he had absolutely no knowledge of that, nor had he heard anything regarding it.

Sec. Rumsfeld Discusses Detainee Office on NPR

On NPR�s Morning Edition Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld spoke with host Juan Williams about the Pentagon's newly created Office of Detainee Affairs.

When asked why after almost three years since establishing the prison at Guantanamo, has an office been created now, the Secretary of Defense remained entrenched in the administration�s position that the abuses were an unfortunate aberration, the work of a few individuals.

�All of a sudden, we have this situation where we have 24-hour news and people have digital cameras. They take these pictures of these terrible things that are happening and we are aware of it almost simultaneously with the Congress, the press and the world being aware of it, because we did not have in the department a process where everything got elevated up, particularly, for example, this was announced by the Department of Defense. This was not investigative reporting. There were some abuses. They were turned up within the army. The army then gave them to the public affairs office where the public affairs officer announced that there was some alleged abuses.

After an investigation, the army went out and announced that there was not only some abuses alleged, but in fact there were now criminal prosecutions underway. And then these pictures were leaked and it became a worldwide international incident. Now we said, if that�s the case - and normally the pattern in the department had been not to go down and look into criminal prosecutions because that was not the way things should be handled. They should be handled through the Uniform Code of Military Justice system.

In this instance, it became clear that we live in a different era and therefore we have to get the Pentagon involved in these things at the top levels. We simply have to have a process that those things get kicked up here and you have to have policies and an ability for the legal and public affairs people here at the headquarters to be aware of what�s taking place down at the lower level and we needed an office to communicate that.�

June 22, 2004

Abu Ghraib Defendent's Lawyer Won't Go To Iraq

A June 22 Associated Press article reports that Staff Sgt. Ivan L. "Chip'' Frederick II, one of the defendants in the Abu Ghraib prison scandal case, opted to go forward with his pretrial hearing Tuesday even though his civilian lawyer will not be present at the session in Iraq. Frederick's military lawyer, Capt. Robert Shuck, said Monday that Myers wanted to participate by telephone because coming to Iraq ``places people in peril for their lives.''

June 17, 2004

New Evidence Linking Administration To Abuse

According to a June 13 (London) Telegraph article, new evidence that the physical abuse of detainees in Iraq and at Guantanamo Bay was authorised at the top of the Bush administration will emerge in Washington this week, adding further to pressure on the White House.

The Telegraph understands that four confidential Red Cross documents implicating senior Pentagon civilians in the Abu Ghraib scandal have been passed to an American television network, which is preparing to make them public shortly. According to lawyers familiar with the Red Cross reports, they will contradict previous testimony by senior Pentagon officials who have claimed that the abuse in the Abu Ghraib prison was an isolated incident.

June 15, 2004

Karpinski Tells BBC She Was Told To Treat Prisoners Like Dogs

A June 15 BBC article reports that Brigadier Gen Janis Karpinski told the BBC she was being made a "convenient scapegoat" for abuse ordered by others. Top US commander for Iraq, Gen Ricardo Sanchez, should be asked what he knew about the abuse, she told BBC Radio 4's On The Ropes programme.

Gen Karpinski said military intelligence took over part of the Abu Ghraib jail to "Gitmoize" their interrogations - make them more like what was happening in the US detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, which is nicknamed "Gitmo".
She said current Iraqi prisons chief Maj Gen Geoffrey Miller - who was in charge at Guantanamo Bay - visited her in Baghdad and said: "At Guantanamo Bay we learned that the prisoners have to earn every single thing that they have."

"He said they are like dogs and if you allow them to believe at any point that they are more than a dog then you've lost control of them."

Congress Copy of Taguba Report Still Incomplete, According to Aides

A June 15 Knight Ridder article reports that The Pentagon still hasn't provided Congress with a complete version of its first investigation into abuses at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, even though another version of the report has been delivered. Congressional aides discovered three weeks ago that the copy of the report by Maj. Gen. Antonio M. Taguba that was given to Congress was missing 2,000 pages of supporting documents. The Defense Department said the omission was inadvertent and that a certified copy would be sent.

But while additional pages were in the copy received by the Senate Armed Services Committee last week, many key documents were still missing, including a draft memo to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld that may shed light on what interrogation techniques Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller suggested be used at Abu Ghraib. At the time, Miller was in charge of the U.S. prison camp for suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and had been asked for advice on interrogation procedures in Iraq. Also still missing are reports from the International Committee for the Red Cross, which complained about the treatment of prisoners at Abu Ghraib and other U.S.-run prison facilities in Iraq.

ZNET: The Orwellian, Kafkaesque Abu Ghraib Scandal

A June 14 Tom Englehardt article on ZNET surveys some of the media coverage of the latest developments in the Guantanamo/Abu Ghraib scandal. An excerpt:

"As for the acts we saw in the photographs, they too have "spread" and knowledge of them reaches ever higher: To take but two examples, nakedness is now reported (New York Times, 6/8/04) to have been used as a tool of humiliation not just in Iraq but in Afghanistan and at Guantanamo; while the "technique" of menacing prisoners with dogs -- "an apparent violation of the Geneva Conventions and the Army's field manual" -- has now been well documented at Abu Ghraib by the 6/11/04 Washington Post ("On Jan. 13, Spec. John Harold Ketzer, a military intelligence interrogator, saw a dog team corner two male prisoners against a wall, one prisoner hiding behind the other and screaming, he later told investigators. 'When I asked what was going on in the cell, the handler stated that he was just scaring them, and that he and another of the handlers was having a contest to see how many detainees they could get to urinate on themselves...'"); but it was also evidently employed at Guantanamo, according to the Wall Street Journal."

June 12, 2004

Post: Long History Behind Interrogation Tactics

A June 12 Washington Post article links coercive interrogations methods listed in a declassified CIA handbook from the Vietnam War with the present-day interrogation techniques now under scrutiny at Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib. At Abu Ghraib, for example, photographs and documents have shown that detainees were hooded, blindfolded, dressed in sloppy garb and forced to go naked. The KUBARK manual, in turn, suggests that, for "resistant" prisoners, the "circumstances of detention are arranged to enhance within the subject his feelings of being cut off from the known and the reassuring and of being plunged into the strange." The 1963 handbook also describes the benefits and disadvantages of techniques similar to those authorized for use at Abu Ghraib, such as forcing detainees to stand or sit in "stress positions," cutting off sources of light, disrupting their sleep and manipulating their diet.

Post: General Approved Coercion of Detainees

According to a June 12 Washington Post article, Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez, the senior U.S. military officer in Iraq, borrowed heavily from a list of high-pressure interrogation tactics used at the U.S. detention center in Guant�namo Bay, Cuba, and approved letting senior officials at a Baghdad prison use dogs, temperature extremes, reversed sleep patterns, sensory deprivation, and diets of bread and water on detainees whenever they wished.

The U.S. policy, details of which have not been previously disclosed, was approved in early September, shortly after a general sent from Washington inspected the Abu Ghraib prison and returned to brief Pentagon officials on his ideas for using military police to help implement the new high-pressure methods.

Documents newly obtained by The Washington Post spell out in greater detail than previously known the interrogation tactics Sanchez authorized, and make clear for the first time that, before last October, they could be imposed without first seeking approval of anyone outside the prison. That gave officers at Abu Ghraib wide latitude with detainees. Officials at the Tampa headquarters of the U.S. Central Command, which has military responsibility for Iraq, objected to some of the 32 interrogation tactics approved by Sanchez in September, including the more severe methods that he had said could be used at any time in Abu Ghraib with the consent of the interrogation officer in charge.

June 11, 2004

Pentagon Report Online

The entirety of The internal Pentagon report outlining the use of torture is now availlable through the website of the Center for Constitutional Rights.

Baccus Denies Torture On His Watch

According to a June 11 Reuters article Brigadier-General Rick Baccus, in charge of Guantanamo before Geoffrey Miller, has denied that prisoners had been tortured while he was in charge of the controversial Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba.

Bacchus was responding to claims by British detainees that they were beaten and humiliated at the camp, where more than 600 suspected al Qaeda and Taliban fighters are held without charge or access to lawyers. "Things such as stress positions or any other kind of manipulation, were not done, while I was there at least, at Guantanamo," Baccus told BBC radio on Friday.

U.S. interrogation techniques have come under fire amid revelations of abuse of Iraqis at the Abu Ghraib jail outside Baghdad, in which prisoners were kept naked, piled in pyramids, and forced to engage in sex acts. Australian prisoners David Hicks and Egyptian-born Mamdouh Habib, who have been held at Guantanamo for more than two years, said last month they had been beaten and tortured. Australian officials who visited Cuba said the claims were unfounded.

British detainees Shafiq Rasul and Asif Iqbal said last month they had been "short-shackled" -- forced to squat with their hands chained between their legs and fastened to the floor for hours while they were questioned.

A third British detainee, Tarek Dergoul, said he had been pepper-sprayed and forcibly shaved.

June 10, 2004

Mother Jones Excerpts Torture Memo

A June 9 Mother Jones article excerpts portions of the leaked 2002 memo argued that the United States was not bound by domestic and international law prohibiting the use of torture and claimed that the weight of a presidential order acted as a shield against possible criminal persecution. Here is a citation from that memo concerning the President's powers during wartime:

"In order to respect the president's inherent constitutional authority to manage a military campaign ... (the prohibition against torture) must be construed as inapplicable to interrogations undertaken pursuant to his commander-in chief authority� Sometimes the greater good for society will be accomplished by violating the literal language of the criminal law�In particular, the necessity defense can justify the intentional killing of one person ... so long as the harm avoided is greater."

Here is the report's by-now-famous redefinition of what constitutes torture, which contradicts the standard definition of torture in the Geneva Conventions:

"[in order for a method to be considered torture, it] �must be equivalent in intensity to the pain accompanying serious physical injury, such as organ failure, impairment of bodily function, or even death. For purely mental pain or suffering to amount to torture, it must result in significant psychological harm of significant duration, e.g., lasting for months or even years."

June 06, 2004

"Torture and Truth" in NYRB

In an article in the June 24 edition of the New York Review of Books, Mark Danner writes that the furor over the Abu Ghraib photographs has brought a "bright glare of revelation" to an already known but unacknowledged truth, namely that "since the attacks of September 11, 2001, officials of the United States, at various locations around the world, from Bagram in Afghanistan to Guantanamo in Cuba to Abu Ghraib in Iraq, have been torturing prisoners." His article explores how, even in the face of clear evidence that this torture was systemic, the rhetoric surrounding Abu Ghraib describes the incidents their as lapses of personal accountability � a claim that makes a terrible situation worse, for the guards who have been singled out, and for the Iraqis who have long known that what we have seen in those images represents a much larger phenomenon. Danner concludes:

"Over the next weeks and months, Americans will decide how to confront what their fellow citizens did at Abu Ghraib, and what they go on doing at Bagram and Guantanamo and other secret prisons. By their actions they will decide whether they will begin to close the growing difference between what Americans say they are and what they actually do. Iraqis and others around the world will be watching to see whether all the torture will be stopped and whether those truly responsible for it, military and civilian, will be punished. This is, after all, as our President never tires of saying, a war of ideas. Now, as the photographs of Abu Ghraib make clear, it has also become a struggle over what, if anything, really does represent America."

The article is the second in a series: the first article can be found here

"We Let Time Work For Us" - Danish Prisoner Claims Abuse

According to a June 16 Reuters article, a Danish citizen today said he was abused by US troops in a military prison in Afghanistan in a similar way to Iraqi detainees in the Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad. Slimane Hadj Abderrahmane, 30, told the daily Politiken newspaper's Sunday edition that he was tortured in a prison camp in Kandahar in Afghanistan in 2002 after being captured in Pakistan. He was later transferred to the US base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where he was held for two years. Abderrahmane, with an Algerian father and a Danish mother, said that soldiers in Afghanistan took pictures of him and made fun of his genitals while he was chained, hooded and naked.

Abderrahmane said he was not abused as such during his 747 days at Guantanamo but felt like an animal in his four-square-metre ''cage''. ''We didn't even get a prison cell. We got a cage with less space than an exotic bird in a zoo has,'' he said. He said the prison guards did not use the same methods in Cuba as they did in Kandahar. ''We don't do that here. We let time work for us,'' an officer told him.

June 01, 2004

CBS News: Did Abuses Extend Beyond Abu Ghraib?

A May 30 CBS News Report explores the possibility that the abuses documented at Abu Ghraib may have only part of a pattern of prisoner abuse at military intelligence units in different service branches and throughout Iraq. CBS refers to an unpublished Army report � also mentioned by the New York Times this weekend � which, like the Taguba report, explores possible prisoner abuse, but on a more systemic basis.

The report reveals, for example, that at Camp Whitehorse, a Marine prisoner of war camp near Nasiriyah, the guards were told to keep enemy prisoners of war - EPWs, in military jargon - standing for 50 minutes each hour for up to 10 hours. They would then be interrogated by "human exploitation teams," or HETs, comprising intelligence specialists.

"The 50/10 technique was used to break down the EPWs and make it easier for the HET member to get information from them," Marine Cpl. Otis Antoine, a guard at Camp Whitehorse, testified at a military court hearing in February.

The report also details the following possible abuses (among others):

-Stuffing an Iraqi general into a sleeping bag, sitting on his chest and covering his mouth during an interrogation at a prison camp at Qaim, near the border with Syria. The general died during that interrogation, although he also had been questioned by CIA operatives in the days before his death.

-Hitting prisoners and putting them in painful positions for hours at Camp Cropper, a prison at Baghdad International Airport for prominent former Iraqi officials.

May 29, 2004

Times: "Gitmoization" of Abu Ghraib Included Export of Gitmo Interrogators

According to a May 29 New York Times article, interrogation experts from the American detention camp at Guant�namo Bay, Cuba, were sent to Iraq last fall and played a major role in training American military intelligence teams at Abu Ghraib prison. The teams from Guant�namo Bay, which had operated there under directives allowing broad latitude in questioning "enemy combatants," played a central role at Abu Ghraib through December, a time when the worst abuses of prisoners were taking place. The teams were sent to Iraq for 90-day tours at the urging of Maj. Gen. Geoffrey D. Miller. The involvement of the Guant�namo teams has not previously been disclosed, and military officials said it would be addressed in a major report on suspected abuses by military intelligence specialists that is being completed by Maj. Gen. George W. Fay.

May 23, 2004

Pentagon Lawyer's Judicial Nomination in Question over Abu Ghraib and Gitmo

According to a May 23 Chicago Tribune article, William Haynes, the Pentagon's top lawyer, may have jeopardized his nomination for a federal judgeship, as senators question whether he has fully disclosed U.S. policy toward terrorism suspects and Iraqi prisoners.

Haynes, 46, has been nominated for a seat on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Richmond, Va. His selection was approved by a close vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee in March and is awaiting a vote by the Senate.

Haynes has been involved in making policy for the military to follow in Afghanistan, Iraq and at Guantanamo Bay. Since the disclosure nearly a month ago of graphic photographs showing abuse of Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad, Haynes' future on the federal bench is in doubt; his name was left off a list of 25 judicial nominees who will soon be considered by senators.

"He may be the first political casualty of the prison scandal," said one Senate staff member who has followed Haynes' nomination closely.

May 21, 2004

Guardian Profile of William Boykin, Part of "Gitmoizing" Team

A May 20 Guardian article by by Salon Washington Bureau Chief Sidney Blumenthal profiles Daniel Boykin, the US deputy undersecretary of intelligence identified as the man "at the heart of a secret operation to "Gitmoize" the Abu Ghraib prison." Blumenthal writes:

Boykin was recommended to his position by his record in the elite Delta forces: he was a commander in the failed effort to rescue US hostages in Iran, had tracked drug lord Pablo Escobar in Colombia, had advised the gas attack on barricaded cultists at Waco, Texas, and had lost 18 men in Somalia trying to capture a warlord in the notorious Black Hawk Down fiasco of 1993.

Boykin told an evangelical gathering last year how this fostered his spiritual crisis. "There is no God," he said. "If there was a God, he would have been here to protect my soldiers." But he was thunderstruck by the insight that his battle with the warlord was between good and evil, between the true God and the false one. "I knew that my God was bigger than his. I knew that my God was a real God and his was an idol."

He also apparently claimed that the US was in a holy war as a "Christian nation" battling "Satan."

May 20, 2004

Pentagon Contradictions in Gitmo/Ghraib Scandal

A May 20th AP wire article listed several contradictions which have emerged over the past few days between Pentagon statements and testimony in the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal:

First, the Pentagon's top spokesman said Defence Department intelligence chief Stephen Cambone was not involved in discussions of interrogation rules for Iraq. But only days earlier, Cambone testified he, in fact, helped push for those new rules.

Second, the general in charge of all U.S. troops in Iraq contradicted the general in charge of the Abu Ghraib prison guards - and an army investigative report - about who was in command at the lockup after mid-November.

Third, a top military lawyer contradicted a defence spokesman and an army general about whether some interrogation techniques used at the terrorist prison in Guantanamo Bay violate the Geneva Convention on treatment of prisoners of war.

Washington Post: A Corrupted Culture

A May 20th Washington Post editorial decries the blaming of individual soldiers for abuse at Abu Ghraib and points to the systemic patterns that senior US commanders in Iraq seem to be trying to deny. "The Bush administration still tries to blame a few low-ranking reservists who served at Abu Ghraib," the Post notes, "but a more convincing answer can be found in a memo submitted to President Bush by White House counsel Alberto R. Gonzales in January 2002. In the memo, which was first disclosed by Newsweek magazine, Mr. Gonzales explained why he believed Mr. Bush should ignore State Department objections to his decision to exclude Afghanistan detainees from the Geneva Conventions. The presidential counsel derided the conventions as "quaint" and "obsolete" ...[after this] Harsh techniques for interrogating prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, were justified on the grounds that the Geneva Conventions did not apply. These techniques then were used by CIA and Army intelligence teams in Afghanistan and, later, Iraq -- even though Mr. Bush declared that the Geneva Conventions would apply to the Iraq war."

May 19, 2004

Miller Interrogated Today About Role in Abu Ghraib

A May 19 Los Angeles Times article reports that Geoffrey Miller, Ricardo Sanchez, and John Abizad will be questioned today by The Senate Armed Services Committee to determine who was responsible for the abuse at Abu Ghraib.

According to the Times, Miller, the former head of the Guantanamo detention facility who only recently took command of U.S.-run detention facilities in Iraq, now finds himself deeply embroiled in the prison abuse scandal that has rocked the Pentagon and the Bush administration. Critics have suggested that Miller's recommendations for overhauling detention and interrogation procedures in Iraq after an inspection tour here last summer created a climate for the abuses to occur. Others said he declared it was time to "Gitmo-ize" Abu Ghraib by introducing the kind of aggressive techniques used to grill suspects in Guantanamo. Miller has persistently denied making such a declaration, casting himself instead as a reformer who sought to impose discipline and order on a fledgling prison system.

Meanwhile, the 3,600 detainees at Abu Ghraib are being moved into a new tent city dubbed "Camp Redemption." Miller has accelerated the review of prisoners' cases and the release of those not considered threats. A Red Cross report found that as many as 90% of U.S. detainees were wrongly arrested.

May 16, 2004

Miami Herald: In Light Of Events, Review Detention Policy

An editorial in today's Miami Herald suggests that in the wake of the Abu Ghraib prison scandals, the Supreme Court should realize the importance of jursidiction for Guantanamo prisoners. According to the Herald:

" In this war, the Bush administration has spurned the Geneva Conventions and international law. Instead, the administration promises to devise humane policies -- beyond review by anyone � appropriate to the situation... It is true that during war the president has broad authority -- as he must have � to command military operations. But in designating suspected terrorists as ''enemy combatants,'' the U.S. policy asserts an absolute authority over the detainees that denies them the ability even to demonstrate that the arrest was in error or that the U.S. government may have made a mistake. Such complete control of suspects, with no chance for review, appeal or effective assertion of innocence, is contrary to American values and to our government's own self-interest."

Time Magazine: How High Does It Go?

As part of their cover story Iraq: Chain of Blame, Time magazine list three persons they claim are key officials who some say stand to be held responsible for what happened at Abu Ghraib. Not surprisingly, Geoffrey Miller
former commander of the U.S. prison at Guantanamo, tops the list. But Time also mentions Stephen Cambone the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence, who apparently encouraged Miller's trip. They also point to Ricardo Sanchez the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, who adopted some of Miller's suggestions last fall as military-intelligence officers took charge of a section of Abu Ghraib.

May 10, 2004

Seymour Hersch On Abu Ghraib

The first two media venues for the now-ubiquitous photographs of torture victims at Abu Ghraib were the news program Sixty Minutes and a Seymour Hersch article in the May 1 online issue of the New Yorker. Hersch has followed this piece with a second titled Chain of Command in The New Yorker which details who should have been in the know about what happened in the prison. An excellent diagram of this command structure is at the diagramming blog site uggabugga (Thanks to Cursor for this information).

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