Gitmo lawyer reassigned after filing complaint

The assholes running the kangaroo court at Guantanamo are still screwing around with the truth, inspite of having a new Commander in Chief. From Jurist:

The US Navy on Friday reassigned Lieutenant Commander William Kuebler, a military lawyer who had been in charge of defending Guantanamo detainee Omar Khadr, after Kuebler filed a formal complaint against a military official overseeing the case. Kuebler had worked on the case for two years before he was fired after alleging that the military’s chief Guantanamo defense lawyer, Colonel Peter Masciola, had a conflict of interest in overseeing the case. Kuebler said Masciola should be removed from the case because Masciola said Khadr should also face civil liability for the alleged killing of a US soldier, despite his role overseeing Khadr’s defense. Khadr is the only Canadian citizen currently being held in Guantanamo, and Canadian officials have said they may investigate the circumstances surrounding Kuebler’s removal.

Kuebler has long criticized Masciola’s handling of the case, and in February said that he had prompted an investigation of the defense team’s ethics based on Masciola’s leadership. In January, a US intelligence official said in pre-trial testimony that Khadr admitted he threw a grenade that killed a US soldier in 2002. He has been charged with murder, attempted murder, conspiracy, providing material support to terrorists, and spying. In January, US President Barack Obama ordered Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to halt all military-commission proceedings involving Guantanamo detainees pending a review of their detentions. That month, a military judge granted the Obama administration’s request for a continuance of Khadr’s case until May 20.

Khadr was 15 years old when he was tossed in Gitmo and the key thrown away. He is now in his 6th-friggin-year of being held at Guantanamo. Not only was this kid renditioned..he was also tortured. He has spent a quarter of his life behind bars in Guantanamo.

What kind of people torture children? What do they tell themselves so they can look in the mirror each morning?

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Khadr military judge bars Brig. General from legal advisor role

Brigadier General Thomas Hartmann is one pissed off mutha today…which makes me happy. From Jurist:

The military judge presiding over the military commission trial of Guantanamo detainee Omar Khadr on Wednesday barred US Air Force Brig. Gen. Thomas Hartmann [official profile] from acting as a legal advisor to the commission in Khadr’s trial. In addition to his position as legal advisor to the Department of Defense authority in charge of the commissions, Hartmann is also the supervisor of the Office of Military Commissions-Prosecution (OMC-P). The ruling[PDF] by Colonel Patrick Parrish, the judge in Khadr’s commission trial, grants a motion by Khadr’s defense lawyers to exclude Hartmann from the commission because his “extremely active approach” to his role as supervisor of the OMC-P “raises an issue about his ability to remain neutral and impartial during his post trial duties” as legal advisor to the Convening Authority. Parrish’s ruling also denied a motion brought by Khadr’s defense lawyers to dismiss the charges in the case. The Miami Herald has more. The Canadian Press has additional coverage.

Hartmann has previously been accused of bias towards prosecutors. At a Wednesday hearing, US Army Gen. Gregory Zanetti, deputy commander at Guantanamo Bay, testified [JURIST report] that Hartmann routinely bullied his counterparts and was inappropriately aggressive in seeking indictments against detainees. In May, lawyers for detainee Khalid Sheikh Mohammed [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] unsuccessfully moved to have charges against their client dropped because of similar allegations against Hartmann. Earlier that month, Hartman wasdisqualified from participating in the military commission trial of detainee Salim Ahmed Hamdan, but he has refused to resign from his post.

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