Former Guantanamo prosecutor, ACLU support detainee's bid for freedom

January 13, 12:14 PMCivil Liberties ExaminerJ.D. Tuccille

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Army Lieutenant Colonel Darrel Vandeveld, who resigned as a U.S. military prosecutor at Guantanamo Bay because of ethical qualms over the way the government is conducting the prosecution of Mohammed Jawad, has joined the American Civil Liberties Union's habeas corpus petition for Jawad. The ACLU seeks the release of the approximately 23-year-old detainee, who has been held without trial at the detention center at Guantanamo Bay for over six years.

In his letter, attached as Exhibit B to the ACLU petition (PDF), Vandeveld writes:

[T]here is no credible evidence or legal basis to justify Mr. Jawad's detention in U.S. custody or his prosecution by military commission.

Vandeveld continues, saying there is "reliable evidence that [Jawad] was badly mistreated by U.S. authorities both in Afghanistan and at Guantanamo."

While Jawad has been implicated in a hand-grenade attack on American soldiers, Vandeveld repeats his charges, made at the time of his resignation, that Jawad was likely lured to Afghanistan by a domestic insurgent group with the promise of a well-paid job, drugged and forced to participate in the attack.

The former prosecutor describes chaos in the prosecutors' office upon his arrival, with evidence scattered and unorganized years after Jawad's arrest. Much of the evidence necessary to conduct a prosecution had been tossed in a locker and been forgotten -- and some simply disappeared. As a result, the U.S. was in no position to prove its case even after Jawad had spent years behind bars.

Even while U.S. authorities were misplacing evidence, they were subjecting Jawad to sleep deprivation under the "frequent flyer" program of repeated moves from cell to cell, subjecting him to beatings and throwing him down stairs while he was hooded and shackled.

The habeas corpus petition was filed in federal court in the District of Columbia.

Contact J.D.: civilliberties (at) tuccille.com