Guantanamo lawyers ask court to keep prosecutors from contacting prisoners

Guantanamo lawyers ask court to keep prosecutors from contacting prisoners
March 17, 2008
SAN JUAN , Puerto Rico — Lawyers for four Kuwaiti men held at Guantanamo Bay have asked a court to block U.S. military prosecutors from contacting the prisoners without their consent, accusing the government Monday of violating legal ethics.
The emergency petition, filed last week in a Washington appeals court, raises concerns about a recent assertion by Guantanamo 's chief prosecutor that he does not need the lawyers' permission because they do not represent the prisoners before the war-crimes tribunal system.
But Matthew MacLean, a Washington-based lawyer for the Kuwaitis, said his clients and U.S. federal courts have recognized him and a colleague as legal representatives - and alleged government interrogators have told his clients their lawyers are Jewish in a bid to sow mistrust.
"Are these prosecutors bound by the rules that are binding on all prosecutors everywhere?" MacLean asked.
"Or are these prosecutors going to be allowed to be cowboys, doing whatever they want?"
The case goes to the heart of complaints by many detainees' lawyers, who say the challenges in gaining access to their clients on sporadic visits to the isolated U.S. navy base in southeastern Cuba make it more difficult to establish their trust.
The chief prosecutor for the Guantanamo tribunals, army Col. Lawrence Morris, said in an e-mail sent to MacLean on Feb. 26 and submitted with the court filing the government "certainly" can have contact with the Kuwaitis, regardless of the lawyers' representation.
The legal adviser to the tribunal system, air force Brig.-Gen. Thomas Hartmann, said prosecutors have followed professional rules of responsibility. He added the government is "working to clarify the distinction" between trial counsel and lawyers who represent prisoners in other matters such as lawsuits about their confinement.
The petition is one of the first cases before the U.S. Court of Military Commission Review, which the Pentagon created last year to hear appeals from the tribunal system. On Monday, the court ordered the government to file a response by week's end, MacLean said.
President George W. Bush said during a trip to the Middle East in January two of the last four Kuwaitis held at Guantanamo will be charged but he did not say which and prosecutors have not revealed further details. Eight other Kuwaiti detainees have been sent home.
The U.S. military plans to charge about 80 of the roughly 275 men held at Guantanamo on suspicion of links to the Taliban or al-Qaida. Fourteen detainees have been selected for prosecution but so far none of the cases has gone to trial.
Copyright © 2008 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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