Reuters AlertNet Full site
Homepage | Newsdesk | NGO Latest | Crisis briefings | Country profiles | MediaWatch | Jobs | Alerting | Login

NEWSDESK

Ex-prosecutor says Guantanamo is "stain on America"
02 Dec 2008 19:41:24 GMT
 Source: Reuters
LONDON, Dec 2 (Reuters) - U.S. military tribunals at Guantanamo Bay are a "stain on America" that risk convicting innocent people because judicial standards are so low, a former senior prosecutor at the prison said on Tuesday.

Darrel Vandeveld, a U.S. Army lieutenant colonel who left his post at the base in Cuba earlier this year on ethical grounds, told the BBC that it was impossible to guarantee fair trials there.

"I thought that the military commissions were part of a grand tradition in accordance with the highest of American values," he said. "Now I see them as having defiled the U.S. Constitution and I see them as a stain on America.

"There should have been a procedure in place so that we could ensure due process and fair trials for these defendants. There was no such process."

A Pentagon spokesman said it disputed the prosecutor's claims, telling the BBC: "The military commission process provides full and fair trials to accused unlawful enemy combatants who are charged with a variety of war crimes."

In September, the Guantanamo military commissions chief prosecutor Colonel Lawrence Morris said Vandeveld had asked to quit the prosecution team for personal reasons, adding that "there were no grounds for his ethical qualms".

Morris said Vandeveld left because he was "disappointed" his superiors didn't follow his recommendations in the case of Mohammed Jawad, an Afghan accused of attempted murder.

However, in his BBC interview, Vandeveld said he had stumbled across testimony from Jawad in which he claimed to have been tortured. The prosecutor said he found the evidence while working in a colleague's office and was concerned it had not been forwarded to Jawad's defence team.

"Under the rules, that absolutely had to have been turned over to the defence immediately," Vandeveld told the BBC. "We haven't given him all the evidence to which he is entitled, we haven't complied with the rules.

Vandeveld said he had initially supported the tribunals at Guantanamo, set up in January 2002 to hold terrorism suspects captured after the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States by al Qaeda militants.

At one point he said he was the lead prosecutor for one third of all pending cases, although he soon grew concerned at the handling of evidence at Guantanamo.

"I went from being a true believer to one who felt truly deceived," he said. "Everything was in disarray, everything was contained in boxes that were not organised.

"I was convinced at that point that it was impossible to guarantee that they would get a fair trial," he added. "I was also concerned about the use of hearsay and then also what we would call double-hearsay.

"That would never be admissible in a United States court and of course coerced testimony would never be admissible. The evidence was in a state of chaos." (Reporting by Peter Griffiths; Editing by Richard Balmforth)


AlertNet news is provided by
Email this article       Send comments

NGO latest

•  UN 'will fail to meet targets' on universal access
HelpAge Intl - UK

•  ADRA's 2009 Really Useful Gift Catalog; Available Now
ADRA - International

•  Ministry of Displacement and Migration Opens Returnee Assistance Center in Baghdad; International Medical Corps Offers Key Support
IMC - USA

•  CHURCH LEADERS DEMONSTRATE LEADERSHIP ON WORLD AIDS DAY
Christian Aid - UK

•  Act From the Heart: Join ADRA in Commemorating World AIDS Day
ADRA - International

MORE >>

Latest news

•  Ex-prosecutor says Guantanamo is "stain on America"

•  Rice flies to India to ease tension with Pakistan

•  Israeli strike kills 2 in Gaza after mortars fired

•  U.S. says Pakistani-based group likely hit Mumbai

•  Rice heads to India to ease tension with Pakistan

MORE >>

AlertNet news is provided by

Background information

Facts & figures
United Kingdom United States of America Iraq

Related articles

Breaking stories
 Ex-prosecutor says Guantanamo is "stain on America" (1 minute ago)

Rice flies to India to ease tension with Pakistan (1 minute ago)

AlertNet insight
 Experts call for better data on climate change migrants (1 minute ago)

Aid agency news feed
 UN 'will fail to meet targets' on universal access (1 minute ago)

Blogs
 No Man's Land: Iraqi-Palestinians in Al Tanf Camp (1 minute ago)

Maps
 MAP: Global Incidence of H5N1 Virus (1 minute ago)


Del.icio.us Del.icio.us  |   Digg Digg  |   NewsVine NewsVine  |   Reddit Reddit   
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-11-21T141142Z_01_BAG327_RTRIDSP_2_IRAQ_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/BAG327.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-11-21T140814Z_01_BAG328_RTRIDSP_2_IRAQ_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/BAG328.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-11-21T121834Z_01_BAG319_RTRIDSP_2_IRAQ_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/BAG319.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-11-21T121347Z_01_BAG317_RTRIDSP_2_IRAQ_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/BAG317.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-11-21T120812Z_01_BAG315_RTRIDSP_2_IRAQ_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/BAG315.htm

A demonstrator slaps an effigy of U.S. President George W. Bush with a sandal during a rally at Firdos square in Baghdad November 21, 2008. Followers of Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr ...


More pictures | Galleries
Disclaimers |  Copyright |  Privacy |  Contact Us |  Feedback |  About Us |  RSS XML

Last updated:Tue Dec 2 19:42:47 2008