Office for the Administrative Review of Detained Enemy Combatants: Difference between revisions

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{{subpages}}
{{PropDel}}<br><br>{{subpages}}
[[Image:Trailer were CSR Tribunaals were held - Guantanamo.jpg|thumb|Trailer were [[Cobmatant Status Review Tribunaal]]s were held - Guantanamo.  Captives hands and feet were chained to a ring bolt in the floor.
The '''Office for the Administrative Review of the Detention of Enemy Combatants''' was created  to be responsible for the administrative status review of persons held at Guantanamo Bay detention camp initial Combatant Status Review Tribunals and annual Administrative Review Board (OARDEC)|Administrative Review Board hearings. Many of its functions have passed to the convening authority for the Military Commissions Act of 2006, headed by Susan Crawford, or into the Federal judicial system.
<ref name=Nytimes041109>
{{cite news
| url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/08/national/08gitmo.html?ei=5088&en=4af06725bdf5c086&ex=1257570000&partner=rssnyt&pagewanted=all&position=
| title=Guantánamo Prisoners Getting Their Day, but Hardly in Court], ''
| publisher=[[November 8]] [[2004]]
| author=[[Neil A. Lewis]]
| date=[[New York Times]]
| accessdate=2007-10-28
}}</ref><ref name=FinancialTimes041211>
{{cite news
| author=[[Mark Huband]]
| url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/614cf4bc-4b1b-11d9-a0ca-00000e2511c8.html
| title=Dock of the bay
| publisher=[[Financial Times]]
| date=[[December 11]] [[2004]]
| accessdate=2007-10-28
}}</ref>]]
[[Image:Administrative Review Board hearing room - Guantanamo.jpg|thumb|Administrative Review Board hearing room - Guantanamo.]]
The '''Office for the Administrative Review of the Detention of Enemy Combatants''' is responsible for overseeing [[Guantanamo captive]]s initial [[Combatant Status Review Tribunal]]s and
annual
[[Administrative Review Board (OARDEC)|Administrative Review Board]] hearings.
 
It is the position of the [[George W. Bush|Bush]] [[United States President|Presidency]] that captives apprehended during the "[[war on terror]]".
were not entitled to the protections of the [[Geneva Conventions]] and thus were not entitled to [[Prisoner of War]] status.
The relatives of some Guantanamo captives initiated [[writ of habeas corpus|haveas corpus submissions]], which would require the [[Executive Branch]] show it had meaningful reasons to hold the captives.
Part of the [[Supreme Court of the United States|United States Supreme Court]]'s ruling in [[Rasul v. Bush]] was a requirement that the [[United States Department of Defense]]
provide a venue for captives to have an opportunity to learn why they were being held and to give them an opportunity to refute those allegations.


==The Combatant Status Review Tribunals==
==The Combatant Status Review Tribunals==
 
The Combatant Status Review Tribunals that OARDEC set up were outwardly very similar to those set up by under the authority of Army Regulation 190-8.<ref name=OrderEstablishingCSRT>
The Supreme Court recommended that the venue where captives were presented with the allegations should be modeled after the procedures laid out for Tribunals [[Army Regulation 190-8]].  Army Regulation 190-8, entitled [[Military Police: Enemy Prisoners of War, Retained Personnel, Civilian Internees and Other Detainees]] laid out procedures through which military officers could make a determination as to whether captives were entitled to the protections of POW status, or whether they were innocent civilians, or whether they were combatants who had violated the Geneva Conventions criteria that entitled them to the protections of POW status.
 
The [[Combatant Status Review Tribunal]]s that OARDEC set up were outwardly very similar to those set up by under the authority of Army Regulation 190-8.<ref name=OrderEstablishingCSRT>
{{cite news
{{cite news
| url=http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Jul2004/d20040707review.pdf
| url=http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Jul2004/d20040707review.pdf
| title=Order Establishing Combatant Status Review Tribunal
| title=Order Establishing Combatant Status Review Tribunal
| publisher=[[United States Department of Defense]]
| publisher=United States Department of Defense
| author=[[Donald Rumsfeld]]
| author=Donald Rumsfeld
| date=[[July 7]] [[2004]]
| date=July 7, 2004
| accessdate=2007-10-28
| accessdate=2007-10-28
}}</ref>
}}</ref> They differed, however, in their mandate.  They were only authorized to review whether earlier secret procedures had correctly determined that the captives should have been determined to have been enemy combatants.
They differed, however, in their mandate.  They were only authorized to review whether earlier secret procedures had correctly determined that the captives should have been determined to have been "[[enemy combatant]]s".


558 Tribunals were convened between August of 2004 and January of 2005, one for each captive then held in Guantanamo.   
558 Tribunals were convened between August of 2004 and January of 2005, one for each captive then held in Guantanamo.  The final recommendation of the CSR Tribunal system was that 520 of the  
The final recommendation of the CSR Tribunal system was that 520 of the  
captives had originally been correctly determined to have been enemy combatants.  The Tribunal system recommended that 38 of those captives should be classified as "no longer enemy combatants".
captives had originally been correctly determined to have been enemy combatants.  The Tribunal system recommended that 38 of those captives should be classified as "[[no longer enemy combatant]]s".


Members of the Press observed 37 of the Tribunals.<ref name=DoDCsrtBriefing20070306>
Members of the Press observed 37 of the Tribunals.<ref name=DoDCsrtBriefing20070306>
Line 52: Line 20:
| url=http://www.defenselink.mil/transcripts/transcript.aspx?transcriptid=3902
| url=http://www.defenselink.mil/transcripts/transcript.aspx?transcriptid=3902
| title=Annual Administrative Review Boards for Enemy Combatants Held at Guantanamo Attributable to Senior Defense Officials
| title=Annual Administrative Review Boards for Enemy Combatants Held at Guantanamo Attributable to Senior Defense Officials
| publisher=[[United States Department of Defense]]
| publisher=United States Department of Defense
| date=[[March 6]] [[2007]]
| date=March 6, 2007
| accessdate=2007-10-28
| accessdate=2007-10-28
}}</ref>
}}</ref>


In 2006 human rights workers learned that senior officers became concerned that Tribunals had recommended overturned the enemy combatant status of more than 38 captives.<ref name=HuffingtonPost061120>
In the winter and spring of 2007 14 more CSR Tribunals were convened, for 14 "High Value Detainees", who had been transferred to military custody from years of captivity in secret CIA interrogation camps.  There were some differences in the procedure for their Tribunals, including that members of the press were not permitted to attend their Tribunals.
{{cite news
| url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/h-candace-gorman-/secrets-of-the-war-crimin_b_34505.html
| title=Secrets of the War Criminals
| publisher=[[Huffington Post]]
| author=[[Candace S. Gorman]]
| date=[[December 12]] [[2006]]
| accessdate=2007-10-28
}}</ref><ref name="thestory.org">
{{cite web
| url=http://thestory.org/archive/the_story_179_Gitmo_Lifting_The_Veil_of_Secrecy.mp3/view
| title=Gitmo - Lifting the Veil of Secrecy
| date=[[February 5]] [[2007]]
| author=[[Dick Gordon]]
| publisher=[[American Public Media]]: [[The Story with Dick Gordon|''The Story'']]
| accessdate=2007-10-28
}}</ref>
 
In the winter and spring of 2007 14 more CSR Tribunals were convened, for 14 "[[high-value detainee]]s", who had been transferred to military custody from years of captivity in secret [[CIA]] interrogation camps.  There were some differences in the procedure for their Tribunals, including that members of the press were explicitly not permitted to attend their Tribunals.


As of October 2007 five more captives have been transferred to Guantanamo, who have yet to have a CSR Tribunal make a recommentation about their enemy combatant status.
As of October 2007 five more captives have been transferred to Guantanamo, who have yet to have a CSR Tribunal make a recommentation about their enemy combatant status.
Line 81: Line 31:
==The Administrative Review Board hearings==
==The Administrative Review Board hearings==


Plans for the Administrative Review Board were announced on [[February 13]], [[2004]], five months prior to the announcement of the CSR Tribunal.<ref name=AfpsArb20040213>
Plans for the Administrative Review Board were announced on February 13, 2004, five months prior to the announcement of the CSR Tribunal.<ref name=AfpsArb20040213>
{{cite news
{{cite news
| url=http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=27321
| url=http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=27321
| title=Panel to Review Guantanamo Detainees
| title=Panel to Review Guantanamo Detainees
| publisher=[[American Forces Press Service]]
| publisher=American Forces Press Service
| author=[[K.L. Vantran]]
| author=K.L. Vantran
| date=[[February 13]], [[2004]]
| date=February 13, 2004
| accessdate=2007-10-28
| accessdate=2007-10-28
}}</ref>
}}</ref>
The first Board hearings were not convened until December 2004.
The first Board hearings were not convened until December 2004.


The Administrative Review Board are also outwardly similar to the Tribunals described in Army Regulation 190-8.
The Administrative Review Board are also outwardly similar to the Tribunals described in Army Regulation 190-8.   For every captive whose enemy combatant status was confirmed by a CSR Tribunal has a Board convene once a year to consider whether that captive should still be held by the USA, or  
For every captive whose enemy combatant status was confirmed by a CSR Tribunal has a Board convene once a year to consider whether that captive should still be held by the USA, or  
because they continued to represent a threat to the USA, or because their detention continues to hold intelligence value.
because they continued to represent a threat to the USA, or because their detention continues to hold intelligence value.
==Appeals under the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005==
In 2005, following reports that captives in US custody were being abused, [[John McCain]], a member of the [[United States Senate]] who was tortured himself when he was a prisoner during the [[War in Vietnam]], sponsored a bill which was to specify that the interrogation techniques used on captives in US custody should not exceed those published  in the [[United States Army]]'s field manual on interrogation.  The [[Detainee Treatment Act of 2006]], when passed, also specified Guantanamo captives could appeal the recommendation of their CSR Tribunals -- when the Department of Defense failed to follow its own procedures.  Captives were allowed to appeal to the Washington DC District Court of Appeals.
In the summer of 2007 in [[al Odah v. Gates]] and other submissions, the recommendations of the Tribunals of 137 Guantanamo captives were appealed.  The Department of Defense first argued that it should not be made to turn over the evidence used to prepare the [[Summary of Evidence (CSRT)|Summary of Evidence memos]] prepared for the CSR Tribunals.  When the Court of Appeals ordered thee Department of Defense to turn over the evidence the Department of Defense then informed the court that it could not find the evidence used to prepare the memos.  The Department of Defense has said that it will recompile new Summary of Evidence memos which will be presented to brand new Tribunals for some or all of those 137 captives.


==Internal criticisms of OARDEC's operation==
==Internal criticisms of OARDEC's operation==
Line 106: Line 49:
In February 2005, after the first 558 CSR Tribunals had been convened, but before the captive's  
In February 2005, after the first 558 CSR Tribunals had been convened, but before the captive's  
names had been released,
names had been released,
[[Lieutenant Commander]] [[Matthew Diaz]], an officer in the [[United States Navy]]'s  
Lieutenant Commander Matthew Diaz, an officer in the United States Navy's  
[[Judge Advocate General Corps]]
Judge Advocate General Corps
leaked a copy of an official list of the captive's' names to the [[Center for Constitutional Rights]].<ref name=Harpers20070514>
leaked a copy of an official list of the captives' names to the Center for Constitutional Rights.<ref name=Harpers20070514>
{{cite news
{{cite news
| url=http://www.harpers.org/archive/2007/05/hbc-90000071
| url=http://www.harpers.org/archive/2007/05/hbc-90000071
| title=The Persecution of LtCmdr Matthew Diaz
| title=The Persecution of LtCmdr Matthew Diaz
| publisher=[[Harpers magazine]]
| publisher=Harpers magazine
| author=[[Scott Horton]]
| author=Scott Horton
| date=[[May 14]] [[2007]]
| date=May 14, 2007
| accessdate=2007-10-20
}}</ref><ref name=TheAustralian20070118>
{{cite news
| url=http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21079410-1702,00.html
| title=Lawyer tried over detainee leak
| publisher=[[The Australian]]
| date=[[January 18]], [[2007]]
| accessdate=2007-10-20
| accessdate=2007-10-20
}}</ref><ref name=Fox20070514>
{{cite news
| url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,210993,00.html
| title=Navy Lawyer Charged With Giving Out Secret Information
| publisher=[[Fox News]]
| date=Monday, [[May 14]], [[2007]]
| accessdate=2007-10-20
}}</ref>
Diaz was convicted on Thursday, [[May 17]] [[2007]], and received a six month sentence.<ref name=TheJurist20070518>
{{cite news
| url=http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2007/05/former-guantanamo-military-lawyer.php
| title=Former Guantanamo military lawyer convicted of leaking detainee names
| publisher=[[The Jurist]]
| author=[[Michael Sung]]
| date=Friday, [[May 18]], [[2007]]
| accessdate=2007-10-28
}}</ref>
Diaz was sentenced to six months imprisonment, and a discharge from the Navy.<ref name=TheJurist20070519>
{{cite news
| url=http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2007/05/former-guantanamo-military-lawyer_19.php
| title=Former Guantanamo military lawyer sentenced to 6 months for leaking names
| publisher=[[The Jurist]]
| author=[[Michael Sung]]
| date=Saturday, [[May 19]], [[2007]]
| accessdate=2007-10-28
}}</ref>
}}</ref>


On [[June 22]] [[2007]], an appeal on behalf of [[Guantanamo captive]] [[Fawzi al-Odah]] contained an affidavit from [[Stephen Abraham]], a lawyer and [[United States Army]] reserve officer, which was highly critical of OARDEC's procedures.<ref name=WashingtonPost20070623>
On June 22, 2007, an appeal on behalf of Guantanamo captive Fawzi al-Odah contained an affidavit from Stephen Abraham, a lawyer and United States Army reserve officer, which was highly critical of OARDEC's procedures.<ref name=WashingtonPost20070623>
{{cite news
{{cite news
| url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/22/AR2007062202230.html
| url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/22/AR2007062202230.html
| title=An Ex-Member Calls Detainee Panels Unfair: Lawyer Tells of Flawed 'Combatant' Rulings
| title=An Ex-Member Calls Detainee Panels Unfair: Lawyer Tells of Flawed 'Combatant' Rulings
| author=[[Carol D. Leonnig]], [[Josh White]]
| author=Carol D. Leonnig, Josh White
| publisher=[[Washington Post]]
| publisher=Washington Post
| date=Saturday, [[June 23]], [[2007]]
| date=Saturday, June 23, 2007
| accessdate=2007-10-26
}}</ref><ref name=Cbs20070623>
{{cite news
| url=http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/06/23/world/main2970288_page2.shtml
| title=Gitmo Panelist Slams Hearing Process: Lt. Col. Stephen Abraham Is First Member Of Military Panel To Challenge Guantanamo Bay Hearings
| date=[[June 23,]], [[2007]]
| publisher=[[CBS]]
| accessdate=2007-10-26
| accessdate=2007-10-26
}}</ref>
}}</ref> Abraham, a reserve military intelligence officer and a civilan attorney.  Abraham sat on one Tribunal and spent the rest of  his six month term at Guantanamo reviewing and coordinating the release of evidence from other agencies that was being prepared for other captive's Tribunals
Abraham, a reserve officer who is a lawyer in his civilian life,  specialized in [[military intelligence]] when on duty.  Abraham sat on one Tribunal and spent the rest of  his six month term at Guantanamo reviewing and coordinating the release of evidence from other agencies that was being prepared for other captive's Tribunals
According to the ''Washington Post'' Abraham felt compelled to come forward after hearing his former boss, Rear Admiral James M. McGarrah call the Tribunal process "fair".
According to the ''[[Washington Post]]'' Abraham felt compelled to come forward after hearing his former boss, [[Rear Admiral]] [[James M. McGarrah]] call the Tribunal process "fair".


A second officer, a [[Major]], who identity has not yet been released, who sat on 49 CSR Tribunals came forward in September 2007
A second officer, a Major, who identity has not yet been released, who sat on 49 CSR Tribunals came forward in September 2007
with his own criticisms of the Tribunal process.<ref name=BelfastTelegraph20071028>
with his own criticisms of the Tribunal process.<ref name=BelfastTelegraph20071028>
{{cite news
{{cite news
| url=http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/article3102574.ece
| url=http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/article3102574.ece
| title=Guantanamo military lawyer breaks ranks to condemn 'unconscionable' detention
| title=Guantanamo military lawyer breaks ranks to condemn 'unconscionable' detention
| publisher=[[Belfast Telegraph]]
| publisher=Belfast Telegraph
| author=[[Leonard Doyle]]
| author=Leonard Doyle
| date=Saturday, [[October 27]], [[2007]]
| date=October 27, 2007
| accessdate=2007-10-28
| accessdate=2007-10-28
}}</ref>
}}</ref>
Line 182: Line 85:
==The release of OARDEC documents==
==The release of OARDEC documents==


Approximately 2,200 documents prepared for the CSR Tribunald and hearings have been released.<ref name=Oardec20070910>
Approximately 2,200 documents prepared for the CSR Tribunal and hearings have been released.<ref name=Oardec20070910>
{{cite news
{{cite news
| url=http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/detainees/csrt_arb/index.html
| url=http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/detainees/csrt_arb/index.html
| title=Combatant Status Review Tribunal (CSRT) and Administrative Review Board (ARB) Documents
| title=Combatant Status Review Tribunal (CSRT) and Administrative Review Board (ARB) Documents
| date=[[September 10]] [[2007]]
| date=September 10, 2007
| author=[[OARDEC]]
| author=OARDEC
| publisher=[[United States Department of Defense]]
| publisher=United States Department of Defense
| accessdate=2007-09-29
| accessdate=2007-09-29
}}</ref>
}}</ref>

Latest revision as of 12:06, 13 March 2024

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The Office for the Administrative Review of the Detention of Enemy Combatants was created to be responsible for the administrative status review of persons held at Guantanamo Bay detention camp initial Combatant Status Review Tribunals and annual Administrative Review Board (OARDEC)|Administrative Review Board hearings. Many of its functions have passed to the convening authority for the Military Commissions Act of 2006, headed by Susan Crawford, or into the Federal judicial system.

The Combatant Status Review Tribunals

The Combatant Status Review Tribunals that OARDEC set up were outwardly very similar to those set up by under the authority of Army Regulation 190-8.[1] They differed, however, in their mandate. They were only authorized to review whether earlier secret procedures had correctly determined that the captives should have been determined to have been enemy combatants.

558 Tribunals were convened between August of 2004 and January of 2005, one for each captive then held in Guantanamo. The final recommendation of the CSR Tribunal system was that 520 of the captives had originally been correctly determined to have been enemy combatants. The Tribunal system recommended that 38 of those captives should be classified as "no longer enemy combatants".

Members of the Press observed 37 of the Tribunals.[2]

In the winter and spring of 2007 14 more CSR Tribunals were convened, for 14 "High Value Detainees", who had been transferred to military custody from years of captivity in secret CIA interrogation camps. There were some differences in the procedure for their Tribunals, including that members of the press were not permitted to attend their Tribunals.

As of October 2007 five more captives have been transferred to Guantanamo, who have yet to have a CSR Tribunal make a recommentation about their enemy combatant status.

The Administrative Review Board hearings

Plans for the Administrative Review Board were announced on February 13, 2004, five months prior to the announcement of the CSR Tribunal.[3] The first Board hearings were not convened until December 2004.

The Administrative Review Board are also outwardly similar to the Tribunals described in Army Regulation 190-8. For every captive whose enemy combatant status was confirmed by a CSR Tribunal has a Board convene once a year to consider whether that captive should still be held by the USA, or because they continued to represent a threat to the USA, or because their detention continues to hold intelligence value.

Internal criticisms of OARDEC's operation

In February 2005, after the first 558 CSR Tribunals had been convened, but before the captive's names had been released, Lieutenant Commander Matthew Diaz, an officer in the United States Navy's Judge Advocate General Corps leaked a copy of an official list of the captives' names to the Center for Constitutional Rights.[4]

On June 22, 2007, an appeal on behalf of Guantanamo captive Fawzi al-Odah contained an affidavit from Stephen Abraham, a lawyer and United States Army reserve officer, which was highly critical of OARDEC's procedures.[5] Abraham, a reserve military intelligence officer and a civilan attorney. Abraham sat on one Tribunal and spent the rest of his six month term at Guantanamo reviewing and coordinating the release of evidence from other agencies that was being prepared for other captive's Tribunals According to the Washington Post Abraham felt compelled to come forward after hearing his former boss, Rear Admiral James M. McGarrah call the Tribunal process "fair".

A second officer, a Major, who identity has not yet been released, who sat on 49 CSR Tribunals came forward in September 2007 with his own criticisms of the Tribunal process.[6]

The release of OARDEC documents

Approximately 2,200 documents prepared for the CSR Tribunal and hearings have been released.[7]

References

  1. Donald Rumsfeld. Order Establishing Combatant Status Review Tribunal, United States Department of Defense, July 7, 2004. Retrieved on 2007-10-28.
  2. Annual Administrative Review Boards for Enemy Combatants Held at Guantanamo Attributable to Senior Defense Officials. United States Department of Defense (March 6, 2007). Retrieved on 2007-10-28.
  3. K.L. Vantran. Panel to Review Guantanamo Detainees, American Forces Press Service, February 13, 2004. Retrieved on 2007-10-28.
  4. Scott Horton. The Persecution of LtCmdr Matthew Diaz, Harpers magazine, May 14, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-10-20.
  5. Carol D. Leonnig, Josh White. An Ex-Member Calls Detainee Panels Unfair: Lawyer Tells of Flawed 'Combatant' Rulings, Washington Post, Saturday, June 23, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-10-26.
  6. Leonard Doyle. Guantanamo military lawyer breaks ranks to condemn 'unconscionable' detention, Belfast Telegraph, October 27, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-10-28.
  7. OARDEC. Combatant Status Review Tribunal (CSRT) and Administrative Review Board (ARB) Documents, United States Department of Defense, September 10, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-09-29.