Army officer says Gitmo panels flawed

[Ilsa]

Source: Associated Press / Yahoo link

Army officer says Gitmo panels flawed

By BEN FOX, Associated Press Writer
14 minutes ago

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - An Army officer with a key role in the U.S. military hearings at Guantanamo Bay says they relied on vague and incomplete intelligence and were pressured to declare detainees "enemy combatants," often without any specific evidence.

His affidavit, released Friday, is the first criticism by a member of the military panels that determine whether detainees will continue to be held.

Lt. Col. Stephen Abraham, a 26-year veteran of military intelligence who is an Army reserve officer and a California lawyer, said military prosecutors were provided with only "generic" material that didn't hold up to the most basic legal challenges.

Despite repeated requests, intelligence agencies arbitrarily refused to provide specific information that could have helped either side in the tribunals, according to Abraham, who said he served as a main liaison between the Combat Status Review Tribunals and those intelligence agencies.
snip



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070622/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/guantanamo_tribunals;_ylt=AnPRBUHlECLHSiyu09bMVnlg.3QA

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Is anyone here really surprised by this revelation?

[Morgana LaFey]

1. No, of course not. Not in the least surprised. K&R

[jamesinca]

2. An Ex-Member Calls Detainee Panels Unfair - Lawyer Tells of Flawed 'Combatant' Rulings

Source: Washington Post

An Ex-Member Calls Detainee Panels Unfair
Lawyer Tells of Flawed 'Combatant' Rulings

By Carol D. Leonnig and Josh White
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, June 23, 2007; A03



A military officer and former member of a Pentagon unit that decided to indefinitely imprison some detainees from Afghanistan and Iraq has said in a sworn affidavit that the process of reviewing their cases was "fundamentally flawed" and that the results were influenced by pressure from superiors rather than based on concrete evidence.

Stephen Abraham, a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve and a lawyer, said the military placed too much weight on unsubstantiated statements by intelligence agencies in deciding that the detainees were enemy combatants, according to his affidavit. That conclusion meant that the detainees could be kept in a prison in Guantanamo as long as the U.S. military wished.

Abraham, who helped review government intelligence about detainees in 2004 and 2005 and served on a Combatant Status Review Tribunal, is the first person who played such a role to publicly challenge the fairness of the reviews. He said in an interview yesterday that he felt compelled to disclose his misgivings after reading public claims about the fairness of the process made by Rear Adm. James M. McGarrah, who oversaw it.

His affidavit was widely passed around yesterday among lawyers for about 375 foreign detainees at the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Several said they will present it to a federal appeals court as evidence that the military review process is constitutionally flawed.



Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/22/AR2007062202230_pf.html

[enough]

3. K&R

[RiverStone]

4. Gitmo Panelist Slams Hearing Process

Source: CBS News

(AP) An Army officer who played a key role in the “enemy combatant” hearings at Guantanamo Bay says tribunal members relied on vague and incomplete intelligence while being pressured to rule against detainees, often without any specific evidence.

His affidavit, submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court and released Friday, is the first criticism by a member of the military panels that determine whether detainees will continue to be held.

Lt. Col. Stephen Abraham, a 26-year veteran of military intelligence who is an Army reserve officer and a California lawyer, said military prosecutors were provided with only “generic” material that didn't hold up to the most basic legal challenges.

Despite repeated requests, intelligence agencies arbitrarily refused to provide specific information that could have helped either side in the tribunals, according to Abraham, who said he served as a main liaison between the Combat Status Review Tribunals and the intelligence agencies.


Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/06/23/world/main2970288.shtml

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This is more real evidence that many stuck in Gitmo are there with NO evidence at all!

At least we know about this facility. How many other detainees are being held in shadowed and secret locations around the world sponsored by the corrupt BushCo regime? Will those folks EVER see the light of day? :shrug:

[The Stranger]

5. Where is the Democratic Congressional majority on this?

Are they complicit in what is going on there?

[wordpix]

6. that snot-nosed Bushista Richard Lowry said last night on Hardball

something like, "If we close Gitmo, then what? We'd have to bring these guys to the US and bring them to court..."

So what's wrong with allowing these detainees due process, idiot? That would be horrible for the US and our legal system! :sarcasm:

[gratuitous]

7. I for one am totally surprised

Imagine a military officer showing that kind of courage! Mr. Abraham's career is over, his fellow officers will turn on him with the fury of chickens in a barnyard. He can forget about a lucrative post-military job schmoozing his former fellow officers while selling them overpriced weapons they don't need, and relaxing in dark-paneled rooms enjoying large snifters of fine brandy while smoking cigars.

Of course, he can now legitimately reclaim a position in the human race, but think of all he's given up.