Second Army Officer Faults Gitmo Panels

A detainee is moved by military guards at the detention center at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba in this May 1, 2007 file photo. Critics have long complained that military panels at Guantanamo Bay recommend continued detention of inmates based on little evidence. Documents obtained by The Associated Press may show that prisoners are sometimes let go for reasons that appear to be equally vague. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley) (Brennan Linsley - AP)

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- A second Army officer who sat on the "enemy combatant" tribunals at Guantanamo has come forward to criticize the panels, saying in court papers released Friday the proceedings favored the government and commanders reversed some decisions.

The criticism, in an affidavit filed by attorneys for a Sudanese detainee, echo some charges made in June by Army Lt. Col. Stephen Abraham, the first insider to publicly fault the proceedings.

At issue are the Combatant Status Review Tribunals, which the military held for 558 detainees at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay in 2004 and 2005, with handcuffed detainees appearing before panels made up of three officers.

Detainees had a military "personal representative" instead of a defense attorney, and all but 38 were determined to be "enemy combatants" who could be held indefinitely without charges.

In the new affidavit, an Army officer whose name is redacted from a version provided to The Associated Press, says panels relied on insufficient evidence.

He also said in six cases the panels unanimously declared the detainee was not an enemy combatant _ but commanders ordered new hearings and the finding was reversed without sufficient new evidence.

"This declaration shows beyond any doubt that the CSRT process is deeply flawed, fundamentally unfair, and ultimately just a sham," said Wells Dixon, an attorney for the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights, which represents dozens of Guantanamo detainees and provided a copy of the affidavit to the AP.

A Pentagon spokeswoman had no immediate comment on the affidavit, but military officials have consistently defended the tribunals and said they assured greater protections for people captured in wartime than have ever been provided.

Separately, the Pentagon announced Friday that the chief military prosecutor, Air Force Col. Morris Davis, has asked to be reassigned _ a move that comes as the U.S. prepares to file charges and hold tribunals for about 80 men held at Guantanamo.

The military did not disclose a reason for the prosecutor's decision. "We'd like to thank him for his service in the position while he held it," said spokeswoman Cynthia Smith.

The affidavit was filed in Washington by Steven Wax and William Teesdale, attorneys from the Federal Public Defender in Portland, Ore., on behalf of Adel Hassan Hamad, who was captured in Pakistan in 2002. He was accused in his CSRT of working for a non-governmental organization that provided financial and logistical support to jihadists and of being associated with al-Qaida.

A later panel, an Administrative Review Board, found that Hamad could be released but he remains at Guantanamo, along with about 330 other men.