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Ex-Military Prosecutors Fault Gitmo Trials

By Robert Burns

Aug 2, 2005

The Pentagon acknowledged on Monday that two former members of the military
team handling prosecutions of terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba,
alleged last year that the trial system was rigged in favor of the
government.

Officials said the prosecutors' claims of ethical lapses and potential
criminal acts had been reviewed and dismissed as unfounded. Pentagon
spokesman Lawrence Di Rita said an investigation determined they were
"much ado about nothing."

In a later written statement, the Pentagon said an "operational
assessment" of the chief prosecutor's office - undertaken in response to
the allegations - recommended a restructuring, including unspecified
personnel changes.

The allegations by Air Force Maj. John Carr, who was then a captain, and
Air Force Maj. Robert Preston were first reported by The Wall Street
Journal and The New York Times on Monday. Both newspapers quoted from
March 2004 internal e-mails written by Carr and Preston that detailed
the allegations.

Copies of the e-mails, as well as an electronic message written by
then-chief prosecutor Army Col. Fred Borch, were provided to The
Associated Press by the American Civil Liberties Union and authenticated
by a Pentagon official.

Among other charges, Carr and Preston alleged that the office of the
chief prosecutor had deliberately misled senior civilian Pentagon
officials about the quality of evidence against the initial defendants
and that inadequate efforts had been made by the prosecutor's office to
ensure full and fair trials.

Di Rita, senior spokesman for Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, said
the allegations were thoroughly investigated by the Defense Department
inspector general.

"The allegations were serious and the issue is a serious one. The
inspector general concluded that it was much ado about nothing, that the
individuals that had made the allegations couldn't substantiate their
allegations, and everybody moved on. That matter was thoroughly vetted,
and it's closed," Di Rita said.

In an e-mail note to his staff, Borch said the allegations against him
by Carr and Preston were "monstrous lies."

"I am convinced to the depth of my soul that all of us on the
prosecution team are truly dedicated to the mission of the Office of
Military Commissions - and that no one on the team has anything but the
highest ethical principles," Borch wrote.

Preston and Carr, who have since left that office, accused fellow
prosecutors of ignoring torture allegations, failing to protect evidence
that could help defendants establish a defense and withholding
information from superiors.

Carr asserted that the chief prosecutor had told subordinates that the
members of the military commission that would try the first four
defendants would be "handpicked" to ensure that all would be convicted.

Carr also said in his message that he had been told that any information
that could help the defendants would probably exist only in the 10
percent of documents being withheld by the CIA for security reasons.

The ACLU, which has criticized the military trial system, said the Carr
and Preston allegations were further evidence that the Pentagon should
scrap the system and instead try the alleged terrorists under the
Uniform Code of Military Justice, which provides fuller protection for
the rights of the accused.

"Clearly the concerns raised by these two confirm what we've been saying
from the beginning: (the Pentagon) rigged the system to render the
result the Bush administration wants, which is conviction of these first
accused, at any cost," said Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the
ACLU.

The Pentagon-appointed lawyer for David Hicks, an Australian who is one
of four Guantanamo Bay detainees whose cases were the first to go to
trial, was quoted by Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio on Monday as
saying the Australian government should withdraw its support for the
trials, based on the Carr and Preston allegations.

"When you look at the system and how it is operating and you look at the
information that has just come out, I would hope that they would say
enough's enough," the lawyer, Maj. Michael Mori, was quoted as saying.

Australian Attorney General Philip Ruddock said he had not heard of the
allegations until Monday.

"I will look into those issues," Ruddock told reporters in Canberra.
"The Americans have dealt with some of those matters and said they
lacked veracity. I'll have (a) look at it and see whether I want to say
the same thing - at this stage, I can't."

Di Rita, the Rumsfeld spokesman, told reporters at the Pentagon that
although the inspector general found the Carr and Preston allegations to
be without merit, the Pentagon was looking at possible changes to the
trial system.

"We're looking - we're always looking - to see if there are
modifications that might be needed to the procedures" before the trials
resume, Di Rita said. They were halted last November when a federal
court ruled that the procedures violated due process and U.S. government
obligations under the Geneva Conventions.

In July, a three-judge federal appeals court panel reversed the lower
court ruling, saying the proceedings were lawful. The Pentagon has not
said how soon it intends to resume the trials.