{"article":{"id":84392,"heading":"First They Come for the Lawyers","author":"ELAINE CASSEL","created":"2003-09-25 12:57:26","modified":"2003-09-28 12:16:27","last_modified":"Sun, 28 Sep 2003 19:16:27","article":"

September 23, 2003

First They Come for the Lawyers

Then They Come for the Ministers

By ELAINE CASSEL

I always thought that the idea of a military man facing a court martial and having a military defense attorney was some kind of sick joke. The joke got sicker a few months ago when,with much pride, the government announced it was going to provide the men held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba for almost two years with the best justice the military could muster.

More than 600 men and teenagers were rounded up in Afghanistan and have been housed in cages in Cuba. They have been denied access to attorneys and have had few contacts with their families. Earlier this year Paul Wolfowitz was appointed Chief Judge and Lord High Executioner of the military \"tribunals\" that would try some of these hapless souls. We have heard nothing else about those trials, perhaps because the Pentagon has egg on its face with the mess it has made of Iraq. Not the cakewalk they planned--or did not plan.

We were told that the defenders in the Guantanamo military tribunals would be military lawyers who would work under an officer who himself bemoaned the fact that he did not get the prosecutor's job. If they could afford it, Gitmo prisoners could hire American defense attorneys. But those attorneys would have to swear fealty to the Pentagon and understand that all contact with their clients would be monitored. And they would have a life-time gag order on ever talking about anything that they saw, did, or thought while involved in the tribunals. What competent, ethical lawyer would do that? Especially with the specter of being charged themselves, as was the fate of attorney Lynne Stewart.

Now, we are told that the chaplain that has been provided for the Muslim prisoners, Army Capt. Yousef Yee, has been spied on by the military for months. Yee has not yet been charged, but he has been moved to a military brig in South Carolina, a distinction he shares with \"enemy combatants\" Yasir Hamdi and Jose Padilla. Yee is alleged to have had in his possession \"classified\" documents about the detainees and Camp X-ray. Supposedly, his job was to teach fellow troops about Islam and counsel detainees. Sources say he may have counseled them not to \"cooperate\" with their interrogators.

But what does \"counsel\" mean? Attorney Lynne Stewart was charged with conspiring to commit acts of terror arising out of the relationship with her client, Abdel Rahmen. Rahmen was convicted of charges arising out of the 1993 World Trade Center bombings. Judge John Koeltl, federal judge in New York City, dismissed the terrorism charges against Stewart (two other charges remain), saying that she was doing what lawyers do--lawyers act as counselors, defenders, confidents, and, sometimes, friends.

A minister does similarly--though not in the context of the courts. A minister's role is far more personal. But, like the confidential communications between lawyer and client that are protected by legal privilege against disclosure (that is, before Ashcroft got ahold of it and ripped it to shreds), confidential communications between an individual and a priest, minister, or cleric are likewise the subject of ancient legal protection. Though sometimes referred to as the \"priest-penitent\" privilege, it generally applies to all communications made in confidence to someone acting in a ministerial role in a church or other religious context. But this protection does not apply in the military, apparently. Or certainly not in Guantanamo. Or, at least, when the prisoners--and cleric--are Muslim.

Keep your eye on this case. It could be yet another front in the war on civil liberties. Today, a chaplain in Guantanamo. Tomorrow, your minister, cleric, priest, or rabbi.

Elaine Cassel practices law in Virginia and the District of Columbia, teachers law and psychology, and follows the Bush regime's dismantling of the Constitution at Civil Liberties Watch. This article originally appeared on FindLaw's Writ. She can be reached at: ecassel1@cox.net<\/a>

<\/p>\n","contact":"","link":"http:\/\/www.counterpunch.org\/cassel09232003.html","address":"","phone":"","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"text\/plain","summary":"The Rot at the top of the Republic is such now that the Junta must prevent Cleric's from doing their duty to whom they Minister. After all you can't have Homer Simpson and the rest of the Brain Dead Public learning the truth concerning the Hitlerian Concentration Kamp at Guantanamo. ","numcomment":13,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/","filesize":null,"article_url":"\/news\/2003\/09\/84392.php"},"attachments":[],"comments":[{"id":84396,"heading":"Sorry, lefties","article":"But what it really goes to show is that a Muslim will ALWAYS side with another Muslim, no matter what. How could they think someone named Abdullah could be trusted with Islamic terrorist prisoners? This political correctness bullshit is going to cost lives.","author":"Proud Cuban","parent_id":84392,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-09-25 13:05:53","modified":"2003-09-25 13:05:53","fileurl":""},{"id":84403,"heading":"Burn the constitution","article":"We don't need no stinking Fifth Amendment.","author":"Sir Urian","parent_id":84392,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-09-25 13:24:21","modified":"2003-09-25 13:24:21","fileurl":""},{"id":84597,"heading":"To the practicing lawyer...","article":"...who needs to keep practicing until she gets it right:\r\n\r\nThere is another fox in the henhouse.\r\n\r\nhttp:\/\/story.news.yahoo.com\/news?tmpl=story&u=\/ap\/20030924\/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe\/guantanamo_investigation_26\r\n\r\nMilitary authorities accuse al-Halabi, 24, of sending e-mail with information about the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay "to unauthorized person or persons whom he, the accused, knew to be the enemy." The Air Force documents detailing the charges do not say who "the enemy" is. \r\n\r\nAl-Halabi also is accused of planning to give classified information about the prisoners as well as more than 180 written messages from detainees to a person who would then go to Syria. \r\n\r\n[...]\r\n\r\nThe documents also allege that al-Halabi: \r\n\r\n_Took pictures of the prison camp. \r\n\r\n_Had unauthorized contact with the inmates, including giving them baklava desserts. \r\n\r\n_Had contacts with the Syrian Embassy to the United States which he failed to report as required. \r\n\r\n_Lied to the Air Force by falsely claiming to have become a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2001. Al-Halabi, who joined the Air Force in January 2000, is Syrian. \r\n\r\n*****\r\nSo, Ms Lawyer, are you going to protest the violation of the detainees' basic human right to baklava?","author":"nonanarchist","parent_id":84392,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-09-25 21:59:07","modified":"2003-09-25 21:59:07","fileurl":""},{"id":84675,"heading":" ELAINE CASSEL","article":"OK, Elaine, let me know when you're ready to debate your posting. \r\n\r\nOr will you post, run and hide?\r\n\r\n...yer bud fer life, Reality Check ","author":"Reality Check","parent_id":84392,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-09-26 01:45:48","modified":"2003-09-26 01:45:48","fileurl":""},{"id":84926,"heading":"fear for the masses","article":"Whatever it takes to keep the masses in fear, for this is the key of absolute obedience.\r\n\r\nPoor idiots.","author":"the ENEMY is among us","parent_id":84392,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-09-27 02:42:40","modified":"2003-09-27 02:42:40","fileurl":""},{"id":84965,"heading":"Usual Comments","article":"Once again Bush Ass-mirer can only come up with a flippent answer. "Just throw away the key and let them rot". Your deep understanding of the juidicial process marks you once again as a man who thinks of most of humanity as fodder for the elites of this sick world.","author":"krankyman","parent_id":84392,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-09-27 11:59:39","modified":"2003-09-27 11:59:39","fileurl":""},{"id":84979,"heading":"Burn the constitution","article":"We don't need no stinking Fourth Amendment.","author":"Sir Urian","parent_id":84392,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-09-27 13:06:26","modified":"2003-09-27 13:06:26","fileurl":""},{"id":85005,"heading":"First They Come for the Lawyers","article":"Why don't sharks attack lawyers when they're swimming in the ocean?\r\n\r\nProfessional courtesy.","author":"joker","parent_id":84392,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-09-27 15:08:37","modified":"2003-09-27 15:08:37","fileurl":""},{"id":85027,"heading":"lawyers vs. attorneys.","article":"remember the Keating 5 ?\r\nwe need real lawyers that uphold and defend the law rather then the 'sharks' that find ways to skirt it.\r\n\r\nMONETARY AND ECONOMIC REVIEW.\r\n\r\nCHARLIE KEATING JAILED\r\nHIGH LEVEL PROTECTION FAILS\r\n\r\nCharles Keating, the godfather of the S&L scandal, now sits behind bars,\r\nperhaps for the rest of his life. He has been assessed fines exceeding 3.6\r\nbillion dollars in just one civil action. Federal prosecution has not yet\r\nbegun. Yet after several books and tens of thousands of column inches of\r\nnewsprint, the major features of the Keating story remain, until now, untold.\r\nFor example, General John Singlaub and the CIA's Latin American military\r\ncampaigns, Carl Lindner's purchase of UNITED BRANDS and the U.S. Honduran aid\r\nprogram, extensive BCCI transactions, PRUDENTIAL INSURANCE, and Keating's\r\nattempt to get a strangle hold on the water supply of Arizona are key\r\nessential features of Keating's story that have not had national exposure.\r\nhttp:\/\/ronbell.tripod.com\/keating.htm","author":"Snorf","parent_id":84392,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-09-27 16:07:55","modified":"2003-09-27 16:07:55","fileurl":""},{"id":85029,"heading":"My card","article":""lawyers vs. attorneys"\r\n\r\nAmbulance chasers, all.","author":"Sirens","parent_id":84392,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-09-27 16:22:17","modified":"2003-09-27 16:22:17","fileurl":""},{"id":85148,"heading":"Burn the Constitution","article":"We don't need no stinking Seventh Amendment!","author":"Sir Urian","parent_id":84392,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-09-28 12:16:27","modified":"2003-09-28 12:16:27","fileurl":""}]}