Guantanamo: Thousands of Defense Emails Made Accessible to Prosecution

By Jeralyn, Section War on Terror
Posted on Thu Apr 11, 2013 at 05:34:47 PM EST
Tags: Guantanamo (all tags)

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A military commissions judge at Guantanamo has delayed proceedings in the case of Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri for two months due to the discovery by an IT team that 540,000 private defense emails were made available to the prosecution.

The mishandling of the e-mails was detected when IT specialists were conducting a search of the government’s computer system on behalf of prosecutors in a particular case. When they did so, they came across not only the e-mails they were seeking but also e-mails between defense lawyers.

[More...]

In a related problem, defense attorneys say huge chunks of their work is missing from the system (which they are forced to use.)

In a separate controversy, defense counsel recently complained that huge volumes of work files were lost when the Defense Department attempted to upgrade its network and mirror at Guantanamo Bay the computer system that is available to defense lawyers handling detainee cases in the Washington area.

“Entire files, months of work was just gone,” said Navy Cmdr. Stephen C. Reyes, an attorney for Nashiri. “I have no evidence of any nefarious conduct, but it demonstrates again that we don’t have confidence that our files and communications are secure.”

The defense lawyers in the cases of the 9/11 defendants are now seeking a similar stay.

Meanwhile, the detainee hunger strike continues:

The Pentagon said Thursday that 43 of the 166 detainees were on hunger strike, of whom 11 are being force-fed, while defense attorneys said the overwhelming majority of the 120 or so detainees in Camps 5 and 6 are on hunger strike.

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Guantanamo: Thousands of Defense Emails Made Accessible to Prosecution | 16 comments (16 topical)

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Kangaroo Courts (5.00 / 3) (#1)
by shoephone on Thu Apr 11, 2013 at 07:24:10 PM EST

They're what's for breakfast.

Seriously, the U.S. government has become one of the most clever perpetrators of how to infringe on a defendant's rights to a fair trial.

I'm trying to figure out which of the first ten amendments is still in effect? First amendment? No. Fourth Amendment? Certainly not. Fifth amendment? Laughable. Sixth? No way, Jose. Seventh? Ask Guantanamo detainees if military tribunals are fair jury trials. Eighth amendment? Torture: The joke's on us.

It's looking like the second amendment is really the only one still being protected, despite what the gun zealots would have us believe.

America. Rah rah.

No love for the Third? (5.00 / 1) (#2)
by unitron on Thu Apr 11, 2013 at 10:51:07 PM EST

Come on now, when was the last time you even worried about the possibility of troops being quartered in your house?


Who's to say that (none / 0) (#4)
by scribe on Fri Apr 12, 2013 at 11:31:02 AM EST

the computer hoovering the NSA (remember - they're part of the military) does on a regular basis does not include their downloading software into your home computer to make it easier for them. Or to defeat any encryption you might be using.

I mean, you could consider those little drone computer programs as the equivalent of soldiers taking up space in your computer....


You're right scribe (none / 0) (#6)
by fishcamp on Fri Apr 12, 2013 at 02:35:55 PM EST

so that's why I regularly erase the free space on my HD. All trash goes into the free space. I know they have super programs to recover info but I feel if I write over the free space 15 times once a week they won't be able to see my deep dark secrets...will they?


Probably not (5.00 / 1) (#7)
by jimakaPPJ on Fri Apr 12, 2013 at 02:51:49 PM EST

But they'll know you have some...... ;-)


fishcamp, how would I erase the free (none / 0) (#12)
by caseyOR on Sat Apr 13, 2013 at 07:07:00 PM EST

space on my Macbook Pro?


casey, go to disc utility, (none / 0) (#13)
by fishcamp on Sun Apr 14, 2013 at 08:58:31 AM EST

click on your HD name in the left hand corner and up comes first aid, which is where you do maintenance, and Erase, RAID and Restore. Click on Erase and there it is...erase free space. It takes quite a long time depending the size of your HD used and free space unused. My iMac with 1 T of HD takes a couple of hours to erase using the middle position or seven times pass by. it's easier than it sounds.


: Thanks, fishcamp. n/t (none / 0) (#14)
by caseyOR on Sun Apr 14, 2013 at 04:20:19 PM EST

Decrypting encryption remains the UnHoly Grail (none / 0) (#9)
by Mr Natural on Sat Apr 13, 2013 at 02:54:04 PM EST

but is unnecessary if the old FBI bugaboo, the Magic Lantern keylogger, actually does its dirty work properly.

I've still no idea if this was ever deployed or is detected by anti-trojan defense software like Nortons or McAfee. No idea how they'd keep that secret anyway.


If (none / 0) (#3)
by lentinel on Fri Apr 12, 2013 at 09:42:36 AM EST

I may be permitted an over the top response, the way the defense is being treated is reminiscent of a filmed excerpt I saw of a "trial" being held during the regime of the third reich in Germany.

It chills me to the bone.


Well, the judge isn't going all (none / 0) (#5)
by scribe on Fri Apr 12, 2013 at 11:33:40 AM EST

harangue on the counsel or defendant, which really only serves to mask the truth of those proceedings.

And all this while the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross is sitting down with Obama to remind him of the requirements of international humanitarian law. (In other words, that means the Red Cross visits to Gitmo have revealed violations of those laws and the ICRC is telling the US to rectify its conduct to the requirements of those laws.)


I think it is sad and bad but (1.00 / 3) (#8)
by jimakaPPJ on Fri Apr 12, 2013 at 03:00:00 PM EST

no one pays any attention to the RC and/or the GC anymore. The Muslim terrorists hijack planes, blow up builds and saw off heads and we respond by a couple of water boardings and ....gasp... intercepting their lawyers's emails..

I tell you it is terrible. Just terrible.


"respond by a couple of water boardings" (none / 0) (#10)
by Mr Natural on Sat Apr 13, 2013 at 02:57:19 PM EST

Actually, we responded by bombing the beknightedness out of several middle eastern countries and killing hundreds of thousands of middle easterners, mostly innocent. I guess you missed the memo.


In Jim's world (none / 0) (#11)
by shoephone on Sat Apr 13, 2013 at 04:11:43 PM EST

186 waterboardings of one individual = "a couple" of waterboardings.

Best not to pay attention to the confederate troll.


: Whatever flics your bic, shoe. (none / 0) (#15)
by jimakaPPJ on Sun Apr 14, 2013 at 04:23:05 PM EST

Point is this....
Where and who in the Muslim world is protesting the evil that they do???
I mean Islam being the religion of peace and all that there must be endless demonstrations going on...

Missed the memo?? (none / 0) (#16)
by jimakaPPJ on Sun Apr 14, 2013 at 04:28:03 PM EST

You mean the one outlining the first attack on the WTC back in '91? The one doing the attack on El Al's ticket counter in LA?? Maybe it was the one where they tossed the dude in the wheel chair over board?? The rental agreement for the boats used to attack the USS Cole????

And then there was that 9/ll thingee... Burning buildings, people jumping instead of burning, Pentagon on fire....
