Pentagon Told Guantanamo Interrogators To Trash Evidence

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — The Pentagon urged interrogators at Guantanamo Bay to destroy handwritten notes in case they were called to testify about potentially harsh treatment of detainees, a military defense lawyer said Sunday.

The lawyer for Toronto-born Omar Khadr, Lt. Cmdr. William Kuebler, said the instructions were included in an operations manual shown to him by prosecutors and suggest the U.S. deliberately thwarted evidence that could help terror suspects defend themselves at trial.

Kuebler said the apparent destruction of evidence prevents him from challenging the reliability of any alleged confessions. He said he will use the document to seek a dismissal of charges against Khadr.

A Pentagon spokesman, Navy Cmdr. Jeffrey Gordon, said he was reviewing the matter Sunday evening.

The "standard operating procedures" manual that contained the purported instructions was made available to Kuebler last week as part of a pretrial review of potential evidence, the Navy lawyer said.

"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 minimize certain legal issues," the document is quoted as saying in an affidavit signed by Kuebler.

The document could support challenges by other detainees to suppress confessions at Guantanamo, where the U.S. military says it plans to prosecute as many as 80 of roughly 270 detainees before the first U.S. war-crimes tribunals since World War II.

The case against Khadr, who was captured in Afghanistan when he was 15, is on track to be one of the first to trial. He faces war-crimes charges including murder for allegedly throwing a grenade that killed a U.S. Special Forces soldier during a 2002 firefight.

Kuebler said the nature of the interrogations is particularly relevant in Khadr's case because prosecutors are relying on evidence "extracted" from him at Bagram air base in Afghanistan and at Guantanamo.

"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 in an e-mail to reporters.

The operations manual, which dates to January 2003, was attached to a 2005 report on an investigation into detainee abuse allegations at Guantanamo, Kuebler said. A summary of the findings was released at the time, but the defense lawyer said the section including the manual has not been made available publicly.

The so-called Schmidt-Furlow report documented degrading treatment, including one instance of a top terror suspect forced to dance with another man and behave like a dog. But investigators stopped short of saying torture occurred.

Comments

[barackobama4prez]

I have a new role for HILLARY CLINTON:

Take all that energy from the democratic races and go after Bush and Co. Hillary can do it. She can make these bastards wish they'd never messed with President Bill Clinton over a blow job.

These cowards deserve to be served with a juicy impeachment scandal. If Hillary doesn't want to campaign for Barack directly...this would be good enough to patch up things with the Democrats. GET GEORGE BUSH, CHENEY, RUMSFELD, RICE, POWELL & others for their roles in this. Go after the pentagon...go after the CIA...go after ANYONE who has abused the power of their position by lying to the American people.

Hillary will make history anyway with her historic campaign, but she will be a HERO if she brings down Bush. Hell after what they put her and Bill through....payback's a bitch.

Hillary is a lawyer. She's smart enough to get these bastards into the court house before the Nov. elections.

[BeyondGoodAndEvil]

Hilliary is not the right person for that job. She was instrumental in enabling Bu$h and the neocons in their crimes and only starting speaking out against the Iraq war in Iowa, and was initially pro-torture.

[pinkyboo]

That is a FANTASTIC IDEA!!!!!!!!!

[Durango]

That IS a good idea.

[mairs]

A good idea but remember she voted to go along with Bush and call the Iranian Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization, so she's not on our side, actually.

[blueskybigstar]

Except that she made some deal with the Bush administration not to prosecute them if she became president. Remember she sidled up to the Republican machine. Wasn't Rove trying to help her campaign? Obama was the only candidate who said that he would investigate these people. The Mena scandal seems to connect the Clintons with the Bushes. Wasn't it strange how Bill was frolicking around the globe with George senior? They're best buddies. Do you think she would really prosecute his son?

[ThunderclapNewman]

A truly dreadful idea.

First, Hlllary is a Senator, and she cannot begin impeachment proceedings.
Second there aren't enough votes for a conviciton.
Third, there isn't enough time left before January.
Fourth, your idea would take all the attention away from the very important election.
Fifth, the only penalty for conviction is removal from office.
Sixth, You need to study the Congressional impeachment process, because your comment shows you know nothing about how it works.

[Tommygun264]

The entire process of the impeachment of President Bill Clinton took a grand total of two whole months.

A President may and should be impeached for crimes committed during his term in office at any time, even AFTER he has left office. The penalty of being found guilty is not only removal from office, but the loss of any and all rights and privileges of that office, including his pension and the right to assert Executive Privilege during subsequent criminal proceedings, and impeachment clears the government itself from any charges of complicity. Once impeached, the former President may then be prosecuted for his crimes by the Judicial Branch like any other American citizen.

Perhaps we should all brush up on the Rules of Congressional Impeachment.

[Wiredwilly]

Clinton & Obama should have been doing their job in the Senate working on Impeachment for the last 16 months , not running around the Country spending millions of dollars to advance their own career. Hilary doesn't care about revenge on the Republicans, she seeks revenge on Bill but won't admit it. That's why she ran. Obama and Clinton will go after nothing but money. When the Janesville , Wisconsin, GM plant recently announced it would be closing, the first thing Obama did was suggest a $ 150 Billion Corporate Bail Out. " The domestic auto manufacturers will finally get the money they need.." - Barack Obama. Excuse me ? Big change. He wants the taxpayer to pay $150 Billion to the Auto Corporations to " retool " factories into becoming Green . How about let GM and FORD pay to " retool" their OWN freaking factories. The ONLY Democrats with any cajones are Dennis Kucinich and Russ Feingold. Kucinich 's Impeachment of Dick Cheney has been totally ignored by Clinton ,Obama, and the Press, as they ignore any evidence that 9/11 happened differently than the "Official" story. Give it up. Obama will change nothing when if he gets in. It's all hot air. Write in Ron Paul or Noam Chomsky if you really want change.

[speakingtruth2power]

When Barack Obama announces early on that John Edwards will be his Atty Gen,

we can all expect that justice will return to the country and that corporatism will be

replaced by a new wave of populism; With liberty and justice for ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, at least most of US can. You can never please everyone, it's an impossibility.

[Jason357]

It's perfectly legitimate request to have employees limit the amount of documents that are maintained. the trouble at Gitmo is not the destruction of evidence. The problem is a criminal White House admin that gave a bright green light to torture and about every wartime atrocity the US has accused it's enemies of.

[djh1]

Actually, it's not okay to destroy documents in anticipation of an ongoing or likely investigation. It's actually obstruction of justice. The Pentagon's lawyers should definitely know better, and I believe that they do, so that leaves the second part of your statement as being true and the root cause. Soldiers follow orders, and the ones giving them, unfortunately, have no respect for the law.

[shystar]

It is time the Bush Administration be placed before a court of law for there crimes aganist humanity.
The country needs to re-establish the rule of law no one should be above the rule of law.

[LaFeminazi]

Who would have thought it

That a nation once so proud of standing for Liberty and Justice for all

Would throw it away so easily.

[ChiGuy]

C.h.e.n.e.y. That's who.

[frenchynyc]

we didnt' throw it away - it was stolen from us by a cabal of crooks/liars/terrrorists..aka "republicans".

[SaulGood]

oh, we did, actually. we could've stopped this years ago. but, yet, here we still are - typing away our frustrations. lot of good that is doing us.

[Durango]

The legacy of this Administration rests on two hopes.

That a President can pardon people for acts they have not yet been charged with. And that a President can pardon himself. (Unless Bush resigns an hour before his Presidency is over in order to have Cheney pardon Bush.)

And that there are enough paper shredders to destroy all the evidence of their crimes.

Neither will prove to be sufficient. They will go down in history as the most corrupt, most criminal Administration in American history.

[biwee]

Yep, Addington, Abrams, Rice and all the gang are going gangbusters to try to destroy all the evidence of crimes. Maybe, just maybe, there are true patriots in this government who KNOW the truth, and are willing to expose it.

[Durango]

Probably there are enough people who will be implicated who are saving the evidence to protect their asses.

Not to mention the many loyal, patriotic government employees who saw what was happening and saved the evidence because they knew, sooner or alter, it would be necessary.

[Tommygun264]

Indictments? Prosecutions? Or are all those things too September 10th?

[fedupwithpolitics]

Our tax dollars at work!

[ReasonIsMyReligion]

And is Impeachment too 1973?

[BeyondGoodAndEvil]

This story highlights the importance of getting progressive Democrats into the Senate.

We must support all Democrats (especially progressives) running for the Senate against Republicans in 2008. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate_elections,_2008

[Cherlesq]

Not too long ago we impeached a president for lying to the American people about a sex act. I would think lying to the American people about why we went to war and how we are handling the war resulting in the death, dismemberment and mental anguish of hundreds of thousands should, at least, warrant a look see. The double standard does not serve the American people well. It's time to take that look see.

[barackobama4prez]

I don't care if they succeed in impeachment or not. BUT THEY HAVE GOT TO TRY! I can't believe we'll go down in history as impeaching Bill Clinton but doing NOTHING about George Bush...wtfff??????????


HILLARY: If I had my wish you'd use your fighting spirit and toughness to go after the REPUGNATES and do it for the American people. After what they did to Bill...we'd understand. GET THEM BASTARDS!

[RicksterInGulfport]

When Jefferson penned "all men are created equal" he didn't mean white men, or landowners, or even citizens. He meant ALL men, just like in the Bible where man is created in the image of God.

This administration deliberately set about to skirt the rules whenever they could.

They allowed 'other' countries to torture prisoners in OUR custody.

Now we read its SOP to destroy all the records from Gitmo.

Only one reason to do that, they knew the nature of the war crimes they were committing.

Its obvious that the Republican's view of winning this war is to become and behave like the people we are trying to vanquish.

We have left our souls behind, and have become the enemy of our own Constitution, when we have to destroy evidence of what happened.

We used to stand for truth and freedom.

Now we stand for secret wiretaps and shredders.

When war crimes charges come for this administration, and they will, I'd figured no way ANY sitting President would allow any past President to be extradited.
Now we find out this came from the highest levels of government.

It is very unsettling to know that when the going gets rough, we put our own Constitution on the back burner, when that should be the time we rely on it the most. Its what we claim to be, but it appears its OK to become as evil as the enemy is, even if innocent civilians get ground up between the wheels.

[ChiGuy]

Ah yes ......Your tax dollars at work.

Obama: 01/20/09

[ConnectTheDots]

And why am I reading this story on HuffPo instead of MSM?

[speakingtruth2power]

Because the MSM is in on it??????????????????

[ChiGuy]

Because seeing video footage of Mary Kate Olsen sloppy drunk is FAR more important.

[GordonBombay]

I hope at least Olberman picks this story up. He's usually on top of the stories that the MSM doesn't report.

[SaulGood]

bc you are in america?

[SpectCon]

Those prisoners have not been convicted of ANYTHING. They are being held without charge because, one can assume, the government lacks proof of their wrong doing. So, you have to trust the competency of the Bush government as to whether these people are truly terrorists.

Now, don't get me wrong. I would assume someone at some point honestly believed all the prisoners were terrorists. The problem is that we've allowed our government to make such imprisonments (even torture the people) without requiring them to prove guilt. This cannot stand.

It is dangerous to have a Bill of Rights and Constitution which restricts our government. It isn't terribly efficient to make the government prove a case. Yet, it is far preferable to restrict government than it is to restrict individuals.

The real threat is not any amorphous group of people who hijack planes. Even on 9/11 you were far more likely to die in a car accident or something more pedestrian like cancer, than you were to die by a terrorist. Hell, you're more likely to be struck lightning than die at the hands of a terrorist. Probably even more likely to win the lottery. ...It's GOVERNMENTS we have to worry about. Organized, very large, groups of people. And specifically, we have to worry most about our OWN government.

Terrorists are used to scare us so we watch more TV and support oil wars.

[JohnTalbutt]

The assumption is that the severe methods are for national security. Therefore destroying information concerning the interrogations is not only covering up a war crime, it is compromising national security.

[jdenham]

We need to turn the Bush Adminstration over to the World Court to judge them. They have ignored basic humans rights and made very dangerous individuals immune from prosecution. Bush can hold his Kangaroo courts to judge these Criminals, but their trials will not bring justice for the crimes they have commited. Even the worst individual deserves to be treated humanly. And by destroying evidence and violating their rights goes against the principals that America use to stand for. The World will judge us harsly for these violations of Human rights.

[BeyondGoodAndEvil]

The US is not a member of the ICC.
http://www.asil.org/insights/insigh87.htm