Gitmo Prosecutions May Be Impossible Because Evidence Is In Chaos, Says Ex-Prosecutor

A former military prosecutor said in a declaration filed in federal court yesterday that the system of handling evidence against detainees at Guantanamo Bay is so chaotic that it is impossible to prepare a fair and successful prosecution.

Darrel Vandeveld, a former lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve, filed the declaration in support of a petition seeking the release of Mohammed Jawad, an Afghan who has been held at the military prison in Cuba for six years. Jawad was a juvenile when he was detained in Kabul in 2002 after a grenade attack that severely wounded two U.S. Special Forces soldiers and their interpreter.

Read the whole story here.

Comments

[holeybuybull]

It may be "impossible"! It's too hard! It's not my fault!
Welcome to 21st century America, the land of the American't.

[odan]

That statement can be applied over and over now a days.

[VikingQuest]

So they aren't allowed back in their own countries . . . and we can't put them in our jails . . . release them in California because they did nothing wrong and should be nice guys right?

[kimleehan]

The International criminal court in The Hague, is'nt going to need Gitmo, to convict the U.S. of war crimes and human abuses. Gitmo of just going to be another nail in the coffin. they've got the horror of Abu Ghraib, they've got the tens of thousands of Iraqi deaths, the civilian massacres in Haditha, and much,much more. They've got the distructions of Fullouja and Raamadi. All made possible by the U.S. Illegal war of aggression against a sovereign nation. All these crimes are very well documented. Bush's attempt to cover up what happened in Gitmo actually just makes it worse.The U.S. States is guilty of supreme crimes against humanity, and we can't wash the blood off our hands.

[Sundialsvc4]

Plenty of folks in the Beltway like "business as usual" and will fight hard to keep it. They live off the fat of our land and send our soldiers to do their unspeakable conquests. Torture and unspeakable cruelty are the wicked gleam in their eyes as they smile affably in their ten-thousand dollar business suits.

"If you stared at The Devil Himself, would you recognize him? Or doesn't he look a lot like you?"

[rollingdivision]

Captured on the battlefield so there is no chain of evidence nor was there any effort to gather evidence and rightfully so. Let's just make them all POWs, when radical Islam's war against the USA is over they can be released.

[frantaylor]

Which war are you talking about? Who declared it? When is it over?

[1dogs2]

An airport is a "battlefield?"

[StillAmused]

Since "radical Islam's war against the USA" exists only in your underpowered mind, save everyone further pain and suffering... YOU declare it over! Otherwise, we'll be waiting forever.

[Heavy]

Bush De Sade never intended on prosecutions. These hazing camps were set up for getting jollies, not convictions.

[Ammobob]

NObama should push for immediate release of all detainees. He won't need any countries permission to release them to western Pakistan. We could literally 'k i l l ' two birds with one stone. Let them rejoin the j i h a d and be handled by the Afghanistan Surge.

[RSU]

Isn't it ironic that so many are calling for their release . . . yet, no one (NOT ONE) wants them released in their country?

[Heavy]

Isn't it ironic that you guys support Bush and do not even seem to understand how he has undermined successful prosecution.

[odan]

Exactly. Moreover, over 700 people have rotated through GITMO, and whats left is said to be the worst of the worst. even some of those still there have been offered up to there countries of origin and they said thanks but no thanks.

[frantaylor]

Still more unsubstantiated garbage.

[frantaylor]

Nobody wants to be seen as being complicit with us.

[StillAmused]

Isn't it even MORE ironic that, having detained them illegally in the first place, WE'RE now stuck with the problem of where to release them?

... or don't you do advanced irony?

[StillAmused]

Still experiencing those "surge" erectio ns, eh, BB-Boy?

[greatbear451]

The astounding thing is that the Bush administration clearly believed that they could have a few show trials and then move on. They never even made any attempt to gather evidence that would hold up under any kind of scrutiny. Unfortunately for them, some of the people they put into place for the tribunals actually care about following the law. You can see their frustration that these military courts aren't just rubber stamping the predetermined verdicts they wanted as they speak.

[dems08]

"They never even made any attempt to gather evidence" - so true gb...

That would have taken planning and organization, and a desire to get to the truth.

[stormerF]

Catch them on the batle field you don't need evidence.Truth can cut you the same as a lie.

[roger3815]

Just as they intended.

[gamoonbat]

Some left wing wacko, apparently.That is what the Vice President called her, at any rate.

[Peter007]

We should all ask why the use of the word terrorist is so prevalent. Terrorism is a method of warfare. Its not a political belief. We use computer guided missiles and they use bombs placed by human hands.
We keep calling the people at Gitmo terrorists yet they have never been convicted of any terrorist crime. Most of these people were soldiers that were fighting against an invading force to their country. Some were swept up in raids and thrown in cages because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Most hate America and its policies. They hate Americans only to the extent that we support the politicians that enact these policies.

[RSU]

~~"Most of these people were soldiers that were fighting against an invading force to their country."

Under the Geneva Conventions, these people are not considered "soldiers". Under the Law of Armed Conflict, they do not meet the criteria for a designation of "soldier" but rather Unlawful Combatants. They are not part of any regular militia, they do not wear uniforms, nor do they wear markers or distinctive emblems signifying they are part of any formal military unit. They use the civilian population to hide themselves among those who have no intention of fighting.

Calling them terrorists is a lot better than calling them spies (which many do qualify by definition), because the designation carries significant differences in their fate.

[KHAAANNN]

Really?
You just described every Special Forces soldier in the US military in the field (especially in Afghanistan.)
They do not wear uniforms, they do not wear distinctive emblems signifying they are part of any formal military unit. They use the civilian population to hide themselves among those who have no intention of fighting.
You also described any civilian population that takes up arms against an invading force.
Does that make them "terrorists"?
The large majority of "Unlawful Combatants" at Gitmo where SOLD to the U.S. by warlords who were settling old scores or just looking to make money.
The current law that allows only two people, the President of the US and the Secretary of Defense (a non-elected position) to "declare" someone an "Unlawful Combatant" on their say-so alone, with NO EVIDENCE REQUIRED is a direct violation of the Geneva Conventions and International Law. It also violates the U.S. Constitution.

[Heavy]

Why virtually no convictions with thousands detained?

[dems08]

Many or most of them were kidnapped by the US military - after being turned over for the $5,000 bounty.

[kimleehan]

Your right, soiled underwear over their heads is not concidered a proper uniform, and human crap all over their bodies is not concidered distinctive emblems.

[pakki567]

hi i am a pakki
my mum is a terriost who gave birth to my while i was hanging out of a window by my amillicul cord.

[markusmarkus]

What did you expect from the worst.pres­idency.eve­r.hello.

[vigilantwarrior]

The purpose of torture is to put the words of the State into the suspect's mouth. That is why the Fifth Amendment exists.

So given that torture does not produce "actionable intelligence" ("24" is propaganda) but only intimidation and false confessions, one might reasonably ask oneself why the Bush/Cheney administration needed "confessions" in its "War on Terror"? Should not the evidence against these "worst of the worst" be more than sufficient for prosecution?

http://michaelfury.wordpress.com/2008/10/16/confess/

Did KSM "confess" to this little stunt, too?

http://michaelfury.wordpress.com/2008/08/20/the-ghost-in-the-machines-the-mystery-of-the-wtc-hard-drive-recoveries/

[Helzapoppin]

Well DUH. Of course the evidence is a mess. It's a gulag for crissakes. They never intended to USE any evidence. Other that slavery, this could well be the greatest blight on America in its history.

[lornejl]

I was going to post the same thing. It's time for the war crimes trials to begin.