JAG CENTRAL

From the New York Times: CIA Says Approved Methods of Questioning Are All Legal ("The Central Intelligence Agency said Friday that all interrogation techniques approved for use by agency personnel in questioning terrorism suspects were permissible under federal laws prohibiting torture. "All approved interrogation techniques, both past and present, are lawful and do not constitute torture," the agency said in a statement."); Pentagon Sets New Policy On Reporting Sex Assaults at Academies ("Victims of sexual assault at the nation's military academies will soon be able to report to specified counselors and receive medical treatment without immediately setting off an official inquiry, Pentagon officials said on Friday. The officials said the new policy was devised to increase the reporting of sexual assault by assuring victims that they could privately seek counseling and medical care before being faced with the difficulties of an investigation.").

From the Washington Post: Defense Dept. Surveys Academy Sex Assaults ("One female student in seven attending the nation's military academies last spring said she had been sexually assaulted since becoming a cadet or midshipman, according to a report on the first survey of sexual misconduct on the three campuses released yesterday by the Defense Department. More than half the women studying at the Naval, Air Force and Army academies reported experiencing some form of sexual harassment on campus, according to survey responses. But few of those incidents, and only a third of the assaults, were reported to authorities."); Pentagon Stresses Privacy for Sex Assualt Victims; CIA Helped Serbia Hunt Mladic, Ex-Premier Says ("CIA agents took part in dozens of unsuccessful attempts by Serbian police in 2003 to capture the Bosnian Serb wartime commander Gen. Ratko Mladic, who faces war crimes charges before an international tribunal, a former prime minister said Friday. Zoran Zivkovic, who headed Serbia's government for nearly a year starting in March 2003, said an agreement on Serbian-U.S. cooperation in the hunt for Mladic had been reached with former secretary of state Colin Powell, former CIA chief George Tenet and other top U.S. officials.").

From the Guardian (UK):

Only the 17,000-strong US forces, with their all-terrain Humvees and Apache attack helicopters, have the run of the land, and they have used the haze of fear and uncertainty that has engulfed the country to advance a draconian phase in the war against terror. Afghanistan has become the new Guantánamo Bay.

Washington likes to hold up Afghanistan as an exemplar of how a rogue regime can be replaced by democracy. Meanwhile, human-rights activists and Afghan politicians have accused the US military of placing Afghanistan at the hub of a global system of detention centres where prisoners are held incommunicado and allegedly subjected to torture. The secrecy surrounding them prevents any real independent investigation of the allegations. "The detention system in Afghanistan exists entirely outside international norms, but it is only part of a far larger and more sinister jail network that we are only now beginning to understand," Michael Posner, director of the US legal watchdog Human Rights First, told us.

COMMENTARY: Good to know that a sense of perspective and lack of bias continue to pervade the UK media. Yes, abuses happen. Yes, the jail network has probably gotten so large that it is often out of our ability to control. But is it really "sinister?" And as for international norms, what exactly are the countries that are following these "norms?" Name one country in the entire region that gives better treatment to its prisoners than we do. And that's even with Abu Ghraib factored in. There's work to be done, that's obvious. But such a liberal slant makes the Guardian lose credibility in my book.

This opinion piece by Col.(R) David R. Welling, USAF, appears in this week's Air Force Times:

I had a great friend who made one Fiscus-like mistake with one woman. Their consensual affair lasted just a few weeks. He freely admitted that he was wrong and pleaded guilty at his court-martial. I was present when the jury pronounced him “guilty as charged.”

He was shackled, taken to the base jail, given body cavity searches, made to sit in his underwear in solitary confinement for 24 hours, humiliated and harassed. Then he was sent to Fort Leavenworth, Kan., for almost a year of prison time. After that, he was kicked out of the Air Force with nothing to show for his otherwise 20-plus years of honorable service.

What can I possibly say to my friend, in light of the Fiscus case? Maybe he needs a good lawyer. Maybe with our new “standards,” we ought to revisit his case.

BACKGROUND: MG Fiscus served as the Air Force Judge Advocate General, the service's top attorney, until a scandal broke in which he was found to have had numerous adulterous sexual relationships with subordinate officers, some bordering on harassment. Instead of a court martial, MG Fiscus accepted retirement as a colonel (a 2 grade reduction in rank). As far as this author is aware of, a general grade officer has never been prosecuted under the UCMJ.

From the NY Times: Questions Are Left By CIA Chief on Torture ("Porter J. Goss, the director of central intelligence, said Thursday that he could not assure Congress that the Central Intelligence Agency's methods of interrogating terrorism suspects since Sept. 11, 2001, had been permissible under federal laws prohibiting torture. Under sharp questioning at a hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Mr. Goss sought to reassure lawmakers that all interrogations "at this time" were legal and that no methods now in use constituted torture. But he declined, when asked, to make the same broad assertions about practices used over the last few years.") NOTE: contrast this story to a story ran yesterday, where the CIA chief completely disavowed torture.

In other news, Un-Volunteering: Troops Improvise to Find Way Out ("One by one, a trickle of soldiers and marines - some just back from duty in Iraq, others facing a trip there soon - are seeking ways out. Soldiers, their advocates and lawyers who specialize in military law say they have watched a few service members try ever more unlikely and desperate routes: taking drugs in the hope that they will be kept home after positive urine tests, for example; or seeking psychological or medical reasons to be declared nondeployable, including last-minute pregnancies. Specialist Marquise J. Roberts is accused of asking a relative in Philadelphia to shoot him in the leg so he would not have to return to war."); Ex-Halliburton Man Charged With Defrauding U.S. of $3.5 Million.

From the Washington Post: CIA, White House Defend Transfers of Terror Suspects; Snippet on CPT Martin Court Martial.

From USA Today: Humvee Crashes Perplex Army ("The Army is baffled by a recent spate of vehicle accidents in Iraq — many of them rollovers involving armored Humvees — that have claimed more than a dozen lives this year. One key concern: Soldiers lack the skills to handle the heavier Humvees and are losing control as they speed through ambush areas before insurgents detonate roadside bombs."); CIA Director Defends Interrogation Tactics; Soldiers' Families To Hold Anti-War Rally.

This week from the U.S. Army Court of Criminal Appeals (all unpublished): U.S. v. Joseph, ARMY 20000889 (reversed); U.S. v. Goodin, ARMY 20040610 (partial reversal, sentence relief granted); U.S. v. Monette, ARMY 20020088 (child porn case, partial reversal, no sentence relief); U.S. v. Ratliff, ARMY 20031037 (specification correction, one month sentence relief); U.S. v. Howard, ARMY 20030621 (remand for new SJA recommendation and convening authority action).

From the Fort Belvoir Eagle:

The office of the Fort Belvoir Staff Judge Advocate honored one of their own when they presented him with a Purple Heart Medal in the SJA courtroom Friday.

Chief of Military Justice, SJA, Capt. Philip Staten said he was humbled to receive the Purple Heart medal for his actions in Diyala, Iraq, Jan. 21, 2004.

From April 2003 to April 2004, Staten was the Brigade Judge Advocate for the 2nd Brigade, 4th Infantry Division.



On Jan. 21, 2004, Staten was serving as a local point of contact for some personnel attached to the Coalition Provisional Authority's Ministry of Justice when the base camp they were at came under attack.

The first round to impact was a 120mm mortar shell that landed near Staten, launching him back. Staten took the brunt of the blast, but was lucky enough not to take any shrapnel damage. He did, however, become temporarily deafened from the blast, suffered a concussion, and bled from the ear.

The other members of his group received shrapnel wounds, some more serious than others.

Staten said this medal was a tremendous honor and privilege to receive.

Yesterday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces handed down U.S. v. Israel, No. 04-0217. At issue was an alleged violation of the defendant's Sixth Amendment right of cross-examination when the trial judge excluded several areas of inquiry into discrepencies at the Air Force's drug testing lab. The defendant was convicted of wrongful use of cocaine in violation of Article 112a, UCMJ, 10 U.S.C. 912a. The Court of Appeals reversed and remanded, finding that the excluded evidence violated his right of cross-examination, and further found that the violation rose above the level of harmless error. An important opinion for those involved in drug abuse prosecution or defense in the military.

From KOAA-TV 5 in Colorado Springs:

Army Captain Shawn Martin has been found guilty at Fort Carson on two assault charges and one count of aggravated assault on Iraqis in 2003.

The incidents happened while Martin and the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment were in Iraq in 2003. He was acquitted on charges of obstruction of justice and conduct unbecoming an officer.

One of the convictions resulted from an incident in which Martin ordered an Iraqi to dig his own grave. Martin was sentenced to 45 days confinement and he'll have to forfeit $1,000 a month from his salary for one year.

The sentence does not include a dismissal from the Army. "Shawn Martin has demonstrated through the various exhibits and through the testimony at trial that he's already given a lot to the Army and still has a lot to give to the Army," said Defense Council John Galligan.

A summary of posts on the CPT Martin trial:
1. Army Captain Convicted
2. Captain Shawn Martin Court Martial Continues
3. Update on Fort Carson Captain Court Martial
4. Court Martial Hearings for Two Fort Carson Soldiers

From the NY Times: CIA Chief Defends Interrogation Policy and Disavows Torture ("The head of the Central Intelligence Agency today defended interrogation techniques used to combat terrorism while asserting that the United States does not practice or approve of torture. "Professional interrogation has become a very useful and necessary way to obtain information to save innocent lives, to disrupt terrorist schemes and to protect our combat forces," the C.I.A. director, Porter J. Goss, told the Senate Armed Services Committee.").

From the Washington Post: Reported Abuse Cases Fell After Abu Ghraib ("The number of reported detainee abuse cases against U.S. Army soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan declined sharply after the abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison came to light last spring, with incident reports dropping more than 75 percent from April 2004 to the end of last year and the number of death investigations also waning. According to an Army report obtained by The Washington Post, 208 abuse cases were reported to have occurred between the U.S. invasion of Iraq in March 2003 and May 2004, when the Abu Ghraib abuses made international news. The reported abuse cases peaked in April 2004, when there were 25 cases, including four deaths. The numbers fell consistently through December, when the Army learned of six abuse cases. The Army data are complete through the end of 2004."); Army Captain Convicted ("Army Capt. Shawn L. Martin, accused of terrorizing an Iraqi town under his supervision, was convicted of assaulting Iraqis but acquitted of charges stemming from an alleged assault on one of his own soldiers."). NOTE: More on CPT Martin Court Martial to follow.

...that's the story behind an appellate opinion from the U.S. Army Court of Criminal Appeals. Sergeant Brooke J. Ritter was convicted of multiple counts of wire fraud, bank fraud, dereliction of duty, and sodomy. Turns out she was a plumber at the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks in charge of a work detail. She struck a fancy with one of the inmates, and began a sexual relationship inside the D.B. Upon his release, she went AWOL for two days and shacked up with him in a Kansas City hotel. Read the gory details here.

From the NY Times: U.S. Military Says 26 Inmate Deaths May Be Homicide ("At least 26 prisoners have died in American custody in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2002 in what Army and Navy investigators have concluded or suspect were acts of criminal homicide, according to military officials. The number of confirmed or suspected cases is much higher than any accounting the military has previously reported. A Pentagon report sent to Congress last week cited only six prisoner deaths caused by abuse, but that partial tally was limited to what the author, Vice Adm. Albert T. Church III of the Navy, called "closed, substantiated abuse cases" as of last September. The new figure of 26 was provided by the Army and Navy this week after repeated inquiries."); (Yugoslav) U.N. Tribunal Issues Last Indictment.

From the Washington Post: U.S. Alleges 18 Plotted to Smuggle Soviet Arms ("U.S. authorities charged 18 people in an alleged scheme to smuggle grenade launchers, shoulder-fired missiles and other Russian military weapons into the United States, officials announced Tuesday. The arrests resulted from a yearlong investigation in which an FBI informant posed as an arms buyer with ties to al Qaeda. The case, which took investigators to South Africa, Armenia and the Republic of Georgia, also included wiretaps on seven phones and intercepts of more than 15,000 calls, according to prosecutors, the FBI and police.").

From the AP (via KKTV-13 Colorado Springs): Army Captain Shawn Martin's assault court martial continued today with him taking the stand. He denied the testimony of one of his sergeants who said that he put a gun to the head of another non-commisioned officer who refused to fire over the head of an Iraqi detainee. ANALYSIS: At this pace, we can probably expect a verdict tomorrow or Thursday. See previous posts about CPT Martin's trial here and here.

...Simply join the JAG Central Update Mailing List Google Group! All you need to do is go to this site and click on "Join this Group!" It's just that simple!

From the NY Times: 2 Relatives of Hussein and Ex-Aide are arrested; Former Bosnian Serb Police Official Surrenders to Tribunal ("After more than five years on the run, Gojko Jankovic, a former Bosnian Serb police commander wanted for war crimes committed during the 1992-95 conflict in Bosnia, surrendered yesterday to the United Nations tribunal in The Hague. Mr. Jankovic, 50, who is accused of torturing and raping Muslim women, followed an example set by four other Bosnian Serbs this year in turning himself in, which he did over the weekend to the authorities in the Bosnian Serb town of Banja Luka."); Rwanda: 6 Years for Genocide Role; Britain: Army Accused of Failing to Care for New Recruits.
NOTE: The Former Yugoslav Tribunal arrests have been intensifying in recent days; see earlier stories here.

From the Washington Post: Pentagon Audit Questions Halliburton's Costs in Iraq ("Pentagon auditors found more than $100 million in questionable costs in one section of a massive, no-bid Halliburton Co. contract for delivering fuel to Iraq, according to a summary of their report released yesterday by congressional Democrats."); 2 With Ties to Hussein Are In Custody, Iraq Says; Former Macedonian Minister Indicted by UN Tribunal.

Update from the AP (via CBS4 Denver): A panel has been seated in the Iraqi assault court martial of Army Captain Shawn L. Martin. The government accuses him of using an "iron fist" while patrolling Ar Rutbah, Iraq, of being a "failure" as a peacekeeper, and of using a baseball bat affectionately named an "Iraqi Beater" to assault Iraqi civilians. Previous post on the story here.

Nat Hentoff picks up on the criticism of the Bush Administration's dabblings in rendition that Phil Carter also denounced in this post that I told you about here:

In the legal actions against Mr. Rumsfeld, co-counsel retired Rear Adm. John D. Huston, former Judge Advocate General of the Navy, states: "One of the greatest strengths of the U.S. military throughout our history has been strong civilian leadership at the top of the chain of command. Unfortunately, Secretary Rumsfeld has failed to live up to that tradition. In the end, that imperils our troops and undermines the war effort." Much of the media has been asleep on this historic move in the courts to affirm our values to ourselves and the world, but I intend to stay on this story.

Other journalists are also engaged. When will Congress and our courts join us?

The Military Times Group reports that the Joint Service Committee on Military Justice is considering changes to the UCMJ and to related policies. The first change has to do with the sodomy article, Article 125 (10 USC 925), which, at least in theory, punishes all sodomy, consensual or not, regardless of sexual orientation, even in the privacy of one's home. The Committee will recommend changes in light of the recent Supreme Court opinion in Lawrence v. Texas. The second change will be to the rape article, Article 120 (10 USC 920). The committee has not revealed the actual language of the proposed changes.

...to make sure they don't fight us again on the battlefield. Remember in Kindergarten, when you played Duck Duck Goose, and when you got tagged, you went to the mushpot? Guantanamo is our mushpot. When we let enemy combatants out of Gitmo, the fighters may very well engage our soldiers again on the battlefield. Proof of this comes by the way of this post by Michelle Malkin:

Abdullah Mehsud, one of 10 enemy combatants released from Guantanamo Bay who had returned to his terrorist ways abroad, reportedly died this week of wounds sustained in a gun battle with Army forces. After his release from U.S. custody, he went back to Pakistan and became a celebrity for kidnapping two Chinese civilians.

Now, the Pakistan Daily Times reports today:

PESHAWAR: A spokesman for wanted tribal militant Abdullah Mehsud claimed on Sunday that the kidnapper of two Chinese engineers “died of his wounds” after a bullet pierced his chest in an Army commandos-led operation in North Waziristan Agency on March 5.
Abdullah died of his wounds on Thursday (March 10) at an unknown location, the spokesman told tribal journalist Sailab Mehsud who “Abdullah wished to be called first to give the news of his martyrdom.”

Nothing military justice related in the New York Times or USA Today.

From the Washington Post: Judge Blocks Transfer from Cuba of 13 Yemeni Detainees. Yesterday, the NY Times ran this similar story.

From the The New York Times: Judge Blocks the Transfer of 13 Detainees from Guantanamo ("A federal judge on Saturday prohibited the government from transferring 13 Yemeni prisoners from the military's detention facility at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, until a hearing could be held on their lawyers' fear that they might face torture if sent to another country. The ruling by Judge Rosemary M. Collyer of United States District Court was the first action on at least five emergency petitions filed since Friday by lawyers for Guantánamo detainees after they learned from news reports that the government is seeking to transfer hundreds of prisoners to their home countries."); Nuclear Sub Missed Warning Signs Before Crash, Navy Says.

From the Washington Post: Europeans Investigate CIA Role in Abductions:

Last month, officials showed up at Aviano Air Base in northern Italy and demanded records of any American planes that had flown into or out of the joint U.S.-Italian military installation around the time of the abduction. They also asked for logs of vehicles that had entered the base.

Italian authorities suspect the Egyptian was the target of a CIA-sponsored operation known as rendition, in which terrorism suspects are forcibly taken for interrogation to countries where torture is practiced.

The Italian probe is one of three official investigations that have surfaced in the past year into renditions believed to have taken place in Western Europe. Although the CIA usually carries out the operations with the help or blessing of friendly local intelligence agencies, law enforcement authorities in Italy, Germany and Sweden are examining whether U.S. agents may have broken local laws by detaining terrorist suspects on European soil and subjecting them to abuse or maltreatment.

From the Cleveland Plain Dealer, a bizarre story about a contractor firefighter who was sent home by the Wackenhut Corporation from Iraq when it found out about his diabetes, and who might sue to go back:

Last November, Barna, 25, went to work overseas for Wackenhut Services Inc. of Florida, a security services firm that has contracted with the Department of Defense to create 12 fire departments in Iraq.

After 17 days in Iraq, Barna was sent home; "administratively demobilized," as Wackenhut put it. He said a company official told him he could no longer stay because he is an insulin-dependent diabetic.

Barna has filed a discrimination complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, charging that Wackenhut violated the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Barna's attorney, Anthony Palombo, said he also might sue the firm in federal court for breach of contract, lost compensation and punitive damages.

Barna is complaining under the Americans With Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq., which requires employers to make reasonable accomodations for their disabled employees. Questions for discussion: (1) Is firefighting a job in which hiring a diabetic is a reasonable accomodation, and (2) (most important for our line of work) is a military contractor required to employ diabetics in a combat zone under the ADA?

Phil Carter, from INTEL DUMP, has harsh criticism of Navy Vice Admiral Albert T. Church III's report on U.S. military prisoner abuses:

[T]his report lacks any meaningful discussion of the doctrine of "command responsibility". Or rather, this is true of the unclassified report, which is really the one that matters for public purposes. In this regard, it is very similar to the infamous "torture memos" authored by DOD and DOJ lawyers, which lacked any reference to the seminal case of Youngstown Sheet & Tube v. Sawyer. Likewise, VADM Church declined to conduct a number of his own interviews, relying on existing transcripts instead for such important individuals as Secretary Rumsfeld and BG Janis Karpinski. It's clear that what was true of those torture memoranda is true of this report as well -- it simply lacks the intellectual and investigative rigor to be worth the paper it's printed on. The investigators failed to consider one of the most relevant legal doctrines to the issue at hand, and they failed to interview many of the most important principals involved. It's possible the classified report makes up for these shortcomings in mind-numbing detail and minutiae. But I would be really surprised if that were the case.

The AP (via KRDO TV 13, Colorado Springs):

A FORT CARSON SOLDIER WILL STAND TRIAL IN TEXAS ON MONDAY FOR THE DROWNING DEATH OF AN IRAQI CIVILIAN.

FIRST LIEUTENANT JACK SAVILLE IS CHARGED WITH INVOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER,AGGRAVATED ASSAULT, CONSPIRACY AND MAKING A FALSE STATEMENT AND OBSTRUCTING JUSTICE.
HE WAS ONE OF FOUR MEMBERS OF THE THIRD BRIGADE COMBATE TEAM ACCUSED IN THE DEATH OF AN IRAQI MAN ALLEGEDLY FORCED INTO THE TIGRIS RIVER NEAR SAMARRA IN JANUARY OF 2004. HE'S ALSO CHARGED WITH ASSAULTING A DETAINEE.

Another soldier, Captain Shawn L. Martin, will have a hearing Monday as well.