Today's Article
A lawyer for a Gitmo
detainee has said it
seems 'the
government
manufactured
evidence to make it
look like [the accused]
was guilty.'
detainee has said it
seems 'the
government
manufactured
evidence to make it
look like [the accused]
was guilty.'
The American Spark
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Does Bush Administration Alter Evidence on Guantanamo
Detainees?
By Cliff Montgomery - Mar. 14th, 2008
A U.S. military commander inserted possible fabrications into an Afghanistan battle report which wrongly
blames a captured Canadian youth for a Delta Force commando's death, said a defense attorney on Thursday.
The lawyer, Navy Lt. Cmdr. William Kuebler, stated the charge during a pre-trial hearing as an argument for
access to this commander, only identified in official documents as "Col. W."
Kuebler also argued for details about the interrogations of his client, adding they may clear him of war-crimes
charges.
The American military currently charges Omar Khadr with the murder of Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Speer
during a July 27, 2002, U.S. raid on an al-Qaeda hideout in eastern Afghanistan. Khadr now is accused with
throwing the grenade which killed Sgt. Speer.
But there is a question about that accusation. The official report from "Col. W." on the raid, filed the day after
this tragic occurrence, first declared that the assailant who tossed the grenade was himself killed during the
battle.
If true, it must mean that Khadr cannot not be the killer.
But the official report was altered months later--though it retained the same date--to claim that an American
fighter merely had "engaged" Speer's killer, said Kuebler. The attorney added that this modified document was
given to him by Bush Administration prosecutors as an "updated" record of the battle.
Khadr's strange detainee case may become the first to be tried by military tribunal at the U.S. Navy's
Guantanamo Base (nicknamed "Gitmo"), located in southeast Cuba.
Kuebler later told reporters that it seems "the government manufactured evidence to make it look like Omar
was guilty."
"Prosecutors did not contest Kuebler's account in court and did not immediately respond to a request for
comment," an Associated Press (AP) article flatly stated.
Khadr, who was 15 years old at the time of his capture, is one of the roughly 80 detainees this White House
hopes to prosecute at Gitmo. About 12 of the 275 prisoners held at the naval base, including Khadr, have
been officially charged with committing war crimes.
Kuebler believes the trial probably will turn on statements which Khadr made under "interrogation" during his
stay at Bagram air base's military prison in Afghanistan. The defense lawyer asked the court to provide him
with lists of both the names and the techniques of Khadr's interrogators.
Though their names currently are not being shared with Kuebler, the defense attorney has said that Khadr's
interrogators "included members of a unit implicated in the December 2002 beating deaths of two Afghan
detainees, named Dilawar and Habibullah," according to the AP story.
Like what you're reading so far? Then why not order a full year (52 issues) of the The American Spark
e-newsletter for only $15? A major article covering an story not being told in the Corporate Press will be
delivered to your email every Monday morning for a full year, for less than 30 cents an issue. Order Now!
Detainees?
By Cliff Montgomery - Mar. 14th, 2008
A U.S. military commander inserted possible fabrications into an Afghanistan battle report which wrongly
blames a captured Canadian youth for a Delta Force commando's death, said a defense attorney on Thursday.
The lawyer, Navy Lt. Cmdr. William Kuebler, stated the charge during a pre-trial hearing as an argument for
access to this commander, only identified in official documents as "Col. W."
Kuebler also argued for details about the interrogations of his client, adding they may clear him of war-crimes
charges.
The American military currently charges Omar Khadr with the murder of Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Speer
during a July 27, 2002, U.S. raid on an al-Qaeda hideout in eastern Afghanistan. Khadr now is accused with
throwing the grenade which killed Sgt. Speer.
But there is a question about that accusation. The official report from "Col. W." on the raid, filed the day after
this tragic occurrence, first declared that the assailant who tossed the grenade was himself killed during the
battle.
If true, it must mean that Khadr cannot not be the killer.
But the official report was altered months later--though it retained the same date--to claim that an American
fighter merely had "engaged" Speer's killer, said Kuebler. The attorney added that this modified document was
given to him by Bush Administration prosecutors as an "updated" record of the battle.
Khadr's strange detainee case may become the first to be tried by military tribunal at the U.S. Navy's
Guantanamo Base (nicknamed "Gitmo"), located in southeast Cuba.
Kuebler later told reporters that it seems "the government manufactured evidence to make it look like Omar
was guilty."
"Prosecutors did not contest Kuebler's account in court and did not immediately respond to a request for
comment," an Associated Press (AP) article flatly stated.
Khadr, who was 15 years old at the time of his capture, is one of the roughly 80 detainees this White House
hopes to prosecute at Gitmo. About 12 of the 275 prisoners held at the naval base, including Khadr, have
been officially charged with committing war crimes.
Kuebler believes the trial probably will turn on statements which Khadr made under "interrogation" during his
stay at Bagram air base's military prison in Afghanistan. The defense lawyer asked the court to provide him
with lists of both the names and the techniques of Khadr's interrogators.
Though their names currently are not being shared with Kuebler, the defense attorney has said that Khadr's
interrogators "included members of a unit implicated in the December 2002 beating deaths of two Afghan
detainees, named Dilawar and Habibullah," according to the AP story.
Like what you're reading so far? Then why not order a full year (52 issues) of the The American Spark
e-newsletter for only $15? A major article covering an story not being told in the Corporate Press will be
delivered to your email every Monday morning for a full year, for less than 30 cents an issue. Order Now!