Guantanamo Hearings Relied On Vague Intelligence: Officer

A US Army officer with a key role in the US military hearings at Guantanamo Bay says they relied on vague and incomplete intelligence and were pressured to declare detainees "enemy combatants" often without any specific evidence.

His affidavit, released today, is the first criticism of the tribunal process by a military insider to become public.

Lieutenant-Colonel Stephen Abraham, a 26-year veteran of military intelligence who is an army reserve officer and a California lawyer, said military prosecutors were provided with only "generic" material that didnt hold up to the most basic legal challenges.

Despite repeated requests, intelligence agencies arbitrarily refused to provide specific information that could have helped either side in the tribunals, according to Abraham, who as one of the systems only security-cleared officers said he served as a main liaison between the tribunals and those agencies.

"What were purported to be specific statements of fact lacked even the most fundamental earmarks of objectively credible evidence," Abraham said in the affidavit, filed in a Washington appeals court on behalf of a Kuwaiti detainee, Fawzi al-Odah, who is challenging his classification as an "enemy combatant".

Abraham "bravely" agreed to provide the affidavit when defence lawyers contacted him, said al-Odahs lawyer, David Cynamon.

"It proves what we all suspected, which is that the CSRTs (Combat Status Review Tribunals) were a complete sham," he said.

Matthew J MacLean, another al-Odah lawyer, said Abraham is the first member of a CSRT panel who has been identified, let alone been willing to criticise the tribunals in the public record.

"It wouldnt be quite right to say this is the most important piece of evidence that has come out of the CSRT process, because this is the only piece of evidence ever to come out of the CSRT process," MacLean said. "Its our only view into the CSRT."

The military held CSRTs for 558 detainees at the US Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay in 2004 and 2005, with handcuffed detainees appearing before three-officer panels. They had a military "personal representative" instead of a defence lawyer, and all but 38 were determined to be "enemy combatants".

Abraham was asked to serve on one of the panels, and he said its members felt strong pressure to find against the detainee, saying there was "intensive scrutiny" when they declared a prisoner not to be an enemy combatant. When his panel decided the detainee wasnt an "enemy combatant", they were ordered to reconvene to hear more evidence, he said.

Ultimately, his panel held its ground, and he was never asked to participate in another tribunal, he said.

Abraham did not immediately respond to a message left at his law office.

A Pentagon spokesman said the Department of Defence was preparing a response.

AP

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