SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Guantánamo Bay: Interrogators Told to Destroy Torture Notes, US Lawyer Claims
Interrogators at Guantanamo Bay were told to destroy their notes to stop them potentially being used to highlight the mistreatment of detainees, according to a US military lawyer.
Jun 09, 2008
Interrogators at Guantanamo Bay were told to destroy their notes to stop them potentially being used to highlight the mistreatment of detainees, according to a US military lawyer.
William Kuebler, a lieutenant commander who is defending Omar Khadr, a Canadian national facing trial for alleged war crimes in Afghanistan, said the classified instructions were included in an operations manual that prosecutors allowed him to see last week.
The apparently wilful and officially sanctioned destruction of notes meant he would be unable to challenge supposed confessions given by Khadr, Kuebler said yesterday.
He told reporters the instruction was contained in a US military manual of standard operating procedures, or SOPs, for interrogators that was shown to him during a pre-trial review of possible evidence.
"The mission has legal and political issues that may lead to interrogators being called to testify ... Keeping the number of documents with interrogation information to a minimum can minimise certain legal issues," the document was cited as saying in an affidavit signed by Kuebler.
The navy lawyer now plans to seek a dismissal of charges against 21-year-old Khadr, who was detained in Afghanistan at the age of 15.
Khadr, who faces a series of charges, including murder for allegedly throwing a grenade that killed a US special forces soldier in 2002, is set to be one of the first Guantanamo detainees to face a war crimes trial.
Kuebler said the way the interrogations were carried out was central to Khadr's case because prosecutors were relying largely on testimony obtained from him at Guantanamo, and earlier at Bagram air base, in Afghanistan.
"If handwritten notes were destroyed in accordance with the SOP, the government intentionally deprived Omar's lawyers of key evidence with which to challenge the reliability of his statements," Kuebler said.
Prisoners released from both Guantanamo and Bagram have alleged routine mistreatment during interrogation. The Pentagon denies this.
Kuebler said the operations manual, from January 2003, was attached to a 2005 report into alleged detainee abuse at Guantanamo, but that the section covering the manual was not made public at the time.
The 2005 report documented degrading treatment, but stopped short of saying torture occurred.
At the weekend, the Pentagon said the process of trying Guantanamo prisoners for alleged war crimes was a "number one priority". It said it was doubling the total of military lawyers assigned to prosecution and defence teams. About 270 detainees remain at the former naval base, of which the US military hopes to prosecute up to 80.
Critics of the hearings say the US is seeking to rush through trials before the presidential election in November. However, claims that potential evidence was destroyed could be used by lawyers defending other detainees to challenge their alleged confessions.
(c) 2008 The Guardian
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Interrogators at Guantanamo Bay were told to destroy their notes to stop them potentially being used to highlight the mistreatment of detainees, according to a US military lawyer.
William Kuebler, a lieutenant commander who is defending Omar Khadr, a Canadian national facing trial for alleged war crimes in Afghanistan, said the classified instructions were included in an operations manual that prosecutors allowed him to see last week.
The apparently wilful and officially sanctioned destruction of notes meant he would be unable to challenge supposed confessions given by Khadr, Kuebler said yesterday.
He told reporters the instruction was contained in a US military manual of standard operating procedures, or SOPs, for interrogators that was shown to him during a pre-trial review of possible evidence.
"The mission has legal and political issues that may lead to interrogators being called to testify ... Keeping the number of documents with interrogation information to a minimum can minimise certain legal issues," the document was cited as saying in an affidavit signed by Kuebler.
The navy lawyer now plans to seek a dismissal of charges against 21-year-old Khadr, who was detained in Afghanistan at the age of 15.
Khadr, who faces a series of charges, including murder for allegedly throwing a grenade that killed a US special forces soldier in 2002, is set to be one of the first Guantanamo detainees to face a war crimes trial.
Kuebler said the way the interrogations were carried out was central to Khadr's case because prosecutors were relying largely on testimony obtained from him at Guantanamo, and earlier at Bagram air base, in Afghanistan.
"If handwritten notes were destroyed in accordance with the SOP, the government intentionally deprived Omar's lawyers of key evidence with which to challenge the reliability of his statements," Kuebler said.
Prisoners released from both Guantanamo and Bagram have alleged routine mistreatment during interrogation. The Pentagon denies this.
Kuebler said the operations manual, from January 2003, was attached to a 2005 report into alleged detainee abuse at Guantanamo, but that the section covering the manual was not made public at the time.
The 2005 report documented degrading treatment, but stopped short of saying torture occurred.
At the weekend, the Pentagon said the process of trying Guantanamo prisoners for alleged war crimes was a "number one priority". It said it was doubling the total of military lawyers assigned to prosecution and defence teams. About 270 detainees remain at the former naval base, of which the US military hopes to prosecute up to 80.
Critics of the hearings say the US is seeking to rush through trials before the presidential election in November. However, claims that potential evidence was destroyed could be used by lawyers defending other detainees to challenge their alleged confessions.
(c) 2008 The Guardian
Interrogators at Guantanamo Bay were told to destroy their notes to stop them potentially being used to highlight the mistreatment of detainees, according to a US military lawyer.
William Kuebler, a lieutenant commander who is defending Omar Khadr, a Canadian national facing trial for alleged war crimes in Afghanistan, said the classified instructions were included in an operations manual that prosecutors allowed him to see last week.
The apparently wilful and officially sanctioned destruction of notes meant he would be unable to challenge supposed confessions given by Khadr, Kuebler said yesterday.
He told reporters the instruction was contained in a US military manual of standard operating procedures, or SOPs, for interrogators that was shown to him during a pre-trial review of possible evidence.
"The mission has legal and political issues that may lead to interrogators being called to testify ... Keeping the number of documents with interrogation information to a minimum can minimise certain legal issues," the document was cited as saying in an affidavit signed by Kuebler.
The navy lawyer now plans to seek a dismissal of charges against 21-year-old Khadr, who was detained in Afghanistan at the age of 15.
Khadr, who faces a series of charges, including murder for allegedly throwing a grenade that killed a US special forces soldier in 2002, is set to be one of the first Guantanamo detainees to face a war crimes trial.
Kuebler said the way the interrogations were carried out was central to Khadr's case because prosecutors were relying largely on testimony obtained from him at Guantanamo, and earlier at Bagram air base, in Afghanistan.
"If handwritten notes were destroyed in accordance with the SOP, the government intentionally deprived Omar's lawyers of key evidence with which to challenge the reliability of his statements," Kuebler said.
Prisoners released from both Guantanamo and Bagram have alleged routine mistreatment during interrogation. The Pentagon denies this.
Kuebler said the operations manual, from January 2003, was attached to a 2005 report into alleged detainee abuse at Guantanamo, but that the section covering the manual was not made public at the time.
The 2005 report documented degrading treatment, but stopped short of saying torture occurred.
At the weekend, the Pentagon said the process of trying Guantanamo prisoners for alleged war crimes was a "number one priority". It said it was doubling the total of military lawyers assigned to prosecution and defence teams. About 270 detainees remain at the former naval base, of which the US military hopes to prosecute up to 80.
Critics of the hearings say the US is seeking to rush through trials before the presidential election in November. However, claims that potential evidence was destroyed could be used by lawyers defending other detainees to challenge their alleged confessions.
(c) 2008 The Guardian
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.
To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good.
News & Opinion
Trending
Common Dreams, Inc. Founded 1997. Registered 501(c3) Non-Profit
Privacy Policy