TheAgitator.com
Another Gitmo Prosecutor Quits
Thursday, October 9th, 2008Lt. Col. Darrel Vandeveld is at least the sixth JAG officer prosecuting cases in Guantanamo Bay to resign or request a transfer in protest of how the Pentagon is administering the tribunals. His letter of resignation was revealed late last month during proceedings in the case against accused enemy combatant Mohammed Jawad.
Vandeveld quit because he was alarmed at what he says were gross due process violations in the Jawad case. From his letter:
My ethical qualms about continuing to serve as a prosecutor relate primarily to the procedures for affording defense counsel discovery. I am highly concerned, to the point that I believe I can no longer serve as a prosecutor at the Commissions, about the slipshod, uncertain "procedure" for affording defense counsel discovery. One would have thought that after six years since the Commissions had their fitful start, that a functioning law office would have been set up and procedures and policies not only put into effect, but refined.
Instead, what I found, and what I still find, is that discovery in even the simplest of cases is incomplete or unreliable. To take the Jawad case as only one example – a case where no intelligence agency had any significant involvement — I discovered just yesterday that something as basic as agents’ interrogation notes had been entered into a database, to which I do not have personal access, on or about 11 August 2008. These and other examples too legion to list, are not only appalling, they deprive the accused of basic due process and subject the well-intentioned prosecutor to claims of ethical misconduct…
Vandeveld goes on to say that past prosecutors in Gitmo cases who have expressed similar concerns about due process experienced retaliation from higher-ups at the Pentagon. He says he was put in a position where sharing possibly exculpatory evidence—which prosecutors are required to do in the U.S. criminal justice system—would have subjected him to career-damaging accusations that he was being overly cooperative with Guantanamo defense attorneys. The L.A. Times reports that the officer overseeing the tribunals at the time of Vandeveld’s resignation suggested he get a psychiatric evaluation.
In addition to the six prosecutors, Col. Stephen Abraham—tapped by the Bush administration to run the Guantanamo hearings—also resigned last summer, citing what he said was a deeply flawed system designed more to give the veneer of justice to predetermined convictions than to administer a fair hearing of the evidence.
I’m SHOCKED!
SHOCKED I tell you…
…that this is nothing but a kangaroo court.
Color me unsurprised.
So if these guys who are in charge of this stuff like the Col. can’t change things, who can? Who’s driving the bus on this stuff? Let’s have some names, let’s blow some whistles. Let people know who these guys are, and the public can apply some pressure (hah!).
We’ll give em a fair trial then a fair hangin!
I’d be willing to bet dollars to donuts that this all comes from Cheney, through Gates, down to a few Generals at the Pentagon.
Colonels are high ranking, yes, but they can still be demoted quite easily. As opposed to a General officer whereby it takes an act of Congress to demote/fire them. It takes real courage for a Col. and a Lt. Col. to resign like they did; it’s a resume-generating situation (i.e. it ends their career).
I guess it is somewhat comforting that there are people who refuse to take part in this circus. To me, this is a sign that as flawed as things are, there are people who are consious enough to resist evil even when ordered to do otherwise. Something will have to change for the better, or at least I hope so.
Clearly, they want the terrorists to win.
“Fair trial” and “military” have never co-existed in the same equation. Even for a servicemember, the deck is stacked against you. I can’t imagine the railroading thats going on in Gitmo.
At least Hollywood did get one thing right:
Col. Jessep: You want answers?
Kaffee: I think I’m entitled.
Col. Jessep: *You want answers?*
Kaffee: *I want the truth!*
Col. Jessep: *You can’t handle the truth!*
We just can’t handle the truth…..
Good for Lt. Col. Vandeveld to lay out his reasons for resigning. It’s good to see that he laid out a few specifics about how insane this whole “Enemy Combatant” legal status is. No doubt he will face repercussions, he’ll probably end up representing soldiers who didn’t peel potatos fast enough.
I wonder what the chances are that this story makes it’s way into the campaign narrative? Since both of the candidates claim to they’ll close Guantanamo, it would interesting to hear what they’ll do with the people detained there and what, if anything, they would do regarding the status of these detainees. My guess is this whole story stays under the radar as the Congress, Fed and Treasury keep thinking up new ways to devalue the dollar.
Military justice is to justice as military music is to music.
Good for the JAGs. Now, if only we can see similarly high ethical standards from the civilian prosecutors…..
i think Radley has done an excellent job of covering the dishonors done by the Executive branch. i think this is a great example of the intrinsic honor of our military.
Nando is right, this is a career-ender. Every staff officer is moving towards General. this will pretty much end that path for this guy. the impact to his pay, respect, and retirement will be significant.
cheers for Lt. Col. Vandeveld
perpetual disdain for the commando in chief
I second the cheers for Lt. Col. Darrel Vandeveld. Unfortunately, the more people of honor such as him that resign like this, the more likely the remaining JAGs will be complicit with this setup. Though I am not sure the higher-ups in the military will mind much that they will only be left with such individuals. They are applying selective pressure to get rid of people like Lt. Col. Vandeveld, and if this keeps resulting in such resignations, it won’t be long before Bush can truly proclaim “Mission Accomplished”.
I see I have offended a fan of John Philip Sousa. My apologies.
Damn I didn’t know lawyers had consciences! ESPECIALLY prosecutors. Even though they’re quitters the experience will be good for them if they become prosecutors outside the military. (It will make the lying and omissions of facts they’ll be doing not seem quite as bad)