May 21, 2007
By
Gabe Rottman, Legislative Counsel, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 10:49am
Not that anyone condones the release of genuine state secrets, but the evidence seems pretty equivocal in the Diaz trial. He sent the material on the same day that the Justice Department sent its official letter denying the request for the detainees' names. Yet, last week he was convicted of three of four charges against him (but acquitted on the most serious---the release of classified information to injure the United States).
Agreed, his actions may have been imprudent, but one can't help but wonder if Lt. Cmdr. Diaz, a man dedicated to the law and to the notion that each detainee should have been granted counsel and access to habeas, felt that to
not send the list would have been a professional and personal failure? And what does that say about Gitmo?
From the VA Pilot:
McLain said Diaz supported the 2004 Supreme Court decision granting detainees the right of habeas corpus and thought they should be allowed lawyers to represent them.
Remember, Mr. Diaz was actually an attorney for the government here.
