AOL News
October 26, 2006
by Associated Press
The U.S. government has proposed limiting contact between defense lawyers and detainees at Guantanamo Bay, according to court documents.
The government argues that it must restrict the detainees' communications, as news of world events could incite the prisoners to violence.
The U.S. proposed the rules in a filing to a federal appeals court in Washington that was examined by The Associated Press. The case deals with an Afghani detainee but the government wants them to apply to other prisoners at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in southeast Cuba. The prison camp holds some 430 detainees.
The rules, which would apply to detainees pursuing court challenges to their designations as "enemy combatants," would tighten censorship of mail from attorneys and give the military more control over what lawyers can discuss with their clients, according to the filing.
The number of face-to-face meetings between defense attorneys and detainees would be limited to four total. There are now no restrictions on the number of times they can meet, although lawyers' access to the base is already hampered because it is so remote.
The government says current rules have allowed detainees to receive books or articles about terrorist attacks in Iraq, London and Israel, as well as details of the prisoner abuse investigation at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison.
In the court filing, which was first reported Wednesday by The Boston Globe, a military lawyer said security at Guantanamo Bay has been threatened by the introduction of a book on Abu Ghraib, a speech given at an Amnesty International conference about the war on terror, and other materials.
"Such materials could incite detainees to violence, leading to a destabilization of the camp," wrote Navy Cmdr. Patrick M. McCarthy.
The government petition was filed in August in the case of Haji Bismullah, an Afghanistan native who is among several Guantanamo detainees represented by the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights.
Currently, mail from lawyers is examined only for physical contraband. The proposed rules call for all of a detainee's mail to be examined for forbidden information.
Wells Dixon, an attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights, said he suspects the proposal is aimed at controlling the information coming out of Guantanamo. Accounts from defense lawyers who have visited Guantanamo have cast doubt on government assertions that most detainees are hardened terrorists, Dixon said.
"What's happening is the government wants to hide this indisputable fact," he said "They're not happy we've been able to bring a lot of these developments to light."
In 2004, the Supreme Court said detainees can contest the legality of their detentions. A law signed by President Bush on Oct. 17 bars detainees from protesting their detentions in court, but they still have a right to challenge their designations as "enemy combatants." The new rules would restrict legal representation for those challenges.
