this one explains it better, and brings out an issue I had not even considered -- the conflic of interest of many of the advocates.
Marine Corps Issues Gag Order in Detainee Abuse Case The action has lawyers worrying they could be punished for defending Guantanamo clients. By Carol J. Williams, Times Staff Writer October 15, 2006 MIAMI â The U.S. Marine Corps has threatened to punish two members of the military legal team representing a terrorism suspect being held at Guantanamo Bay if they continue to speak publicly about reported prisoner abuse, a civilian lawyer from the defense team said Saturday. The action directed at Lt. Col. Colby Vokey and Sgt. Heather Cerveny follows their report last week that Guantanamo guards bragged about beating detainees, said Muneer Ahmad, an American University law professor who assists in the defense of Canadian suspect Omar Khadr. The order has heightened fears among the military defense lawyers for Guantanamo prisoners that their careers will suffer for exposing flaws and injustices in the system, Ahmad said. "In one fell swoop, the government is gagging a defense lawyer and threatening retaliation against a whistle-blower," Ahmad said. "It really points out what is wrong with the detainee legislation that Bush is scheduled to sign on Tuesday: It permits the abuse of detainees to continue, immunizes the wrongdoers and precludes the detainees from ever challenging it in court." The Marine Corps said the gag order had been issued to ensure the legal team's actions were in compliance with professional standards. "The Chief Defense Counsel of the Marine Corps, as Lt. Col. Vokey's direct supervisor, has directed him not to communicate with the media on this case pending her review of the facts," said 1st Lt. Blanca E. Binstock of the Marine public affairs office. Defense lawyers for Guantanamo prisoners say the personal stakes are high and point to the Navy's failure to promote Lt. Cmdr. Charles Swift after he successfully challenged the legitimacy of the Pentagon's war-crimes commissions. Two weeks after the Supreme Court ruled the commissions unconstitutional and lacking in due process, Swift was passed over for advancement and will be forced by the Navy's up-or-out policy to retire by summer. At least three other military defense lawyers for the 10 charged terrorism suspects have also been passed over for promotion in what some consider a subtle reprimand of their vigorous defense of their clients. "We've all known that representing folks in these kind of circumstances would have consequences, but to actually see Charlie passed over after he takes his case to the Supreme Court and wins â that certainly put it in the forefront for me," said Army Maj. Tom Fleener, who represents Ali Hamza Bahlul of Yemen. As an Army reservist with a civilian law career in Wyoming to return to in a year or so, Fleener notes he is less susceptible to pressures being exerted on the military defense lawyers. "If I was active duty, where my livelihood depended on what my military superiors said of me, I would feel tremendous pressure," he said. Fleener says the mood in Guantanamo defense circles has deteriorated since the government's response to the high court ruling June 29 that President Bush overstepped his powers when he created the military war-crimes commissions. Those commissions would have allowed Pentagon prosecutors to use hearsay evidence and testimony obtained through torture, and barred defendants from seeing evidence against them that prosecutors deemed classified. Congress last month passed legislation creating a new military commissions process almost identical to the one rejected by the Supreme Court, with the added restriction that Guantanamo detainees have no right to submit writs of habeas corpus to U.S. civil courts to challenge their detention. It was such a writ filed on behalf of Salim Ahmed Hamdan, an alleged driver and bodyguard for Osama bin Laden, that brought the tribunal case to the Supreme Court. Swift declined to comment on not having received a promotion. "As a defense attorney, I don't like allegations without evidence," he says of the widespread view among his colleagues that he was punished for challenging the administration's tribunal process. "What you sought in any career was an opportunity to make a difference. I got that opportunity, and for that I will be forever grateful," Swift said. He said the new commissions legislation appears to preclude defendants' getting a fair trial. "A zealous defense is essential to any process that works," Swift said. "What has given the commissions any integrity so far is the ability of defense council to raise the case and concerns in all federal forums and the commissions themselves, and when necessary, in the media." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-na-gitmo15oct15,1,3884201.story?coll=la-news-a_section > it sort of depends on your definition of the word trial. > > >Sounds to me like they are saying that these people will get trials > though > >the military justice system. > > http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2006/10/14/2025168-cp.html > > Khadr's lawyer under U.S. military gag order > > By BETH GORHAM > > WASHINGTON (CP) - The U.S. military lawyer who represents Canadian > Omar Khadr says he's been ordered not to speak to the media after his > accusations of ongoing abuse at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp in Cuba. > > > "I'm not allowed to speak to anyone concerning the military > commissions," Lt.-Col. Colby Vokey said in a telephone interview > Saturday. > > Asked who issued the gag order, Vokey said: "I can't even tell you > that." > > Vokey filed a military complaint about abuse last week. He attached a > sworn statement from his paralegal, Sgt. Heather Cerveny, that said > she talked to several Guantanamo guards who bragged about beating > detainees. > > Muneer Ahmad, a criminal defence lawyer who also works on Khadr's case, > said Vokey and Cerveny were ordered Friday by the U.S. marines not to > speak to media organizations. > > A marines spokeswoman said Saturday she'd have to look into the matter > before commenting. > > She later said the chief defence counsel of the Marine Corps, Col. > Carol Joyce, directed Volkey not to communicate with the media on this > case pending her review of the facts. > > "This is necessary to ensure all actions of counsel are in compliance > with regulations establishing professional standards for military > attorneys," said 1st Lt. Blanca Binstock. > > "This is a really troubling development," said Ahmad. "I think it > really compromises his ability to represent his client. He needs to > talk about it in order to do his job." > > Vokey could be facing jail for dereliction of duty if he doesn't obey > the order, said Ahmad, adding he will likely talk next week with the > ethics committee of the California state licensing board to determine > his options. > > "At every turn, it's a kind of information control," said Ahmad. > > "It's revealing of the structural flaw in the system." > > Cerveny visited Guantanamo last month and said she spent an hour with > some guards at the military club. > > "From the whole conversation, I understood that striking detainees was > a common practice," she wrote in her complaint. "Everyone in the group > laughed at the others' stories of beating detainees." > > They stopped talking about it, she said, when they found out she > worked on Khadr's legal team. > > Her allegations, said Ahmad, are consistent with Khadr's descriptions > of abuse. > > "Here is strong evidence supporting the claim of Col. Vokey's client > of ongoing abuse at Guantanamo," said Richard Wilson at American > University's law college. > > "By ordering him to be quiet, the military is preventing Col. Vokey > from fulfilling his ethical obligations as a lawyer," said Wilson, > who's also on Khadr's legal team. > > Khadr, 20, has been in U.S. custody since he was picked up in > Afghanistan when he was 15 years old. He's charged with murdering an > American medic in a July 2002 firefight. > > He has told his lawyers he's been beaten, held for long periods in > stress positions and locked up in solitary confinement for months at a > time. > > The U.S. Southern Command based in Miami launched an investigation > Friday into the abuse allegations. > > "I don't know if there's reason to have confidence in that or not," > said Ahmad. > > President George W. Bush is expected to sign a new bill next week on > the special military commission system for detainees in the war on > terror held at the U.S. base in Cuba. > > "This is more than a coincidence," said Ahmad. "Sgt. Cerveny's sworn > statement reveals exactly what is wrong with the new law. It permits > the abuse of detainees to continue, it immunizes wrongdoers and it > strips the courts of the power to ever hear complaints of such abuse. > > > "The president wants us to believe there never was abuse at Guantanamo > and that there isn't abuse now. Sgt. Cerveny's statement shows that > just isn't true." > > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Introducing the Fusion Authority Quarterly Update. 80 pages of hard-hitting, up-to-date ColdFusion information by your peers, delivered to your door four times a year. http://www.fusionauthority.com/quarterly Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/message.cfm/messageid:217504 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
