Guantanamo Prosecutor Consulted Online Priest Before Quitting

Guantanamo/Detainees

Guantanamo Prosecutor Consulted Online Priest Before Quitting

Posted Oct 15, 2008, 05:17 am CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss

A Guantanamo military prosecutor who cited “ethical qualms” before he quit had wrestled with the decision, telling an online priest about his misgivings.

Lt. Col. Darrel Vandeveld filed a declaration with the military court last month explaining his concerns about the system for revealing exculpatory evidence to the defense. A Los Angeles Times story quotes his e-mail to the priest, which showed his concerns about the treatment of the detainees.

''I am beginning to have grave misgivings about what I am doing, and what we are doing as a country,'' he wrote in the Aug. 5 e-mail, according to an account in the Associated Press that cites the Times article. ''I no longer want to participate in the system, but I lack the courage to quit. I am married, with four children, and not only will they suffer, I'll lose a lot of friends.''

Vandeveld complained that little thought was being given to rehabilitation of the detainees, and tolerance was needed to end the hatred, the AP story says.

The priest, a social activist, advised Vandeveld to quit and start his life over. “God does not want you to participate in any injustice,” he wrote.

Vandeveld is at least the fourth prosecutor to resign from the tribunals. The chief prosecutor at Guantanamo, Army Col. Lawrence Morris, says all exculpatory information is provided to the defense. He says Vandeveld resigned because his superiors disagreed with his legal tactics, and he never raised substantive concerns, the Times story says.

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