This is from the Miami Herald.
This story keeps changing but in the end it is clear that Brownback was not doing his job in a way that his superiors approved and they removed him as a result. Harper keeps ignoring this travesty of justice. The opposition needs to hound him on this rather than Berníer's bumbling performance. The Bernier affair is more to the media's liking. Guantanamo isn't sexy.
Posted on Mon, Jun. 02, 2008
Marine colonel defends dismissal of war court judge
By CAROL ROSENBERG
In an extraordinary defense of a military commissions decision, the chief of the Guantánamo court on Monday blamed Army bureaucracy for the need to replace a judge at the trial of Canadian captive Omar Khadr -- not pressure to proceed by Pentagon prosecutors.
But, Marine Col. Ralph Kohlmann added that, contrary to an earlier Defense Department announcement, Army Col. Peter E. Brownback III did not voluntarily retire from active-duty status and had sought to see the trial to completion.
Khadr, now 21, is accused of the July 2002 grenade killing of a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan. He was 15. Brownback, a 30-year veteran of the U.S. Army, was the longest serving commissions judge, until he was relieved last week.
Kohlman's abrupt replacement of the judge without explanation stirred controversy at a time when defense lawyers are accusing the Pentagon of rushing cases to trial at the height of the presidential campaign season.
Brownback has emerged as a maverick at the remote war court in southeast Cuba. Last year, he dismissed the murder and terror charges against Khadr on a technicality, only to see an appeals panel reinstate them.
Recently, he threatened to suspend the Khadr trial, effectively refusing to seat a jury of military officers, over the prison camp's refusal to release some of Khadr's detention records.
Defense lawyers last week notified the media that there was a new trial judge, Army Col. Patrick Parrish, in a skeptical statement. It noted that Brownback had complained in open court that he had been ''badgered and beaten and bruised'' by the trial prosecutor, Marine Maj. Jeffrey Groharing, to set a court date, even before all discovery evidence was complete.
Monday, Kohlmann said that he chose to replace Brownback before pre-trial arguments on what evidence could be brought to trial because the Army had independently elected not to extend Brownback beyond a June 29 retirement date for ``manpower management considerations unrelated to the Military Commissions process.''
He did not elaborate, and commissions' spokesmen did not respond to a question on what ''manpower management considerations'' might mean.
Notably, however, Kohlmann's 704-word statement swatted aside suggestions that Brownback's rulings had become an obstacle to a speedy trial.
''Any suggestion that my detailing of another military judge was driven by or prompted by any decisions or rulings made by Colonel Brownback is incorrect,'' the Marine colonel wrote. ``Any suggestion that Colonel Brownback asked to return to retired status before the case of U.S. v Khadr was completed was also incorrect.''
Kohlmann also noted that he was providing the unusual explanation of the inner workings to the still evolving war court because it ``has generated discussion about the independence of the judiciary.''
He also appeared to contradict a 72-word statement issued by a press officer with the Defense Department's Military Commissions unit, after the close of business on Friday, that Brownback's return to retirement in the midst of the Khadr case was ``a mutual decision between Col. Brownback and the Army.''
Khadr's Pentagon defense attorney, Navy Lt. Cmdr. William Kuebler, slammed the explanation as inadequate.
'That `manpower management considerations' would have caused the Pentagon to retire Brownback in the middle of one of the most high-profile military commissions cases to date is odd to say the least,'' Kuebler said.
The statement was particularly extraordinary not only for its length, but because it comes just days before the Pentagon airlifts dozens of U.S. and international media to Guantánamo, to see the arraignment of five alleged co-conspirators in the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
As chief military commissions judge, Kohlmann has assigned himself to preside at the trial. The Pentagon prosecutor proposes to seat the U.S. military jury on Sept. 15, ensuring the complex conspiracy case involving classified information be held at the height of the presidential campaign season.
Defense lawyers had unsuccessfully sought to delay Thursday's arraignment -- the first-ever appearances of the five men who had been held for years in secret CIA and military custody.
They argued that Top Secret work space was still under construction and the accused had only recently begun meeting with Pentagon appointed defense counsel.
Moreover, two military defense attorneys have yet to get security clearances to meet their clients, as have several civilian attorneys provided as death penalty defense experts by the American Civil Liberties Union.
Kohlmann declined the delay, saying a swift arraignment was in the ``interests of justice in this case.''
Logistic and legal issues will be addressed later, he said.
© 2008 Miami Herald Media Company. All Rights Reserved.http://www.miamiherald.com
Showing posts with label Col. Peter Brownback. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Col. Peter Brownback. Show all posts
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Lawyers: Judge's removal political.
Brownback was removed no doubt because he was unreliable. The U.S. authorities want a judge who can be relied upon to convict. Brownback has showed he has a certain independent streak. Best he go back into retirement. Too bad the opposition is not up to forcing this present government to retire. The Harper government repeats the same old saw about not interfering in the U.S. justice system. The fact that the Guantanamo process is a travesty of justice doesn't seem to matter. Here is the tired refrain:
The parliamentary secretary to the Foreign Affairs minister responded with the same three media lines that Conservative members have used to answer all Khadr-related questions -- Khadr is facing a “serious charges,” Canada has sought and received assurances that he is treated humanely and they will not interfere in the U.S legal process, MP Deepak Obhrai responded.
So even though the Guantanamo process is unjust the Canadian government nevertheless sent interrogators to Guanatanamo to question Khadr. The Supreme Court decided this violated Khadr's rights but this doesn't matter. Not only Liberals can sit on their hands and do nothing when they feel like it. The Conservatives can mouth platitudes and do nothing just as well.
Judge’s removal political: lawyers TheStar.com - News - Judge’s removal political: lawyers
.
'Deck is clearly stacked' against a fair trial, Liberal MP charges
May 30, 2008 Michelle ShephardNational Security Reporter The abrupt retirement of the judge presiding over Omar Khadr’s war crimes trial has prompted Canada’s opposition groups to call again for government intervention and provided critics of the military trials fuel for their argument that Guantanamo’s trials are unraveling.
A spokesperson from Guantanamo’s Office of the Military Commission said Friday that U.S. Army Col. Peter Brownback, who has presided over Khadr’s trial since late 2006, has decided to retire mid-way through the Toronto detainee’s trial.
“Col. Brownback was directed by the Army in 2004 to come back on active duty from retirement based on his previous experience as a military judge. He has been serving on a retired recall status for the past four years,” Air Force Capt. André Kok wrote in an emailed statement. “After this period of service, it was a mutual decision between Col. Brownback and the Army that he revert to his retired status when his current active duty orders expire in June.”
Brownback has refused comment.
The announcement of his shocking dismissal came from the chief judge for Guantanamo’s military commissions, Marine Col. Raph Kohlmann, in an email late Thursday. The note simply said that he was assigning U.S. Army Col. Patrick Parrish to replace Brownback.
Khadr’s lawyers charged that Brownback’s dismissal was political, since he had frustrated the prosecution’s attempt to set a trial date at a time when the Pentagon is pushing to have at least one Guantanamo trial completed by this fall’s U.S. presidential election. All three candidates have vowed to shut the U.S. prison on Cuba’s southeast shore.
Prosecutor Marine Major Jeff Groharing disputed any suggestion that there was any push from his office to have Brownback replaced.
“The prosecution does not have any involvement in assignment of military judges and certainly didn’t have anything to do with a new judge being assigned to this case,” Groharing told the Toronto Star. “Despite the insinuation in the press release filed by defense counsel, the prosecution has always acted ethically and transparently in this case and any suggestion otherwise is reckless and irresponsible.”
In Ottawa, Liberal MP Larry Bagnell pressed the federal government Friday to respond to Brownback’s departure by demanding that Khadr be sent home.
“The military commission pressing charges against Omar Khadr at Guantanamo Bay fired the judge overseeing the trial. Unbelievable,” Bagnell said. “How can the government continue to show confidence in this process when the deck is so clearly stacked against Mr. Khadr ever receiving a fair trial?”
The parliamentary secretary to the Foreign Affairs minister responded with the same three media lines that Conservative members have used to answer all Khadr-related questions -- Khadr is facing a “serious charges,” Canada has sought and received assurances that he is treated humanely and they will not interfere in the U.S legal process, MP Deepak Obhrai responded.
Bagnell countered, “It is nice to read a prepared sheet that was prepared before the new information came out. When will this government stop ignoring what is happening? When will it bring Mr. Khadr back to Canada to face justice here?”
Obhrai repeated the same answers.
The American Civil Liberties Union and New York-based Human Rights Watch, who have both sent observers to witness all the Guantanamo hearings, issued statements Friday decrying the lack of information about a military judge’s dismissal.
“While this decision is not surprising, it once again demonstrates the inherent flaws in a system that lacks impartiality and is subject to political influence,” wrote Jamil Dakwar, Director of the ACLU’s Human Rights Program. “The message of the Pentagon’s decision seems to be that it is unwilling to let judges exercise independence if it means a ruling against the government.”
Khadr is scheduled to appear before a military court again next month, although it’s unclear now if a new judge will delay those pre-trial hearings. The Toronto-born detainee was 15 when he was captured in Afghanistan after a firefight where the Pentagon alleges he fatally wounded Delta Force soldier Christopher Speer. Now 21, he is on trial for five war crimes, including murder for Speer’s death.
Khadr’s Canadian lawyers won a partial victory in the Supreme Court last week when the high court justices ordered the government to turn over information concerning his case – but limited the disclosure to only information resulting from interrogations by Canadian agents.
A federal court is now vetting the information for national security concerns and is expected to turn over documents to Khadr’s lawyers as early as next week.
The Star filed a motion to intervene in that case today, arguing that the public should have access to the information since the treatment of a Canadian detainee in Guantanamo and the participation of Canadian officials in that process “raises matters of great public interest.”
The parliamentary secretary to the Foreign Affairs minister responded with the same three media lines that Conservative members have used to answer all Khadr-related questions -- Khadr is facing a “serious charges,” Canada has sought and received assurances that he is treated humanely and they will not interfere in the U.S legal process, MP Deepak Obhrai responded.
So even though the Guantanamo process is unjust the Canadian government nevertheless sent interrogators to Guanatanamo to question Khadr. The Supreme Court decided this violated Khadr's rights but this doesn't matter. Not only Liberals can sit on their hands and do nothing when they feel like it. The Conservatives can mouth platitudes and do nothing just as well.
Judge’s removal political: lawyers TheStar.com - News - Judge’s removal political: lawyers
.
'Deck is clearly stacked' against a fair trial, Liberal MP charges
May 30, 2008 Michelle ShephardNational Security Reporter The abrupt retirement of the judge presiding over Omar Khadr’s war crimes trial has prompted Canada’s opposition groups to call again for government intervention and provided critics of the military trials fuel for their argument that Guantanamo’s trials are unraveling.
A spokesperson from Guantanamo’s Office of the Military Commission said Friday that U.S. Army Col. Peter Brownback, who has presided over Khadr’s trial since late 2006, has decided to retire mid-way through the Toronto detainee’s trial.
“Col. Brownback was directed by the Army in 2004 to come back on active duty from retirement based on his previous experience as a military judge. He has been serving on a retired recall status for the past four years,” Air Force Capt. André Kok wrote in an emailed statement. “After this period of service, it was a mutual decision between Col. Brownback and the Army that he revert to his retired status when his current active duty orders expire in June.”
Brownback has refused comment.
The announcement of his shocking dismissal came from the chief judge for Guantanamo’s military commissions, Marine Col. Raph Kohlmann, in an email late Thursday. The note simply said that he was assigning U.S. Army Col. Patrick Parrish to replace Brownback.
Khadr’s lawyers charged that Brownback’s dismissal was political, since he had frustrated the prosecution’s attempt to set a trial date at a time when the Pentagon is pushing to have at least one Guantanamo trial completed by this fall’s U.S. presidential election. All three candidates have vowed to shut the U.S. prison on Cuba’s southeast shore.
Prosecutor Marine Major Jeff Groharing disputed any suggestion that there was any push from his office to have Brownback replaced.
“The prosecution does not have any involvement in assignment of military judges and certainly didn’t have anything to do with a new judge being assigned to this case,” Groharing told the Toronto Star. “Despite the insinuation in the press release filed by defense counsel, the prosecution has always acted ethically and transparently in this case and any suggestion otherwise is reckless and irresponsible.”
In Ottawa, Liberal MP Larry Bagnell pressed the federal government Friday to respond to Brownback’s departure by demanding that Khadr be sent home.
“The military commission pressing charges against Omar Khadr at Guantanamo Bay fired the judge overseeing the trial. Unbelievable,” Bagnell said. “How can the government continue to show confidence in this process when the deck is so clearly stacked against Mr. Khadr ever receiving a fair trial?”
The parliamentary secretary to the Foreign Affairs minister responded with the same three media lines that Conservative members have used to answer all Khadr-related questions -- Khadr is facing a “serious charges,” Canada has sought and received assurances that he is treated humanely and they will not interfere in the U.S legal process, MP Deepak Obhrai responded.
Bagnell countered, “It is nice to read a prepared sheet that was prepared before the new information came out. When will this government stop ignoring what is happening? When will it bring Mr. Khadr back to Canada to face justice here?”
Obhrai repeated the same answers.
The American Civil Liberties Union and New York-based Human Rights Watch, who have both sent observers to witness all the Guantanamo hearings, issued statements Friday decrying the lack of information about a military judge’s dismissal.
“While this decision is not surprising, it once again demonstrates the inherent flaws in a system that lacks impartiality and is subject to political influence,” wrote Jamil Dakwar, Director of the ACLU’s Human Rights Program. “The message of the Pentagon’s decision seems to be that it is unwilling to let judges exercise independence if it means a ruling against the government.”
Khadr is scheduled to appear before a military court again next month, although it’s unclear now if a new judge will delay those pre-trial hearings. The Toronto-born detainee was 15 when he was captured in Afghanistan after a firefight where the Pentagon alleges he fatally wounded Delta Force soldier Christopher Speer. Now 21, he is on trial for five war crimes, including murder for Speer’s death.
Khadr’s Canadian lawyers won a partial victory in the Supreme Court last week when the high court justices ordered the government to turn over information concerning his case – but limited the disclosure to only information resulting from interrogations by Canadian agents.
A federal court is now vetting the information for national security concerns and is expected to turn over documents to Khadr’s lawyers as early as next week.
The Star filed a motion to intervene in that case today, arguing that the public should have access to the information since the treatment of a Canadian detainee in Guantanamo and the participation of Canadian officials in that process “raises matters of great public interest.”
Friday, May 30, 2008
Khadr trial judge relieved of duties.
This is from the Globe and Mail.
I hear that Peter Brownback is to be replaced by Faithful Brownnoser. It seems that even the least move towards any fairness on the part of a judge is not to be tolerated. Harper still is completely mum as far as any criticism of this transparently unjust process is concerned.
Khadr trial judge relieved of duties
OMAR EL AKKAD
May 30, 2008
OTTAWA -- The military judge in the Omar Khadr trial in Guantanamo Bay has been relieved of his duties, a move that Mr. Khadr's defence counsel implied is a result of the judge siding with the defence on a number of evidence-disclosure issues in the controversial military tribunal case.
In a brief e-mail message circulated yesterday afternoon, Military Commissions chief judge, Colonel Ralph Kohlmann, announced that Colonel Peter Brownback, who has served until now as the judge in the Khadr case, is to be replaced by another colonel, Patrick Parrish.
Defence officials in Washington told The Globe and Mail that Col. Brownback had been planning to retire. However, it was not clear why the judge would retire in the middle of an ongoing military tribunal case.
Col. Brownback initially came out of retirement in 2004 to oversee some of the military tribunal proceedings in Guantanamo Bay. Recently, he had shown considerable frustration at the prosecution in the Khadr case, headed by Major Jeff Groharing, for delays in disclosing evidence to the defence.
Mr. Khadr's U.S. military defence lawyer, Lieutenant Commander Bill Kuebler, said the sudden change of judge comes after a recent commission hearing in which Col. Brownback "threatened to suspend proceedings in the case of Omar Khadr if prosecutors continued to withhold key evidence from Omar's lawyers."
LCdr. Kuebler added that Col. Brownback said at the time that he had been "badgered and beaten and bruised by Major Groharing since the seventh of November, to set a trial date."
Col. Brownback had often sided with the defence on issues of what evidence should be disclosed to Mr. Khadr's lawyers. But he has also sided with the prosecution on several issues, including most recently denying a defence motion to dismiss charges against Mr. Khadr because of his age at the time of his alleged offences, a ruling that went a long way toward clearing the way for Mr. Khadr's trial to finally begin.
Mr. Khadr was 15 when he was captured after a gun battle in Afghanistan in 2002. His Canadian and U.S. defence lawyers, along with myriad human-rights and legal groups and Canadian opposition politicians, have said he should be treated as a child soldier and not be subjected to the U.S. military commissions system in Guantanamo Bay.
Mr. Khadr faces several charges stemming from the Afghanistan battle, including murder. Now 21, he faces the prospect of life in prison if convicted.
Both the prosecution and defence won't have to wait long to find out if Col. Parrish will run things differently; Mr. Khadr is expected back in a Guantanamo courtroom in mid-June, at which point both sides will continue arguing discovery issues.
I hear that Peter Brownback is to be replaced by Faithful Brownnoser. It seems that even the least move towards any fairness on the part of a judge is not to be tolerated. Harper still is completely mum as far as any criticism of this transparently unjust process is concerned.
Khadr trial judge relieved of duties
OMAR EL AKKAD
May 30, 2008
OTTAWA -- The military judge in the Omar Khadr trial in Guantanamo Bay has been relieved of his duties, a move that Mr. Khadr's defence counsel implied is a result of the judge siding with the defence on a number of evidence-disclosure issues in the controversial military tribunal case.
In a brief e-mail message circulated yesterday afternoon, Military Commissions chief judge, Colonel Ralph Kohlmann, announced that Colonel Peter Brownback, who has served until now as the judge in the Khadr case, is to be replaced by another colonel, Patrick Parrish.
Defence officials in Washington told The Globe and Mail that Col. Brownback had been planning to retire. However, it was not clear why the judge would retire in the middle of an ongoing military tribunal case.
Col. Brownback initially came out of retirement in 2004 to oversee some of the military tribunal proceedings in Guantanamo Bay. Recently, he had shown considerable frustration at the prosecution in the Khadr case, headed by Major Jeff Groharing, for delays in disclosing evidence to the defence.
Mr. Khadr's U.S. military defence lawyer, Lieutenant Commander Bill Kuebler, said the sudden change of judge comes after a recent commission hearing in which Col. Brownback "threatened to suspend proceedings in the case of Omar Khadr if prosecutors continued to withhold key evidence from Omar's lawyers."
LCdr. Kuebler added that Col. Brownback said at the time that he had been "badgered and beaten and bruised by Major Groharing since the seventh of November, to set a trial date."
Col. Brownback had often sided with the defence on issues of what evidence should be disclosed to Mr. Khadr's lawyers. But he has also sided with the prosecution on several issues, including most recently denying a defence motion to dismiss charges against Mr. Khadr because of his age at the time of his alleged offences, a ruling that went a long way toward clearing the way for Mr. Khadr's trial to finally begin.
Mr. Khadr was 15 when he was captured after a gun battle in Afghanistan in 2002. His Canadian and U.S. defence lawyers, along with myriad human-rights and legal groups and Canadian opposition politicians, have said he should be treated as a child soldier and not be subjected to the U.S. military commissions system in Guantanamo Bay.
Mr. Khadr faces several charges stemming from the Afghanistan battle, including murder. Now 21, he faces the prospect of life in prison if convicted.
Both the prosecution and defence won't have to wait long to find out if Col. Parrish will run things differently; Mr. Khadr is expected back in a Guantanamo courtroom in mid-June, at which point both sides will continue arguing discovery issues.
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