Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
MiamiHerald.com
February 27, 2008 By Ben Fox, Associated Press
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- The military is speeding ahead with plans to try six men at Guantanamo Bay for the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks but none of the defendants, who face possible execution if found guilty, has seen a defense lawyer yet.
Only one military lawyer has been assigned to the case, as the unit responsible for organizing the defense struggles with a lack of attorneys and paralegals and argues with commanders at Guantanamo over access to the men held at the U.S. military base in Cuba.
The problems underscore broader concerns that military tribunals - expected to eventually try some 80 Guantanamo detainees - overwhelmingly favor the prosecution, Army Col. Steve David, the chief defense counsel for the war-crimes trials, told The Associated Press.
He said his team faces a variety of disadvantages, including trial rules that allow classified hearsay testimony against the detainees and the fact that prosecutors can use material gathered over years while the men have been in custody - before the defense has even begun to look for its evidence.
"I have grave concerns about the commissions process and grave concerns about the ability to provide them with a fair trial," David said in a recent phone interview from Washington.
The defense counsel's office is authorized 25 military attorneys and 12 paralegals but currently has only nine attorneys and six paralegals - and they are already busy with pending cases against six other Guantanamo detainees. The additional legal help, once it arrives, will need extensive preparation, David said.
U.S. officials defend the tribunals and say they are working with defense counsel to ensure adequate attorney access. Last week, legal officials agreed to allow military lawyers to make phone calls to their clients, said a spokesman for the Guantanamo detention center, Navy Cmdr. Rick Haupt.
"Joint Task Force Guantanamo takes extraordinary steps to facilitate counsel access to their detainee clients," Haupt insisted in an e-mail to AP.
David said he expected staffing and access to be resolved eventually - and pledged to give charged Guantanamo detainees "the best representation possible." But several military lawyers on his staff also shared his concern about the overall fairness of the proceedings.
Prosecutors filed charges Feb. 11 against the six high-profile detainees, who include Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged architect of the Sept. 11 attacks, and Mohammed al-Qahtani, who allegedly would have been one of the hijackers if immigration officers had not prevented him from entering the United States.
So far, only al-Qahtani has been assigned a military lawyer. That lawyer, Army Lt. Col. Bryan Broyles, said officials at Guantanamo denied him a joint meeting with al-Qahtani and a civilian attorney earlier this month. It would have been their first encounter. Broyles said the presence of the civilian lawyer was key to establish rapport.
Haupt denied Broyles' claim that Guantanamo officials blocked the meeting and said al-Qahtani refused to attend.
In a bid to establish rapport with detainees, military defense lawyers have lobbied for the right to wear civilian clothes when they meet with them and to have civilian lawyers present when possible. Loosening its rules somewhat, the U.S. now allows military lawyers to have their first meeting in civilian clothes but requires them to wear their uniforms thereafter.
Army Col. James Sawyers, a defense lawyer who was denied permission to meet with a client in civilian clothes in October, said the change does not go far enough.
He has met with the man about five times in his uniform and that "there is no question in my mind that it has hurt my relationship," he said.
February 27, 2008 By Ben Fox, Associated Press
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- The military is speeding ahead with plans to try six men at Guantanamo Bay for the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks but none of the defendants, who face possible execution if found guilty, has seen a defense lawyer yet.
Only one military lawyer has been assigned to the case, as the unit responsible for organizing the defense struggles with a lack of attorneys and paralegals and argues with commanders at Guantanamo over access to the men held at the U.S. military base in Cuba.
The problems underscore broader concerns that military tribunals - expected to eventually try some 80 Guantanamo detainees - overwhelmingly favor the prosecution, Army Col. Steve David, the chief defense counsel for the war-crimes trials, told The Associated Press.
He said his team faces a variety of disadvantages, including trial rules that allow classified hearsay testimony against the detainees and the fact that prosecutors can use material gathered over years while the men have been in custody - before the defense has even begun to look for its evidence.
"I have grave concerns about the commissions process and grave concerns about the ability to provide them with a fair trial," David said in a recent phone interview from Washington.
The defense counsel's office is authorized 25 military attorneys and 12 paralegals but currently has only nine attorneys and six paralegals - and they are already busy with pending cases against six other Guantanamo detainees. The additional legal help, once it arrives, will need extensive preparation, David said.
U.S. officials defend the tribunals and say they are working with defense counsel to ensure adequate attorney access. Last week, legal officials agreed to allow military lawyers to make phone calls to their clients, said a spokesman for the Guantanamo detention center, Navy Cmdr. Rick Haupt.
"Joint Task Force Guantanamo takes extraordinary steps to facilitate counsel access to their detainee clients," Haupt insisted in an e-mail to AP.
David said he expected staffing and access to be resolved eventually - and pledged to give charged Guantanamo detainees "the best representation possible." But several military lawyers on his staff also shared his concern about the overall fairness of the proceedings.
Prosecutors filed charges Feb. 11 against the six high-profile detainees, who include Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged architect of the Sept. 11 attacks, and Mohammed al-Qahtani, who allegedly would have been one of the hijackers if immigration officers had not prevented him from entering the United States.
So far, only al-Qahtani has been assigned a military lawyer. That lawyer, Army Lt. Col. Bryan Broyles, said officials at Guantanamo denied him a joint meeting with al-Qahtani and a civilian attorney earlier this month. It would have been their first encounter. Broyles said the presence of the civilian lawyer was key to establish rapport.
Haupt denied Broyles' claim that Guantanamo officials blocked the meeting and said al-Qahtani refused to attend.
In a bid to establish rapport with detainees, military defense lawyers have lobbied for the right to wear civilian clothes when they meet with them and to have civilian lawyers present when possible. Loosening its rules somewhat, the U.S. now allows military lawyers to have their first meeting in civilian clothes but requires them to wear their uniforms thereafter.
Army Col. James Sawyers, a defense lawyer who was denied permission to meet with a client in civilian clothes in October, said the change does not go far enough.
He has met with the man about five times in his uniform and that "there is no question in my mind that it has hurt my relationship," he said.