Posts by Steve Czajkowski

Military Probing Abuse of Power by Top Gitmo Brass
Posted by Steve Czajkowski, Jurist Legal News and Research on October 27, 2008 at 3:30 PM.

[JURIST] The U.S. Air Force is conducting an ethics investigation of Air Force Brig. Gen. Thomas Hartmann over allegations that he abused his power and inappropriately influenced the prosecution of enemy combatants at Guantanamo Bay, military officials said Saturday. Hartmann was the legal advisor to the U.S. military commissions at Guantanamo and supervisor of the Office of Military Commissions-Prosecution (OMC-P) until he was reassigned to the position of director of operations of the Office of Military Commissions last month. It has been alleged that Hartmann forced officials at Guantanamo to bring prosecution cases before they were ready, prosecuted an individual on charges that were unwarranted, and that he tried to get prosecutors to use coerced evidence notwithstanding their objections. The Air Force is also investigating complaints by two military officials that Hartmann exhibited abusive and retaliatory behavior towards them within the Office of Military Commissions. The Los Angeles Times has more. AP has additional coverage.

Earlier this year military judges presiding over the trials of Guantanamo detainees Omar Khadr, Mohammed Jawad and Salim Ahmed Hamdan barred Hartmann from taking any part in the trials of those detainees on grounds that he was unduly biased towards the prosecution. U.S. Army Gen. Gregory Zanetti, deputy commander at Guantanamo Bay, testified in August that Hartmann routinely bullied his counterparts and was inappropriately aggressive in seeking indictments against detainees. In October, newly resigned Guantanamo chief military prosecutor Col. Morris Davis said during his tenure Hartmann questioned the need for open trials and was upset with the slow pace of the proceedings begun by Davis.

Two U.S. Marines Held in Contempt in Fallujah Killings Civil Trial
Posted by Steve Czajkowski, Jurist Legal News and Research on August 24, 2008 at 6:32 PM.

A judge for the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California found two U.S. Marines in contempt of court Friday after the two declined to testify against their former squad leader in a trial over the killing of Iraqi detainees during the Multinational Force-Iraq's November 2004 offensive in Fallujah. Judge Stephen Larson held Sgt. Ryan G. Weemer and Sgt. Jermaine Nelson in contempt after the two invoked their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination when asked to testify against former Marine Sgt. Jose Nazario in his civil trial. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jerry Behnke asked Larson to sentence the men to six months in jail in order to compel their testimony, but the judge refused even though he had previously sentenced the men to jail for refusing to testify to a grand jury about the same events. A hearing is set for September 29 on the contempt charges. The Associated Press has more. The Los Angeles Times has local coverage.

In July 2007, the Naval Criminal Investigation Service (NCIS) announced investigations of at least 10 Marines after Weemer admitted in a job interview with the U.S. Secret Service that he had seen indiscriminate killings in Fallujah. Both Weemer and Nelson face court-martial on charges of murder and dereliction of duty as active members of the military in connection with the same incident as Nazario. They were indicted in March and December respectively.

Mukasey: Executing 9/11 Suspects Will Make Them Martyrs
Posted by Steve Czajkowski, Jurist Legal News and Research on March 18, 2008 at 10:55 AM.

U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey told an audience in London Friday that he hopes those accused in the 9/11 attacks do not receive the death penalty if found guilty because it would make them martyrs. Mukasey made the comment in response to a question after a speech at the London School of Economics on Anglo-American law enforcement. Mukasey did say the punishment would be fitting if they are convicted of the crime, but he believes it would allow the accused to portray themselves as victims. He emphasized that he was merely expressing a personal opinion, not stating U.S. government policy.

The U.S. is planning military commission trials of the six men currently accused in the attacks at Guantanamo Bay. Those six include Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Walid Bin Attash, Ramzi Binalshibh, Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali, Mustafa Ahmad al-Hawsawi, and Mohammed al-Qahtani. Mukasey defended the military commission process in his remarks Friday, saying:

The military commissions established by our Congress are closely modeled on tribunals that the United States uses in courts-martial to try U.S. citizens in uniform. They include all the protections that we regard as fundamental, they exceed those used at Nuremberg, and they compare favorably with international war crimes tribunals.

Under the Military Commissions Act, for example, the accused enjoys the right to counsel; the presumption of innocence unless guilt is proved beyond a reasonable doubt; and the right to a trial before impartial military judges -- the same military judges who preside at courts-martial -- and an impartial jury. The accused enjoys the right to see all of the evidence presented against him -- including any classified evidence presented to the members of the military commission. And the act ensures that the military judge deems statements admitted to be reliable and in the interest of justice.

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