United States Court of Military Commission Review | |
---|---|
(C.M.C.R.) | |
Location | Washington, D.C. |
Appeals to | District of Columbia Circuit |
Appeals from | |
Established | 2006 |
Authority | Article I tribunal |
Created by | Military Commissions Act of 2006 10 U.S.C. § 950f |
Composition method | Presidential nomination with Senate advice and consent (or commissioned officers serving as military judges) |
Chief Judge | Lisa M. Schenck |
www |
The Military Commissions Act of 2006 mandated that rulings from the Guantanamo military commissions could be appealed to a Court of Military Commission Review, which would sit in Washington D.C. [1] [2] [3] [4]
In the event,[ clarification needed ] the Review Court was not ready when it was first needed. [1] Peter Brownback and Keith J. Allred, the officers appointed to serve as Presiding Officers in the Military Commissions that charged Omar Khadr and Salim Ahmed Hamdan dismissed the charges against the two men because the Military Commissions Act only authorized the commissions to try "unlawful enemy combatants". [2] [5] [6] Khadr and Hamdan, like 570 other Guantanamo captives had merely been confirmed to be "enemy combatants".
The Court of Military Commission Review ruled that Presiding Officers were, themselves, authorized to rule whether suspects were "illegal enemy combatant". [7] [8] [9]
To be eligible for a seat on the Court of Military Commission Review, candidates must currently be serving as a judge on either the Army Court of Criminal Appeals, the Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals, the Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals, or be nominated by the President of the United States. In 2016, all judges on the court began receiving presidential appointments with Senate confirmations. [10]
# | Judge | Military branch | Term of service | Appointed by | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Active | Chief | Deputy chief | ||||
34 | William B. Pollard III | Civilian | 2012–present | — | — | Obama |
52 | Lisa M. Schenck | Civilian | 2019–present | 2022–present | — | Trump |
55 | Natalie D. Richardson | Air Force | 2023–present | — | 2023–present | Biden |
56 | LaJohnne A. Morris | Army | 2023–present | — | — | Biden |
57 | Michael C. Holifield | Navy | 2023–present | — | — | Biden |
58 | Stuart T. Kirkby | Navy | 2023–present | — | — | Biden |
59 | Jennifer A. Parker | Army | 2023–present | — | — | Biden |
# | Judge | Military branch | Term of service | Appointed by | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Active | Chief | Deputy chief | ||||
1 | Griffin Bell | Civilian | 2004–2007 | 2004–2007 | — | Rumsfeld |
2 | Edward G. Biester Jr. | Civilian | 2004–2007 | — | — | Rumsfeld |
3 | William Thaddeus Coleman Jr. | Civilian | 2004–2009 | — | — | Rumsfeld |
4 | Frank J. Williams | Civilian | 2004–2009 | 2007–2009 | — | Rumsfeld |
5 | Amy Bechtold [11] | Air Force | 2007–? | — | — | Gates |
6 | John Feltham [11] | Marine Corps | 2007–? | — | — | Gates |
7 | David R. Francis [11] | Air Force | 2007–? | — | — | Gates |
8 | Eric E. Geiser [11] | Navy | 2007–? | — | — | Gates |
9 | Paul P. Holden Jr. [11] | Army | 2007–? | — | — | Gates |
10 | Daniel E. O'Toole [12] | Navy | 2007–2011 | 2009–2011 | — | Gates |
11 | John Rolph | Navy | 2007–2008 | — | 2007–2008 | Gates |
12 | Lisa M. Schenck | Army | 2007–2008 | — | — | Gates |
13 | Dawn Scholz [11] | Air Force | 2007–? | — | — | Gates |
14 | Annamary Sullivan [11] | Army | 2007–? | — | — | Gates |
15 | Steven Thompson [11] | Air Force | 2007–? | — | — | Gates |
16 | Steven Walburn [11] | Army | 2007–? | — | — | Gates |
17 | Barbara G. Brand [13] | Air Force | 2008–2011 | — | — | Gates |
18 | David Conn [14] | Army | 2008–2012/2013 | — | — | Gates |
19 | Eric C. Price [15] | Navy | 2008–2013/2014 | 2012–2013/2014 | — | Gates |
20 | Cheryl H. Thompson [12] | Air Force | 2008–2011 | — | — | Gates |
21 | John B. Hoffman [12] | Army | 2010–2011 | — | — | Gates |
22 | Martin L. Sims [14] | Army | 2010–2012/2013 | — | — | Gates |
23 | Theresa A. Gallagher [15] | Army | 2010–2013/2014 | — | — | Gates |
24 | Joseph R. Perlak [15] | Marine Corps | 2010–2012/2013 | — | — | Gates |
25 | Ronald A. Gregory [15] | Air Force | 2011–2013/2014 | — | — | Gates |
26 | William E. Orr Jr. [13] | Air Force | 2011–2011/2012 | — | — | Gates |
27 | J. Bradley Roan [15] | Air Force | 2012–2013/2014 | — | — | Panetta |
28 | Jan E. Aldykiewicz [15] | Army | 2012–2013/2014 | — | — | Panetta |
29 | Eric Krauss [16] | Army | 2012–2015 | 2014–2015 | — | Panetta |
30 | Mary E. Harney [15] | Air Force | 2012–2013/2014 | — | — | Panetta |
31 | Moira Modzelewski | Navy | 2012–2013/2014 | — | — | Panetta |
32 | R. Quincy Ward [17] | Marine Corps | 2012–2014 | — | — | Panetta |
33 | Scott Silliman | Civilian | 2012–2023 | — | 2014–2023 | Obama |
35 | Jeremy S. Weber [16] | Air Force | 2014–2015 | — | — | Hagel |
36 | Kurt J. Brubaker [18] | Marine Corps | 2014–2016 | — | — | Hagel |
37 | Thomas D. Cook [19] | Army | 2014–2016 | — | — | Hagel |
38 | Mark Tellitocci [16] | Army | 2014–2015 | — | — | Hagel |
39 | Donald C. King [18] | Navy | 2014–2016 | — | — | Hagel, Obama |
40 | Martin T. Mitchell [18] | Air Force | 2014–2016 | — | — | Hagel, Obama |
41 | Mark L. Allred [18] | Air Force | 2014–2016 | — | — | Hagel |
42 | Paulette V. Burton [20] | Army | 2015–2022 | 2017–2022 | — | Carter, Obama |
43 | Larss G. Celtnieks [21] | Army | 2015–2018 | — | — | Carter, Obama |
44 | James W. Herring Jr. [21] | Army | 2015–2018 | — | — | Carter, Obama |
45 | Frank D. Hutchison [22] | Navy | 2018–2019 | — | — | Trump |
46 | Marcus N. Fulton [22] | Navy | 2018–2019 | — | — | Trump |
47 | Jan E. Aldykiewicz [20] | Army | 2019–2022 | — | — | Trump |
48 | Michael A. Lewis [20] | Air Force | 2019–2022 | — | — | Trump |
49 | Tom Posch [23] | Air Force | 2019–2023 | — | — | Trump |
50 | Angela Tang [24] | Navy | 2019–2021 | — | — | Trump |
51 | Paula Schasberger [24] | Army | 2019–2021 | — | — | Trump |
53 | James E. Key III [23] | Air Force | 2021–2023 | — | — | Trump |
54 | John J. Stephens [23] | Marine Corps | 2021–2023 | — | — | Trump |
Julie Huygen (2019) and Luis O. Rodriguez (2020) were also confirmed by the Senate as judges of USCMCR, but did apparently not assume their positions. [25] [26]
Stephen R. Henley the Presiding Officer in United States v. Mohamed Jawad had ruled that evidence that was the result of torture could not be used. [27] On February 9, 2009, three judges from the Court, Frank J. Williams, Dan O'Toole, and D. Francis were empaneled to consider whether they should comply with the President's Executive Order halting all their proceedings. [28]
On January 22, 2009, President Obama issued Executive Order 13492 ordering the closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention camps, within one year. [29] That order temporarily suspended all proceedings before the Court of Military Commission Review. Congress later blocked the closure of the camp.
Carol Rosenberg, writing in the Miami Herald , reported that Ali Al Bahlul's military defense attorneys filed a fifty-page appeal of his sentence on free speech grounds on September 2, 2009. [30] [31] They claimed his production of al Qaeda propaganda material was protected by the first amendment of the United States Constitution.
Mr. al Bahlul is not a sympathetic defendant. He embraces an ideology that glorifies violence, justifies terrorism and opposes constitutional democracy. As offensive as it may be, [Bahlul's film work] is speech that falls within the core protections of the First Amendment, which forbids the prosecution of 'the thoughts, the beliefs, the ideals of the accused.
Three of the Court's judges assembled on January 26, 2010, to hear oral arguments. [32] Following that, the CMCR determined to proceed with the case en banc and held a hearing on March 16, 2011. [33] The CMCR issued an opinion on September 9, 2011, that upheld al Bahlul's conviction. [34]
Attorneys working on behalf of Salim Hamdan have appealed his conviction, and oral arguments were heard on January 26, 2010. [32] Hamdan has already finished serving his sentence.
Carol Rosenberg, writing in the Miami Herald , reported that the Obama administration had proposed a change in where appeals of the rulings and verdicts of military commissions would be heard. [30] The proposed changes would have had them first heard by the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, which Rosenberg noted was an experienced, respected 58-year-old institution. Under the current rules of the court, there is no appeal to rulings of the Court of Military Commission Review; under the proposed changes, appeals could ultimately have been taken to the United States Supreme Court.
Ibrahim Ahmed Mahmoud al Qosi is a Sudanese militant and paymaster for al-Qaeda. Qosi was held from January 2002 in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba. His Guantanamo Internment Serial Number is 54.
Abd al-Rahim Hussein Muhammed Abdu al-Nashiri is a Saudi Arabian citizen alleged to be the mastermind of the bombing of USS Cole and other maritime attacks. He is alleged to have headed al-Qaeda operations in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf states prior to his capture in November 2002 by the CIA's Special Activities Division.
Omar Ahmed Said Khadr is a Canadian who, at the age of 15, was detained by the United States at Guantanamo Bay for ten years, during which he pleaded guilty to the murder of U.S. Army Sergeant 1st Class Christopher Speer and other charges. He later appealed his conviction, claiming that he falsely pleaded guilty so that he could return to Canada where he remained in custody for three additional years. Khadr sued the Canadian government for infringing his rights under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms; this lawsuit was settled in 2017 with a CA$10.5 million payment and an apology by the federal government.
Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, 548 U.S. 557 (2006), is a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that military commissions set up by the Bush administration to try detainees at Guantanamo Bay violated both the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) and the Geneva Conventions ratified by the U.S.
Salim Ahmed Salim Hamdan is a Yemeni man, captured during the invasion of Afghanistan, declared by the United States government to be an illegal enemy combatant and held as a detainee at Guantanamo Bay from 2002 to November 2008. He admits to being Osama bin Laden's personal driver and said he needed the money.
Jabran Said Bin Wazir al-Qahtani is a Saudi who was held in extrajudicial detention for almost fifteen years in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba. Joint Task Force Guantanamo analysts estimate he was born in 1977, in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.
Peter E. Brownback III is a retired military officer and lawyer. He was appointed in 2004 by general John D. Altenburg as a Presiding Officer on the Guantanamo military commissions. The Washington Post reported: "...that Brownback and Altenburg have known each other since 1977, that Brownback's wife worked for Altenburg, and that Altenburg hosted Brownback's retirement party in 1999."
Charles D. Swift is an American attorney and former career Navy officer, who retired in 2007 as a Lieutenant Commander in the Judge Advocate General's Corps. He is most noted for having served as defense counsel for Salim Ahmed Hamdan, a detainee from Yemen who was the first to be charged at Guantanamo Bay; Swift took his case to the US Supreme Court. In 2005 and June 2006, the National Law Journal recognized Swift as one of the top lawyers nationally because of his work on behalf of justice for the detainees.
Starting in 2002, the American government detained 22 Uyghurs in the Guantanamo Bay detainment camp. The last 3 Uyghur detainees, Yusef Abbas, Hajiakbar Abdulghupur and Saidullah Khali, were released from Guantanamo on December 29, 2013, and later transferred to Slovakia.
Ghaleb Nassar Al Bihani is a citizen of Yemen formerly held in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba. The Department of Defense estimate that he was born in 1979, in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.
Abdullah Tabarak Ahmad is a citizen of Morocco, who was held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba.
The Military Commissions Act of 2006, also known as HR-6166, was an Act of Congress signed by President George W. Bush on October 17, 2006. The Act's stated purpose was "to authorize trial by military commission for violations of the law of war, and for other purposes".
William "Bill" C. Kuebler was an American lawyer and a Commander in the United States Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps, assigned to the U.S. Navy Office of the Judge Advocate General, International and Operational Law Division. Kuebler was previously assigned to the Office of Military Commissions. Prior to the decision of the United States Supreme Court in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, to overturn the then current version of the Guantanamo military commissions on constitutional grounds, Kuebler was detailed to defend Ghassan Abdullah al Sharbi. Al Sharbi had insisted on representing himself and Kuebler refused superior orders to act as his lawyer.
Ali Hamza Ahmad Suliman al-Bahlul is a Yemeni citizen who has been held as an enemy combatant since 2002 in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camp. He boycotted the Guantanamo Military Commissions, arguing that there was no legal basis for the military tribunals to judge him.
Keith Johns Allred was an American Naval officer and Naval trial lawyer, beginning his career with the US Seventh Fleet aboard several Naval destroyers, from 1979 to 1982. From 1985, until his retirement in 2009, he oversaw the Western Pacific Judicial Circuit as a Circuit Trial Judge. He was also the presiding judge at the Guantanamo military commission where he notably oversaw the trial of Salim Hamdan.
Military Police: Enemy Prisoners of War, Retained Personnel, Civilian Internees and Other Detainees is the full title of a United States Army regulation usually referred to as AR 190-8, that lays out how the United States Army should treat captives.
Thomas W. Hartmann is an American lawyer and officer in the United States Air Force Reserve. He has 32 years of criminal, commercial and civil litigation experience. Between 1983 and 1991 he was a prosecutor and defense counsel in the Air Force, including duties as Chief Air Force Prosecutor in Asia-Pacific Region. From 1991 to 1996 he was an associate at Bryan Cave LLP and at SBC Communications. In 1996 he became senior counsel for mergers & acquisitions for SBC Communications closing multiple deals worth several billion dollars in U.S., Europe, and South America as well as negotiating a strategic partnering agreement with a global internet service provider. From 1998 onwards he was general counsel for SBC Communications (1999–2001), Orius Corp. (2001–2004) and MxEnergy Inc. (2005–2007) in domestic and international settings. In July 2007 Brigadier General Hartmann was appointed the legal adviser to the convening authority in the Department of Defense Office of Military Commissions. In September 2008, as a result of the expansion of the commission efforts that Hartmann had led, Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England elevated Hartmann to become the director of operations, planning, and development for the commissions. Hartmann reported to Susan J. Crawford, a retired judge, who was the convening authority until March 2010.
David Frakt is an American lawyer, law professor, and officer in the United States Air Force Reserve.
Michael Chapman is an American lawyer, and former senior officer in the United States Army's Judge Advocate General corps, who was appointed the legal adviser to the Office of Military Commissions, in Guantanamo on September 19, 2008. According to the official press release that announced his appointment his previous appointments included being:
Sufyian Ibn Muhammad Barhoumi is an Algerian man who was held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba. The Department of Defense reports that he was born on July 28, 1973, in Algiers, Algeria.
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