Seton Hall reports

Seton Hall report refers to several studies into the handling of detainees taken to Guantánamo Bay done by professor Mark P. Denbeaux of the Seton Hall University School of Law, and some of his law students.[1]

Denbeaux and his son, Joshua Denbeaux, are legal representatives for detainees Rafiq Bin Bashir Bin Jalud Al Hami and Mohammed Abdul Rahman.[2]

Contents

Studies

The titles of these studies are:

Report on Guantanamo Detainees: A Profile of 517 Detainees through Analysis of Department of Defense Data February 8, 2006
Second Report on the Guantanamo Detainees: Inter- and Intra-Departmental Disagreements About Who Is Our Enemy March 20, 2006
  • Based on the Summary of Evidence memos prepared for 517 Guantanamo captives' Combatant Status Review Tribunals, first published in the Winter and Spring of 2005.[4]
  • Asserted that the allegations used to justify many of the captives' continued detention were based on alleged associations with organizations that were not on any of the USA's public lists of organizations suspected of ties to terrorism.[4]
  • Concluded either that the public lists, like the "no-fly lists", were letting in individuals in to the USA who had meaningful ties to terrorism, or that the organizations used to justify detention did not really establish a meaningful tie to terrorism.[4]
The Guantanamo Detainees During Detention Data from Department of Defense Records July 10, 2006
  • This report summarizes the Department of Defense's reports of how many "hanging incidents" and "self-harm" incidents captives initiated, and how many times captives were cited for infractions of the camp rules.[5]
June 10th Suicides at Guantanamo August 21, 2006
  • Described discrepancies in the public record of the first reported suicides in Guantanamo.[6]
No-Hearing Hearings November 17, 2006
  • Analyzed how well the Combatant Status Review Tribunals complied with their own rules and the rule of law.[7]
  • Was the first study to document that new Tribunals were routinely convened to reverse the determinations of Tribunals that ruled captives had not been "enemy combatants" in the first place.[7]
  • Described incidents where Tribunals broke their own rules.[7]
The 14 Myths of Guantánamo: Senate Armed Services Committee Statement of Mark P. Denbeaux. Professor Mark P. Denbeaux testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee April 26, 2007

[8]
The Empty Battlefield and the Thirteenth Criterion November 8, 2007
  • Students at the West Point Military Academy published an analysis of the documents the Department of Defense published about the captives.[9] This document is a commentary on the West Point report.
The Meaning of "Battlefield": An Analysis of the Government’s Representations of ‘Battlefield Capture’ and ‘Recidivism’ of the Guantánamo Detainees (12/10/07) Professor Denbeaux's Testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on C-SPAN

[10]
Captured on Tape: Interrogation and Videotaping of Detainees in Guantánamo February 7, 2008[11]
  • Asserts that, contrary to the protestations of Bush administration spokesmen the published record shows that all of the 24,000 interrogations conducted at Guantanamo were video-taped, and that analysts prepared extensive notes.
Justice Scalia, the Department of Defense, and The Perpetuation of an Urban Legend: The Truth about Recidivism of Released Guantánamo Detainees June 16, 2008[12]
Profile of Released Guantánamo Detaines: The Government's Story Then and Now August 4, 2008
  • This report concludes that the release of captives has depended on their nationality, not on an assessment as to whether they represented a security risk.[13][14]
Released Guantánamo Detainees and the Department of Defense: propaganda by the numbers? January 15, 2009
  • This report challenges the assertions of Department of Defense spokesmen that an increasing number of former Guantanamo captives have "returned to supporting terrorism".[15]
Torture: Who knew -- An Analysis of the FBI and Department of Defense Reactions to Harsh Interrogation Methods at Guantánamo
  • Citing FBI accounts this report concludes that the various generals assigned to investigate reports of torture at Guantanamo failed to look in the observations filed by FBI agents of what they observed.[16][17]

A Profile of 517 Detainees through Analysis of Department of Defense Data

The Denbeaux study was a study led by Professor Mark Denbeaux of Seton Hall University.[18] Denbeaux and his son Joshua Denbeaux, an attorney for two Guantánamo detainees, oversaw a statistical analysis of the unclassified information about the Guantánamo Bay detainees. Some of Denbeaux's students analyzed:

  1. Where the documents said the detainees were captured.
  2. Who the documents said captured the detainees.
  3. The relationship the documents alleged existed between the detainee and al Qaeda.
  4. The relationship the documents alleged existed between the detainee and the Taliban.

An article in the Village Voice reported:[19]

Already, however, we now know much more about how "dangerous" they really are because of a stunning, heavily documented investigation by the Seton Hall (New Jersey) School of Law. Titled "Report on Guantánamo Detainees," it profiles 517 of the prisoners at Gitmo entirely based on "analysis of Department of Defense data.

An editorial by the BBC's John Simpson summarized the study concluding that:[20]

The study itself reveals that those 92% who are not al-Qaeda fighters were deemed to be either other al-Qaeda members or Taliban or members of other affiliated hostile groups. Of these other affiliated groups, the study's authors express surprise in a second report that some of these groups are not listed in federal no-fly lists.[21] Contrary to Simpson's reading, the study does not indicate how many detainees were captured by bounty hunters. It merely refers to the detainees captured by non-U.S. forces "at a time in which the United States offered large bounties for capture of suspected enemies."

The Denbeaux's primary sources did not include data on actual bounties. One example of a bounty was given in the references: that of Salim Hamdan, who was known to have worked directly for Osama Bin Laden. The reference comes from an article in the New York Times Magazine.[22]

The study says:[18]

In a handful of cases the detainee's possession of a Casio watch or the wearing olive-drab clothing is cited as evidence that the detainee is an enemy combatant. No basis is given to explain why such evidence makes the detainee an enemy combatant.

The authors are the legal representatives of Guantánamo Bay detainees Rafiq Bin Bashir Bin Jalud Al Hami and Mohammed Abdul Rahman[2]

Major Michael Shavers, a Pentagon spokesman, called the study "flawed because its authors didn't have access to classified evidence."[23]

References

  1. ^ "Center for Policy & Research: Guantánamo Reports". Seton Hall University. http://law.shu.edu/center_policyresearch/Guantanamo_Reports.htm. 
  2. ^ a b "TD Blog Interview with Joshua Denbeaux". The Talking Dog. 2006-04-05. http://thetalkingdog.com/archives2/000525.html. 
  3. ^ a b Mark Denbeaux et al. (2006-02-08). "Report on Guantanamo Detainees: A Profile of 517 Detainees through Analysis of Department of Defense Data". Seton Hall University. Archived from the original on 2008-07-29. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Flaw.shu.edu%2Fnews%2Fguantanamo_report_final_2_08_06.pdf&date=2008-07-29. Retrieved 2008-07-29. 
  4. ^ a b c Mark Denbeaux et al. (2006-03-20). "Second Report on the Guantanamo Detainees: Inter- and Intra-Departmental Disagreements About Who Is Our Enemy". Seton Hall University. Archived from the original on 2008-07-29. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Flaw.shu.edu%2Fnews%2Fsecond_report_guantanamo_detainees_3_20_final.pdf&date=2008-07-29. Retrieved 2008-07-29. 
  5. ^ Mark Denbeaux et al. (2006-07-10). "The Guantanamo Detainees During Detention Data from Department of Defense Records". Seton Hall University. Archived from the original on 2008-07-29. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Flaw.shu.edu%2Fnews%2Fguantanamo_third_report_7_11_06.pdf&date=2008-07-29. 
  6. ^ Mark Denbeaux et al. (2006-08-21). "June 10th Suicides at Guantanamo". Seton Hall University. Archived from the original on 2008-07-29. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Flaw.shu.edu%2Fnews%2Fguantanamo_report_june_suicides_8_21_06.pdf&date=2008-07-29. 
  7. ^ a b c Mark Denbeaux et al. (2006-11-17). "No-Hearing Hearings". Seton Hall University. Archived from the original on 2008-07-29. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Flaw.shu.edu%2Fnews%2Ffinal_no_hearing_hearings_report.pdf&date=2008-07-29. 
  8. ^ Mark Denbeaux et al. (2007-04-26). "The 14 Myths of Guantánamo: Senate Armed Services Committee Statement of Mark P. Denbeaux. Professor Mark P. Denbeaux testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee". Seton Hall University. Archived from the original on 2008-07-29. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Flaw.shu.edu%2Fmedia%2Ffourteen_myths_of_gtmo_final.pdf&date=2008-07-29. 
  9. ^ Mark Denbeaux et al. (2006-11-17). "The Empty Battlefield and the Thirteenth Criterion". Seton Hall University. Archived from the original on 2008-07-29. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Flaw.shu.edu%2Fnews%2Fempty_battlefield_final.pdf&date=2008-07-29. 
  10. ^ Mark Denbeaux et al. (2007-12-10). "The Meaning of "Battlefield": An Analysis of the Government’s Representations of ‘Battlefield Capture’ and ‘Recidivism’ of the Guantánamo Detainees". Seton Hall University. http://law.shu.edu/news/meaning_of_battlefield_final_121007.pdf. Retrieved 2008-07-29.  mirror
  11. ^ Mark Denbeaux et al. (2008-02-07). "Captured on Tape: Interrogation and Videotaping of Detainees in Guantánamo". Seton Hall University. http://law.shu.edu/news/captured_tape_2708_with_appendix.pdf. Retrieved 2008-07-29.  mirror
  12. ^ Mark Denbeaux et al. (2008-06-16). "Justice Scalia, the Department of Defense, and The Perpetuation of an Urban Legend: The Truth about Recidivism of Released Guantánamo Detainees". Seton Hall University. http://law.shu.edu/center_policyresearch/reports/urban_legend_final_63008.pdf. Retrieved 2008-07-29.  mirror
  13. ^ Mark Denbeaux (2008-08-04). "Profile of Released Guantánamo Detaines: The Government's Story Then and Now -- Cover Statement". Seton Hall University. http://law.shu.edu/center_policyresearch/reports/detainees_then_and_now_final_cover_statement.pdf. 
  14. ^ Mark Denbeaux et al. (2008-08-04). "Profile of Released Guantánamo Detaines: The Government's Story Then and Now". Seton Hall University. http://law.shu.edu/center_policyresearch/reports/detainees_then_and_now_final.pdf. 
  15. ^ Mark Denbeaux et al. (2009-01-15). "Released Guantánamo Detainees and the Department of Defense: propaganda by the numbers?". Seton Hall University. http://law.shu.edu/center_policyresearch/reports/propaganda_numbers_11509.pdf. 
  16. ^ "Seton Hall law students reveal that Generals knew Guantanamo detainees were tortured". Seton Hall University. 2009-04-01. http://law.shu.edu/administration/public_relations/press_releases/2009/shl_students_reveal_generals_4109.htm. 
  17. ^ Mark Denbeaux et al. (2009-04-01). "Torture: Who knew -- An Analysis of the FBI and Department of Defense Reactions to Harsh Interrogation Methods at Guantánamo". Seton Hall University. http://law.shu.edu/center_policyresearch/reports/torture_who_knew_final.pdf. 
  18. ^ a b Mark Denbeaux et. all. (February 8, 2006). "Report on Guantanamo detainees: A Profile of 517 Detainees". Seton Hall University. http://law.shu.edu/news/guantanamo_report_final_2_08_06.pdf. Retrieved 2008-02-01. 
  19. ^ The Worst of the Worst? A report, based entirely on Defense Department documents, exposes the truth about Guantánamo, Village Voice, March 3, 2006
  20. ^ No surprises in the war on terror, BBC, February 13, 2006
  21. ^ Mark Denbeaux, Joshua Denbeaux (2006-03-20). "Second report on the Guantanamo detainees: Inter- and Intra-Departmental Disagreements About Who Is Our Enemy". Seton Hall University School of Law. http://law.shu.edu/news/second_report_guantanamo_detainees_3_20_final.pdf. 
  22. ^ Jonathan Mahler (January 8, 2006). "The Bush Administration vs. Salim Hamdan". New York Times Magazine. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/08/magazine/08yemen.html. 
  23. ^ The Shame of Guantanamo, Washington Post Writers Group, February 21, 2006

External links