Evidence Of Innocence Rejected at Guantanamo
Just months after U.S. Army troops whisked a German man from Pakistan to the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in 2002, his American captors concluded that he was not a terrorist.
“USA considers Murat Kurnaz’s innocence to be proven,” a German intelligence officer wrote that year in a memo to his colleagues. “He is to be released in approximately six to eight weeks.”
But the 19-year-old student was not freed. Instead, over the next four years, two U.S. military tribunals that were responsible for determining whether Guantanamo Bay detainees were enemy fighters declared him a dangerous al-Qaeda ally who should remain in prison.
The disparity between the tribunal’s judgments and the intelligence community’s consensus view that Kurnaz is innocent is detailed in newly released military and court documents that track his fate. His attorneys, who sued the Pentagon to gain access to the documents, say that they reflect policies that result in mistreatment of the hundreds of foreigners who have been locked up for years at the controversial prison.
The Supreme Court intends to weigh the legitimacy of the military tribunals at a hearing this morning. Lawyers for Kurnaz and other detainees plan to argue that the panels violate the U.S. Constitution and international law. They say that the proceedings have not provided Guantanamo Bay detainees with a fair and impartial hearing.
Lawyers for the Bush administration will argue that the tribunals have afforded suspected enemies all the rights to which they are entitled. The administration maintains that detainees need not know all of the evidence against them. The tribunals were established in 2004 after the Supreme Court ruled that such panels are needed when holding prisoners indefinitely, and Congress endorsed them in 2005.
U.S. District Judge Joyce Hens Green, who was privy to the classified record of the tribunal’s decision-making about Kurnaz in 2004, concluded in January 2005 that his treatment provided powerful evidence of bias against prisoners, and she deemed the proceedings illegal under U.S. and international law. But her ruling, which depicted the allegations against Kurnaz as unsubstantiated and as an inappropriate basis for keeping him locked up, was mostly classified at the time.
In newly released passages, however, Green’s ruling reveals that the tribunal members relied heavily on a memo written by a U.S. brigadier general who noted that Kurnaz had prayed while the U.S. national anthem was sung in the prison and that he expressed an unusual interest in detainee transfers and the guard schedule. Other documents make clear that U.S. intelligence officials had earlier concluded that Kurnaz, who went to Pakistan shortly after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, to visit religious sites, had simply chosen a bad time to travel.
The process is “fundamentally corrupted,” said Baher Azmy, a professor at Seton Hall Law School who represents Kurnaz. “All of this just reveals that they had the wrong person and they knew it.”
He added: “His entire file reveals he has no connection with terrorism. None. Confronted with this uncomfortable fact, the military panel makes up evidence” to justify its claim that only real terrorists are incarcerated at Guantanamo Bay.
Cmdr. Jeffrey D. Gordon, a Pentagon spokesman, declined to comment on whether the military now believes that it erred in imprisoning Kurnaz, or to discuss the release of new records. He stressed that a substantial amount of information about Kurnaz remains classified.
In a written statement, Gordon said that the military’s determinations about detainees are “necessarily impacted by a variety of factors which can include the passage of time. Also, such decisions are based on the entirety of the information before DoD, and it is misguided to draw conclusions based on only parts of some documents.”
Some of Kurnaz’s experience — including the existence of official documents suggesting that he was detained by mistake — is well known. In March 2005, The Washington Post wrote about Green’s decision after court officials inadvertently declassified portions of it. Kurnaz was released from Guantanamo Bay in August 2006, a few months after new German Chancellor Angela Merkel told President Bush in a private meeting that obtaining the detainee’s freedom was one of her top priorities.
But the text of the internal government memos exonerating Kurnaz, the Army general’s memo supporting Kurnaz’s continued incarceration and key portions of Green were not disclosed earlier because the U.S. military official overseeing Guantanamo Bay argued that their release would compromise national security.
Kurnaz was born in Turkey and had lived nearly his entire life in Germany. He traveled to Pakistan on Oct. 3, 2001, to visit religious sites, connecting at one point with a missionary group that U.S. military officials have said promotes jihadi ideology and has been used as a cover by members of the Taliban and al-Qaeda.
In December 2001, Pakistani police pulled Kurnaz and missionaries off a bus and handed him to U.S. troops. Four weeks later, he was flown to Guantanamo Bay — one of the first detainees to arrive in the newly opened prison.
German and American intelligence officers interviewed Kurnaz in September 2002, records show. They jointly concluded that nothing was linking the man from Bremen to terrorist cells or enemy fighters and that he should be freed. In a memo dated May 19, 2003, the commanding general of the Criminal Investigation Task Force, a Pentagon intelligence unit that interrogates detainees and collects evidence about them, wrote that “CITF is not aware of evidence that Kurnaz was or is a member of al-Qaeda. CITF is not aware of any evidence that Kurnaz may have aided or abetted, or conspired to commit acts of terrorism.”
After the Supreme Court ruled in 2004 that Guantanamo Bay prisoners could not be held indefinitely without fact-finding by an objective tribunal, the Pentagon hastily assembled panels of field-grade officers to serve as Combatant Status Review Tribunals. Since they began, the panels have overwhelmingly supported continued detention of those at Guantanamo Bay, ruling that 534 detainees were “enemy combatants,” while only 38 were not.
In September 2004, one such panel cited intelligence on a suicide bombing by someone Kurnaz allegedly knew — an account later found to be incorrect — in concluding that Kurnaz was “properly classified as an enemy combatant” and was a member of al-Qaeda.
In a previously classified passage of her ruling, Green said the panel ignored “conflicting exculpatory evidence in at least three separate documents,” thereby raising questions about its impartiality. The only solid information in Kurnaz’s file showed that the CIA, U.S. military intelligence and German intelligence found nothing linking him to terrorist groups, she said.
Green complained about the panel’s reliance on an unsubstantiated memo, dated June 25, 2004, written by Brig. Gen. David B. Lacquement, then head of U.S. Southern Command’s intelligence unit, to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.
Much of Lacquement’s memo is still redacted. But besides noting Kurnaz’s prayers during the U.S. national anthem, the newly declassified portions also state that he “asked how tall the basketball rim was” in the prison yard, which Lacquement said revealed a desire to escape. In addition, Kurnaz “attempted to obtain information concerning detainee transfers” and “to discuss the current work schedule of the guards,” the memo notes.
Green expressed doubt that Lacquement had developed compelling new information about terrorist links that tipped the scales. Lacquement, who is now a major general commanding the Army Intelligence and Security Command at Fort Belvoir, did not respond to requests for comment.
At a minimum, Green wrote, the documents raised the question of what specific information could have been discovered between the May 2003, memo stating that there was no evidence that the detainee was a member of al-Qaeda or was in direct contact with any Taliban recruiters, and the June 2004, memo by the general stating that the detainee was a danger.
“However the record in Kurnaz is interpreted, it definitively establishes that the detainee was not provided with a fair opportunity to contest the material allegations against him,” Green wrote. Until recently, much of her denunciation was classified, by a court security office relying on Pentagon and Justice Department officials for advice on what to conceal from the public.
In January 2006, another military review panel decided once again that Kurnaz was still “a danger” and should remain at Guantanamo Bay. Internal Defense Department e-mails show that this administrative review board, roughly comparable to a parole board, did not look at the material that Kurnaz’s lawyer had submitted to make its decision.
After a public uproar in Germany over the German government’s role in Kurnaz’s continuing imprisonment, Merkel pressed Bush at a private meeting that January to release him. In July 2006, an unusual second review board convened.
The FBI’s counterterrorism division, new records show, wrote in a memo dated May 31, 2006, for that board that “the FBI has no investigative interest in this detainee” and that “there is no information that Kurnaz received any military training or is associated with the Taliban or al-Qa’ida.” The wording of its brief conclusion about whether Kurnaz posed any threat was redacted.
The second review board ruled that Kurnaz was no longer an enemy combatant and that he could be released, but the reasons remain redacted.
Not until August 2006, nearly five years after his imprisonment began, was Kurnaz flown home, goggled, masked and bound, as he had been when he was flown to Guantanamo Bay. As U.S. military officials led him out of Ramstein Air Base, and as he was about to take his first steps onto German soil, the Americans offered to leave plastic wrist cuffs on their former prisoner. German federal police declined.
He was escorted as a free man to the back seat of a Mercedes-Benz sedan for the short ride to his reunion with his parents and two younger brothers.
Staff researcher Julie Tate contributed to this report.
© 2007 The Washington Post
Professor Baher Azmy says the process is “fundamentally corrupted.” While the professor is certainly right about that, the observation doesn’t go nearly far enough in assessing the total corruption of the entire current system of US governance and the role of Guantanamo and other ‘black hole’ detention facilities therein.
The Republic has recently published an article by Michael Nenonen on the USA as a rapidly evolving fascist state. (Also posted here with reader comments.) In that article, Nenonen correctly points out some of the broader implications of the American Gulag and its place in the “regal presidency’s” emulation of historical fascist power plays.
Brief excerpt:
I am so ashamed of the US
Supreme Court Justices need to remember they too can be impeached. Instead of upholding the bush White House they had better uphold the Constiution; if not-they can be replaced; and they should be.
dlnelson
Yes I am also ashamed of the US. Its so very very sad what has happened. The US had so much power and could have done so much good in the world and it all has been wasted on a people who are very selfish and unwilling to take responsibility for their own government.
As an American I unite with all the other peoples of the world who have governments that are violating human rights. I hope that there are enough people in power in the US to right these wrongs and help America make a better record of human rights policies.
I am ashamed.
Guantanamo is an abomination and should be shut down immediately. The place is just a reminder of how sick George Bush and his minions are. The ones who should be on trial are the ones giving the trials.
In the Inquisition you were guilty because you were charged. Evidence is irrelevant, “You’ve been charged.” In fairness, Inquisitors have a difficult job. They must find reasons to burn people. In the absence of evidence this can be difficult. Back to the Medici, the Inquisitor knows we are all guilty, they just haven’t got to us yet. That’s why they always carry the instruments of torture (with a bent ph.d. shrink or saw bones a cell call away), to make you say what they want to hear, and as a lesson to the neighborhood of course. That fact that they will shatter your entire personality in the process (if they leave you alive), is irrelevant, collateral damage.
We have created our own Inquisitors. Many of us will come to know our Inquisitors in dark and cold places. Pity them. We are without Mercy & Justice is somebody else’s job.
Peace.
Peace.
Peace.
I’m not a Muslim, but its my understanding that there are certain times of the day when a Muslim is supposed to pray. Given the deliberate intent of the US military to break down and insult the religion of the detainees, it wouldn’t surprise me one bit if they choose to have the US national anthem sung during the time of prayer.
Speaking of the inquisition, maybe we should just use the Monty Python routine about a duck and a piece of wood and determining if someone is a witch as the tribunal.
I think we should keep Gitmo open. If we ever truly reach justice in this country, we are going to need a place to imprison Bush, Cheney and the rest who’ve done this to what used to be our land of freedom and liberty.
All the current Supreme Court justices have been confirmed by the Senate. And recently we’ve seen the Democrats in the Senate give their approval and blessings to two of the most conservative judges who would support these policies. Thus, there’s no reason for the SC to fear impeachment today.
Elect a Green Party majority to the House and Senate, and that might change in a hurry though. Keep electing Democrats and nothing is going to change.
Arvy– a very outstanding post, and I will check out your links.
The military has gotten caught up in the Bush/Cheney madness, and now they are trapped between obeying their orders and being court-martialed for their participation in an atrocity. So they are trying to keep the lid on it with overzealous secrecy and crooked hearings.
This is a surprise?
Brig.General Laquement being head of U.S.military intelligence says it all.The histories of all wars have anyone disputing higher commands decisions being sacked,sidelined,humiliated,and worse.The aim is not to find the truth but to confirm their decisions.
How is it that the German government tolerates us? We have done this at least twice to their citizens - probably more - yet their relations with us are peaceful. I think we’re getting off really lucky here not to be on every country’s hit list in the world for the crap we’ve pulled on our neighbors.
Clearly the economic elites of the United States have lost faith in Democracy and chosen Fascism to sustain their wealth and privilege. Their belief in White Protestant Dominion is reinforced by Christianity. The American Public appeares poised to endure the hardships and once visited upon American Indians. Pledge your loyalty and belief or you will be imprisoned or killed. For the last thirty years American manhood has been diminished by both feminists and the media. Men have weakened themselves in beer and football. American fetuses have been sacrificed through abortions to take the moral highground from the public. Killing is killing, right? Population demographics guarantee that Whites will become a minority near the middle of this Century. So the table is set and the season is ripe for Facism. Reaping what has been sewn is an old lesson unlearned. Damn us.
“…their release would compromise national security.”
Exactly! We can’t have these INNOCENT people running around NOT being a danger to us. We can’t allow the news that we incarcerate and torture INNOCENT people to be known, as that would detract from our moral self-righteousness as lightness and good personified.
We need evil-doers and if we can’t have them then imaginary evil-doers will suffice.
Else, how to keep scaring the American people into giving away all their rights?
Search Google for “Rex-84″ and have the shit scared out of you. They have been preparing to set up Guantanamo’s all over the United States. These FEMA camps are REAL! And Really scary!
I know it is politically incorrect to compare the US Government to the Nazi State.
“After all”, ‘they’ say, the US is not exterminating millions of its own citizens.”
That is true, but if one looks at the Secret Guantanamo Tribunals and how people can be held without trial, or even seeing the evidence against them forever, (or until the so-called War on Terror is won), exactly how is US Justice different from the Nazi State justice system?
As an American citizen I am deeply sorry, sickened and ashamed of how our country will now be judged in History despite all the great things that it has done in the past.
This type of behavior is a travesty of the rule of law. The United States has created precedents that will come back to haunt us in the years to come.
Fo example: Couldn’t members of the Bush administration, once they have left office, be “declared” war criminals and combatants and therefore whisked away to Guantanamo to await a possible fate?
One poster just asked why Germany still is on friendly terms with the USA. As an Australian on this site I can answer that.
Everything is global. The fascism you speak of is global. The corporations are global. However the people are living the myth of nationalism.
Nationalism is like racism but we just haven’t worked that out yet. It’s great for sporting events and competitions but when we wave our flags and sing our anthems and believe that we are superior people because we were born in one country or another we don’t see the nasty side.
Nationalisism was used by Bush to go to Iraq, to hate the French for questioning it, and to unite the American people for war. Those who question are unpatriotic.
Consider that a German citizen prayed during the American national anthem. Should he have stood to attention?
So what are you going to do? As an outsider, might I suggest that “My country, right or wrong” is fraught with peril?
When the American founding fathers wrote the Declaration of Independence, it was never meant to be applied just to Americans but to all who would read it:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute a new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organising its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.”
This document belongs not to the USA but to the world. Unfortunately, it was defeated because those who wrote it never imagined a slick global media that controlled and moulded public opinion with anthems, brass bands and “us and them” mythology.
Might I suggest a public, government owned national broadcaster (like the BBC) with a fiercely independent tax-paid board “to keep the b*stards honest”
Alternatively, form a new political party - “The Common Dreams party” - winning isn’t everything in politics - being heard and having influence is.
“Much of Lacquement’s memo is still redacted. But besides noting Kurnaz’s prayers during the U.S. national anthem,”
Why on earth would this be a point of interest? A citizen of a country other than the usa is not obligated to stand during the us national anthem. It’s a sign of respect that you stand during the time another countries anthem is played, but it is not required. To expect someone who’s been tortured by agents of the us gov’t to stand during the us national anthem is beyond fucked up. I’m Canadian, were I incarcerated in guano, I’d be taking a crap when I heard your country’s anthem.
By the way, I do not now, nor have I ever taken a crap when able to hear another country’s national anthem.
The decline of America under Bush Jr., that is now so obvious to so many started a long time ago. Due to clever PR by many vested interests a myth about America’s goodness was created and bought hook, line and sinker by many.
Tragically is just isn’t so. Read online or download for free
www.amoralamerica.info
for some of the sad history.
The Supreme Court is precariously balanced. The STAR Chamber (Scalia, Thomas, Alito and Roberts) is sure to side with its neocon political masters, and Scalia and Thomas have already accepted gratuities, in the form of lucrative jobs for family members, from Bush shortly after awarding him an unmerited victory over Al Gore. Kennedy is the swing vote. In view of the obvious unconstitutionality and violation of international treaties posed by Guantanamo he should vote for the plaintiff, but it remains to be seen if he has that much integrity. Congress should be ashamed of its role in this whole sorry mess, which has alienated all of our allies and multiplied terrorists bent on revenge against the US. Regardless of what the Court does, Congress should repeal the USAPATRIOT, Military Commissions and Protect America Acts and hold public hearings aimed at justice, deterrence and restoration of the rule of law.
The majority of our political leadership in this country deserves to be exterminated. I would be happy with removal from office as I am really trying to work on the anger thing.
But do not fear, the majority of them will still be in office well into senility unless they get that lobbying job.
Marta said: “I know it is politically incorrect to compare the US Government to the Nazi State.
“After all”, ‘they’ say, the US is not exterminating millions of its own citizens.”
I’ve gotten the same reaction occasionally to my articles that compare the Bush Government to rising Nazi Germany. My answer is that, at one time, Hitler and his minions had not killed millions. The time to stop these maggots is before they kill and destroy. Unfortunately, I fear we may have missed the opportunity. And, yes, the camps await us. So, probably, does Room 101 (Ref. George Orwell’s 1984)
Good luck to us all.
COMarc — You and I agree about the only ones “qualified to be imprisoned at Gitmo”, are:
Namaste … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … Mahatma Gandhi … … … … … … … … … …
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This may not seem revelant but I watched an old movie on tv the other night: JFK. I had seen it before quite a while ago but I watched it again and saw it in an entirely different light. It was the beginning of what is happening today. The guy in prison said,” You will not recognize your country when they are through, this country will be facist. That is why JFK was killed” Of course everyone wrote him off as a nut case ( and maybe he was) but he saw it coming.
When killing is accepted as a means to an end, and God only knows how many we have killed in Iraq and Afghanistan and the West Bank and in our own country, the leader turned killer loses touch with the roots of civilization and steps into barbarism. At the best of times, only a thin veneer of civilization separated American society from barbarism, but now our leaders are up to their elbows in blood, drinking the stuff. If not for the report from the intelligence agencies, they would have been drinking even more in Iran. The only way they continue to get away with it is through the baldfaced lie, the endless spin and the credulous population. As Lincoln said: “You can fool some of the people all of the time.” That’s all you need to do.
djwolf–very good post. You should come to our country and teach civics–to our representatives in Congress.
Also congratulations on your new leader. Already he’s making a real difference.
On having a national broadcaster, we do; PBS for television, and NPR for radio. They are better than the commercial networks, but have had their wings clipped somewhat by pro-corporate politicians.
There are several “third” parties around, the most notable being the Green Party, but the rules are written so as to squelch all but the Big Two. The Dems and Repugs will be losing influence as more people register independent. By mid-century we may see both parties fractured into 4 or 5. At least, I hope so.
CLARK K — Abe deserves respectful and complete reference (as his following refrain, provides possible salvation from our near total Martial Law fascist Gov’t):
‘Even’ if he was Republican, he was really conserving the unity of the divided states at war, and provide a standard of ethics and belief long dead to DC.
Namaste … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … Mahatma Gandhi … … … … … … … … … …
« We must be the change we wish to see in the world »
« There is a sufficiency in the world for man’s need but not for man’s greed »
Does anybody really believe that the guilt or innocence of the prisoners at Guantanimo matters to the Bush administration and their fascist cabal? These are people who vehemently defend torture AFTER swearing to uphold the constitution. They no more care about the guilt or innocence of the people they torture than the people they execute in our nations prisons.
The psychology of abusers doesn’t require an actual error in order to trigger abuse. Like an abusive husband who beats his wife after eating a perfect dinner on the premise that it was spoiled they JUST DON’T CARE. They feel an visceral need to direct and control the suffering of others.
These people need to torture others like a junkie needs smack. The identity or guilt matters not at all to them. The truth obviously means nothing to them. Lives of Americans mean nothing to them. The only thing that matters is that they get to control other peoples pain.
PANGOLIN — You mention that this situation indicates that “The only thing that matters is that they get to control other peoples pain.”
I believe that it’s more than having control over the direct victims, he’s creating world-wide suffering and terror vicariously, by advertising it and even bragging about it.
Namaste … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … Mahatma Gandhi … … … … … … … … … …
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Breast milk and baby formula on an airplane are a threat to national security, at least when Homeland Security utters some color or another.
In such times of madness, who can be surprised that extremists and frauds are unmoved by evidence?
djwolf December 5th, 2007 7:54 pm
A great insightful post. I am not sure there is much more to add as all the complaints about the Supreme Court, Gitmo and creeping fascism are byproducts of what djwolf outlined in this post.
Has anyone seen or heard about an effort to collect and make public the stories of the few men who have been released from Guantanamo? There was a citizen of the U.K. and an Australian that were released but their complaints lasted about a day?
Highly intelligent thread, and it’s good to see people like us who ARE disgusted by what IS disgusting, and retain sound moral precepts in a phase of overt Darkness.
LUCKY LEFTY: Your insights are always profound, and yet to look ONLY through the glass darkly has to warp your own spirit, lest you retain a macabre sense of humor? Keep it up and you’re fast becoming CD’s version of Edgar Alan Poe! Remember, for all the bad news, there are thousands of caring people–the salt of the earth–that are doing the work of carrying the light and projecting LOVE into this world in turmoil. IT is undergoing a very tough rebirth, and the current labor process ain’t pretty.
Evidence was also not permitted for the Blackwater Protesters at their trial yesterday.
I think Carl Sagan was right when he warned in his last book that a people who no longer required evidence, but relied on authority to tell them what was real, would be in danger of losing their civilization. It’s easy to see this is true with respect to the news reports about Maher Arar, Murat Kurnaz, and this week, the NIE report on Iran’s halted nuclear program. If the Bushies say someone is dangerous, then evidence to the contrary is negligible. “Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence” is their motto. It would have served the witch-hunters of Salem just as well.
“Find out just what people will submit to, and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them; and these will continue until they are resisted with either words or blows, or both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.”
Frederick Douglass
When I was a little girl my parents took a couple from a foreign country on a sightseeing tour of our city. As we went from site to site we went through some neighborhoods that were messy, dirty and not very attractive.
Our friends became aware of the people who lived there. The wife said, “I’m so ashamed of my people.” I thought that was a funny thing to say because she was attractive, and not messy or dirty so it had nothing to do with her…I thought.
Well, some 70 years later *I understand*. I too am ashamed…of MY country.
The USA has ZERO terrorists in Gitmo..they only have ALLEGED terrorists, as none have had fair trials proving their guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
There is definately a terrorist in the Oval Office though