Stephen Abraham

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Stephen Abraham is an United States of America|American lawyer and retired lieutenant colonel in the United States Army reserve, who was the first officer who served with the Office for the Administrative Review of the Detention of Enemy Combatants to publicly criticize the operations of the Combatant Status Review Tribunals.[1] In civilian life, he currently works for the law firm of Fink & Abraham in Newport Beach, California.[2]

In November 2009, he was a cosigner of the "Beyond Guantanamo", from Human Rights First and the Constitution Project, supporting prosecution in the Federal courts and opposing indefinite detention. [3] He has written that the Senate was correct in rejecting an amendment by Sen. Lindsey Graham (Republican Party (United States)|R-South Carolina (U.S. state)|South Carolina), which would have banned the use of federal funds to try any 9/11 defendants in U.S. judicial system|Federal court rather than a military commission. [4]

Military career

Abraham was commissioned in 1981.[5] According to the Boston Globe Abraham's reserve and active duty, since 1982, has been in intelligence (information gathering)|intelligence.[2]

He served with OARDEC from September 2004 through March 2005. The Combatant Status Review Tribunals of the 558 captives then present at Guantanamo lasted from August 2004 through January 2005, and their confirmation by then Secretary of the Navy Gordon England was finished in March 2005.

Abraham's affidavit

CBS News quoted from an affidavit Abraham provided for a habeas corpus appeal on behalf of Fawzi al-Odah:[1] In his affidavit, he said "What were purported to be specific statements of fact lacked even the most fundamental earmarks of objectively credible evidence."[5] David Cynamon, a defense lawyer, praised Abraham's courage in making the affidavit, but expressed fears that it was "career suicide".[1]

According to the Washington Post Abraham felt compelled to come forward after hearing his former boss, rear admiral|Rear Admiral James McGarrah call the Tribunal process "fair". He, however, compared the hearsay|hearsay evidence the Guantanamo captives faced to "a game of telephone".

He and two fellow panel members, Abraham said, were closely questioned by McGarrah and his deputy after they decided that there was not enough evidence to conclude that a prisoner was an enemy fighter, and were then ordered to hold an expanded hearing to reconsider their conclusion. That newspaper, however, quotes officials who asked for anonymity who claimed Abraham never raised his concerns with McGarrah, a fact Abraham disputes[6]

According to the Boston Globe Fawzi al-Odah's lawyers first contacted Abraham after his sister had attended a presentation they had made, and volunteered the information that her brother had been one of the Tribunals officers. It reported that more senior OARDEC officials met with the Tribunal members to determine "what went wrong" with the case, after they declined to confirm the captive's "enemy combatant" status during their second, extraordinary Tribunal session.[2] The Department of Defense keeps the Tribunal officer's identity a secret.

Paraphrasing Abraham the Associated Press reported: Abraham was asked to serve on one of the panels, and he said its members felt strong pressure to find against the detainee, saying there was "intensive scrutiny" when they declared a prisoner not to be an enemy combatant. When his panel decided the detainee wasn't an "enemy combatant," they were ordered to reconvene to hear more evidence. He was never asked to participate in another tribunal. During a CBS News telephone interview Abraham defended making the affidavit:

  • "I pointed out nothing less than facts, facts that can and should be fixed."
  • "I take very seriously my responsibility, my duties as a citizen."

Response

Commander Chito Peppler, responded to the affidavit by claiming that the Office for the Administrative Review of Detained Enemy Combatant:[1] "...procedures afford greater protection for wartime status determinations than any nation has ever before provided... Lt. Col. Abraham provides his opinion and perspective on the CSRT process. We disagree with his characterizations. Lt. Col. Abraham was not in a position to have a complete view of the CSRT process."

According to the Boston Globe, after Abraham sat on a Tribunal he was assigned to serve as a liaison officer with the JTF-GTMO teams who were compiling the allegations against the captives for the Tribunals. They report that Abraham characterized the JTF-GTMO teams he worked with as: "...relatively junior officers with little training or experience in matters relating to the collection, processing, analyzing and/or dissemination of intelligence material."[2]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Gitmo Panelist Slams Hearing Process: Lt. Col. Stephen Abraham Is First Member Of Military Panel To Challenge Guantanamo Bay Hearings, CBS, June 23, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-06-23.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Farah Stockman. Officer criticizes military tribunals: Affidavit cites problems at Guantanamo Bay, Boston Globe, June 23, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-06-24.
  3. Beyond Guantanamo: A Bipartisan Declaration, Declaration Supporting Federal Court Prosecution of Terrorism Suspects and Opposing Indefinite Detention Without Charge, Human Rights First and the Constitution Project, 4 November 2009
  4. Stephen Abraham (6 November 2009), "Beyond Guantanamo", Jurist
  5. 5.0 5.1 Declaration of Stephen Abraham, Lieutenant Colonel, United States Army Reserve, June 14th, 2007. Supreme Court of the United States (June 14 2007). Retrieved on 2007-06-25.
  6. Carol D. Leonnig, Josh White. An Ex-Member Calls Detainee Panels Unfair: Lawyer Tells of Flawed 'Combatant' Rulings, Washington Post, Saturday, June 23, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-06-24.