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U.S.General Target of Guantanamo Probe
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - The U.S. air force is investigating a senior Pentagon official who was reassigned last month amid accusations of misconduct while overseeing the Guantanamo war crimes tribunals, according to a former chief prosecutor.
Air Force Brig. Gen. Thomas Hartmann at the Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base, Cuba, in a June 4, 2008 file photo. (Reuters / Brennan Linsley) An investigation against air force Brig.-Gen. Thomas Hartmann was recently opened following a complaint from a military defence lawyer, air force Col. Morris Davis told The Associated Press on Saturday.
Davis said air force Brig.-Gen. Steven Lepper first called him two weeks ago to interview him about the complaints against Hartmann. The questions focused on Hartmann's influence on the prosecution of cases, Davis said.
"I'm optimistic that this current round of investigations will lead to something productive," said Davis, who quit as chief prosecutor in October 2007 after clashing with Hartmann.
Defence lawyers and human rights groups have accused Hartmann, who supervised the prosecution of enemy combatants at Guantanamo Bay, of lacking neutrality and pushing for prosecutions that would captivate the public for political gain, even before the detainees were ready to be charged.
The Los Angeles Times first reported the investigations of Hartmann on Saturday.
It said both the air force and the Department of Defence's Office of the Inspector General have launched separate investigations into Hartmann's conduct.
Joseph DellaVedova, a spokesman for the Pentagon's Office of Military Commissions, said it was an air force investigation and declined further comment.
"It's an ongoing investigation and inappropriate to say anything until it is complete," he wrote in an email.
The investigation shows that serious questions remain about the fairness of the commissions, said Jennifer Daskal, a lawyer with Human Rights Watch.
"The Department of Defence has absolutely refused to clean house," she said. "This may be the final straw. We'll have to wait and see."
Hartmann was appointed director of operations, planning and development for military commissions in September after serving as the commissions' legal adviser. The move took him away from direct supervision of the prosecution.
Two judges had previously barred him from acting as legal adviser for a lack of impartiality, and military colleagues have said he was abusive and unprofessional.
Among the cases he was barred from acting on was that of Canadian Omar Khadr, with a judge ruling last month that Hartmann had created the appearance that he would be "unable to remain neutral and impartial."
Khadr, 22, has been held for six years in the U.S. prison in Cuba. He is accused of throwing a hand grenade that killed an American medic after a firefight in Afghanistan in 2002 when he was 15.
His trial is set for January.
Daniel Dell'Orto, the Defence Department's acting general counsel, has previously credited Hartmann for his effort and dedication in driving the commissions process forward.
Davis said the new investigation was opened following complaints from defence lawyer air force Maj. David Frakt.
7 Comments so far
Show AllIs it really a surprise that a corporate counsel is the one who has turned the Guantanamo proceedings into an American version of the Volksgerichtshof at the urging of higher ups in the Department of Defense?
I can't think of any judicial proceeding outside of the royal court in Wonderland that is so wretchedly unjust and biased on its face.
Short of the court officers crying out a round robin of "off with his head!", this grotesque mockery of the administration of justice could not be more openly founded on an administrative desire to justify and validate its own reprehensible actions and Save Face. This can only be achieved by guilty verdicts.
An observer may reasonably presume that, despite the Tower of Babel of lip service to Honor, Duty, Integrity, and Fairness, the tryers of fact and the prosecutors operate from the premise that the defendant MUST be found, and WILL be found, GUILTY. The naked self-serving vindictiveness of the maladministration is plain to see, despite the ceaseless flickers of the forked tongues of public relations flacks assuring the public of the government and military's commitment to fairness and justice.
And on the off-chance that a defendant is exculpated, the defendant will be subjected to the harshest scrutiny and treatment, e.g. continued detention in anticipation of being tried for other crimes, or automatic retrial in case of a mistrial-- if "mistrials" can occur within mistrials. Release-- freedom-- is reluctantly conferred only if all else fails.
This latest "bad apple" may be a multiple offender, but the only reason he's on the spot is because he was a little too obvious in advertising the game plan.
These atrocities proceed most smoothly when the participating individuals are encouraged to believe in the fundamental rightness and correctness of the cause. In such enterprises, relatively decent, innocent personnel are drawn into the large and busy administrative machine; it is counter-productive to risk spooking them by directly disclosing the unsavory, ethically indefensible bottom line.
To even tacitly admit and expose the heinous fraud and deceit behind the operation of Gitmo and similar abominations worldwide would risk a serious Loss of Face. Better a thousand innocent men, women, and children are punished than to lose an iota of power and prestige.
Are we really surprised that our armed forces are torturing helpless hostages?
Hartmann's state bar should investigate him and, if the facts support it, initiate disbarment proceedings.
Alex
Don't knock Guantanamo, it will make an excellent Bastille when the time comes for neocon occupancy.
There you go again proposing that we spend money to keep an illegal post open, so that we can lock up the "neocons". Save the money and use it for fivoulous things like, feeding the 12 million American children each day, or even the 22 million hungry elderly.
Instead send the "necons" to occupy the "green zone" in Bagdad, after cutting off funds completely. If the Iraqis don't get them, they'll eat each other or the depleted Urnaium will kill them.
You see, this is spending "tax dollars wisely"----------
The time has come to begin dismantling the American military. We simply don't need it anymore. Every dollar poured into "defense" is a wasted dollar. I'm not advocating total abdication of our own national defense, but this Military-Industrial-Congressional Complex has become the worst enemy this country has ever faced and we're losing this war badly.