"It was clear to me that we were doing things contrary to the law": Matthew Diaz Speaks

By Jayati Vora, AlterNet. Posted April 8, 2008.

On April 3rd in Washington, D.C., a man who spent five months in prison for breaking the law was honored at a luncheon in the name of Ron Ridenhour, the Vietnam War veteran who blew the lid off the My Lai massacre. His name is Matthew Diaz and he is a former officer with the Navy's Judge Advocate General's corps. He is also the winner of the 2008 Ridenhour Prize for Truth-Telling, presented to him at the National Press Club.

Matthew Diaz's story is a dramatic one. It begins in the summer of 2004, when Diaz -- then a JAG corps officer -- started a six-month tour of duty at the detention camp at Guantánamo Bay. It was the week after the Supreme Court had handed down a decision in Rasul v. Bush upholding the right of prisoners to challenge their incarceration. Diaz realized that the administration was doing everything in its power to stall the release the prisoners' names, without which lawyers could not act on their behalf to initiate habeas corpus proceedings. As months passed, his frustration grew. The names of the prisoners weren't being announced, and there was very little information released about their condition. Only a fraction of the files on prisoner abuse -- which he helped compile -- was being made public. "I knew that if I didn't do anything, nobody else was going to," he would tell the New York Times.

So, late one night in January 2005, he logged onto a secure internal database, bringing up prisoners' names 100 at a time. For two weeks, contemplating the risks to his career, he kept the list of 551 names and corresponding serial numbers locked in his office safe. On January 14, the night of his farewell party, he enclosed the documents in an unmarked Valentine's Day card and mailed it to a lawyer at a civil liberties group in New York.

But the names weren't made public until 14 months later, following a Freedom of Information Act request made by the Associated Press. The documents mailed to the lawyer were confiscated by a federal agent; the card was traced to Diaz. Facing 24 years in prison for charges of wrongful and dishonorable transmission of classified documents, he instead received a sentence of six months. In May 2007, a jury of military officers convicted him on four of five charges and stripped him of his pension. The Navy subsequently decertified him as a JAG officer.

For breaking the law, Matthew Diaz has paid a heavy price. But in doing so, he upheld the Constitution and refused to be party to the U.S. government's abuse of constitutional rights in the post-9/11 world. In disclosing the names and serial numbers of the prisoners at Guantánamo, he also demonstrated the independent judgment and personal courage of Ron Ridenhour, the My Lai whistleblower, in whose honor these prizes were instituted.

The remarks of Matthew Diaz upon receiving the Ridenhour Prize for Truth-Telling are below. For more information on the Ridenhour Prizes, go here.

Remarks of Matthew Diaz at National Press Club, April 3, 2008

Diaz was introduced by Joe Margulies, the lawyer of record in Rasul v. Bush.

Thank you. Thank you, everyone. Thank you, Joe. As a matter of fact, we, my defense team during the trial preparations, we had requested that Mr. Margulies be allowed to testify for the defense to educate the jury about the goings-on down at Gitmo. Of course, the government prosecutors fought our efforts to bring him into my trial. And the military judge ruled against us. So the jury did not have the benefit of his insight and his background in working so hard, as he has, on behalf of all of us, we, the people in this country, to ensure that our laws were being recognized and properly enforced. But I thank you for coming here to share this special moment with me and for saying the kind words that you have.

I'd also like to thank everybody involved who is associated with the Ridenhour awards process. I'd like to give a few shout-outs to some people you may not know, but who have been with me all along throughout this process. The attorneys and staff at Remcho, Johansen, & Purcell in California -- they worked behind the scenes during my court martial, assisted greatly my attorneys who defended me at my court martial. And they are taking the lead in my appeal. And they are doing it all pro bono because they're good people. I really appreciate their help. (Applause.)

I'd also like to thank the Catholic Worker Hospitality House out of San Bruno, California. For without them, I probably would not have been able to have a Savannah attorney represent me along with my military counsel at my court martial. And after being released from the brig in October with a sudden drop in income -- no income, as a matter of fact -- they assisted in keeping me from being homeless. (Applause.)

Of course, my family who has supported me throughout these times, particularly my mother who has come to join me from Chicago and my sister coming in from Chicago. (Applause.) Of course, my daughter who has not lost faith in her papi; thank you very much, Mi Hija. (Applause.)

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