JURIST's Hotline, Friday, October 10, 2008
Anthony S. Barkow [voluntary consultant, Human Rights First]:
The history surrounding the Guantanamo detainees' treatment makes the establishment of attorney-client relationships extremely difficult and often impossible. The detainees have been held in captivity for years. Some have been subjected to torture, and many have endured abuse. Even the Bush Administration has confirmed the use of "alternative" interrogation techniques on the high value detainees held in secret CIA custody, including--in at least two cases--waterboarding...
In this environment -- and likely also in light of many detainees' express and intense hostility toward the United States -- it is not surprising that most detainees refuse to allow the military lawyers to represent them. Their hostility extends, too, to the pro bono civilian counsel appointed by the court: because they are American and because they are appointed by military judges, the detainees typically reject them.
Major David J.R. Frakt, defense counsel to Guantanamo detainee Mohammed Jawad, discusses the difficulty of defending detainees before US military commissions, Duke University School of Law, September 11, 2008. RealPlayer, 52 minutes. Watch recorded video.
Also see "Guantanamo prosecutor who quit had 'grave misgivings' about fairness", http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-gitmo12-2008oct12,0,5392481.story?page=1
Most of the line attorneys in Guantanamo - prosecutors and defense counsel alike - seem earnest, professional, and well-meaning. But they are practicing within a flawed, ad hoc system.
http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/hotline/2008/10/report-from-guantanamo-need-for.php
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