GITMO Army officer: we were pressured to declare detainees "enemy combatants," often without any

[Ilsa]

Source: Associated Press / Yahoo link
Also posted in LBN

Army officer says Gitmo panels flawed

specific evidence...

By BEN FOX, Associated Press Writer
14 minutes ago

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - An Army officer with a key role in the U.S. 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 Friday, is the first criticism by a member of the military panels that determine whether detainees will continue to be held.

Lt. Col. 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 didn't 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 said he served as a main liaison between the Combat Status Review Tribunals and those intelligence agencies.
snip

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070622/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/guantanamo_tribunals;_ylt=AnPRBUHlECLHSiyu09bMVnlg.3QA

edited for more specific thread title.

[Ilsa]

1. Shameless kick. I think it's important news. nt

[MissWaverly]

2. reminds me of the McCarthy hearings

people's lives were destroyed on the flimsiest of evidence or should I say innuendo, like saying x was a member of the Communist
Party when there was no proof at all of this statement.

[Solly Mack]

3. K/R