The Land of the Un-Fair Trials

Gitmo judge removed from Canadian's case

A U.S. military judge at Guantanamo Bay who once acknowledged facing Pentagon criticism over one of his rulings was dismissed Thursday from the case of a Canadian detainee, a defense lawyer said.

 

Army Col. Peter Brownback had presided over the tribunal's proceedings against Toronto-born Omar Khadr since last year.

 

The chief judge for the Guantanamo tribunals, Marine Col. Ralph Kohlmann, dismissed Brownback and appointed a new judge for Khadr's case without explanation, defense lawyer Navy Lt. Cmdr. William Kuebler said.

 

In November, Brownback said in court that Defense Department officials "didn't like" a ruling that dismissed the charges over a lack of jurisdiction. That decision was overturned on appeal.

 

Khadr's case has been on track to be one of the first to trial at the U.S. Navy base in southeast Cuba. Khadr, the son of an alleged al-Qaida financier, was captured in Afghanistan at age 15 and accused of throwing a grenade that killed a U.S. Special Forces soldier.

 

Military prosecutors have been pressing Brownback to set a trial date, but he has repeatedly directed them first to satisfy defense requests for access to potential evidence. At a hearing earlier this month, he threatened to suspend the proceedings altogether unless the detention center provided records of Khadr's confinement.

 

Kuebler said he believes the U.S. military is anxious for the trial to start before political pressure leads Canada to demand Khadr's repatriation.

 

A spokesman for the Pentagon office in charge of the tribunals did not immediately respond to a request for comment.