Robert L. Swann (military lawyer)

Robert L. Swann is an American lawyer and retired Army colonel. He is currently the lead prosecutor on the cases of Khalid Sheik Muhammed and Mr. Mustafa Al-Hawsawi.

Work on the prosecution team of the Guantanamo military commissions

Swann was the second Chief Prosecutor of the Guantanamo military commissions, replacing Fred Borch.cite news
url=http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1846734
title=Chief Guantanamo Prosecutor Departs
publisher=National Public Radio
date=April 22 2004
accessdate=2007-04-12] cite news
url=http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=25432
title=Many Issues Raised in First Week of Commissions Hearings
author=Kathleen T. Rhem
date=August 27 2004
publisher=American Forces Press Service
accessdate=2007-04-12]

Internal criticisms of Borch

Australian newspapers broke the story, in the summer of 2005, that three other lawyers on the prosecution team had criticisms of the ethics of Borch's behavior.cite news
url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200508/s1426797.htm
title=Leaked emails claim Guantanamo trials rigged
publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation
date=August 1, 2005
author-Leigh Sales
accessdate=2007-04-11] cite news
url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/01/AR2005080101488.html
title=Military Denies Rigging Guantanamo Tribunals
publisher=Washington Post
date=August 2, 2005
accessdate=2007-04-11] cite news
url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200508/s1428749.htm
title=Third prosecutor critical of Guantanamo trials
publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation
author-Leigh Sales
date=August 3, 2005
accessdate=2007-04-11] cite news
title=Lawyers criticize Bush trials plan,
url=http://www.upi.com/SecurityTerrorism/view.php?StoryID=20060712-115137-3892r
publisher=United Press International
date=July 13, 2006
author=Pamela Hess
accessdate=2007-04-11] The three prosecutors whose memos were leaked were:
Robert Preston
John Carr, and Carrie Wolf.Their memos, which were written in 2003, were leaked in 2005. Those memos stated:
*That Borch had assured the prosecution team that the officers sitting in judgment on the commission would be handpicked to be sure to convict, so prosecutors didn't have to worry about doing a good job.
*That Borch had assured the prosecution team that any exculpatory evidence in favor of the suspects would be classified, so it wouldn't be made available to the suspect, or his defense team.Preston, Carr and Wolf were all reassigned, as they requested. All three were subsequently promoted.

Borch, meanwhile, resigned his commission. And the structure of the Military commission was extensively revised. Swann supported the revisions, including removing two of the original Commission members.cite news
url=http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2004-09-16-gitmo_x.htm
date=September 21 2004
title=Officer in Guantanamo hearings urges dismissal of two panelists
publisher=USA Today
accessdate=2007-04-12]

A prosecutor has concerns under Swann's watch

On March 31 2007 the "Wall Street Journal" published a long article about Stuart Couch, another member of the prosecution team, who had worked under Swann.cite news
url=http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB117529704337355155-lMyQjAxMDE3NzM1MTIzOTE3Wj.html
publisher=Wall Street Journal
date=March 31 2007
title=The Conscience of the Colonel
author=Jess Bravin
accessdate=2007-04-11] cite web
url=http://pierretristam.com/Bobst/07/wf040107.htm
publisher=mirror of the Wall Street Journal article
date=March 31 2007
title=The Conscience of the Colonel
author=Jess Bravin
accessdate=April 11
accessyear=2007] cite news
url=http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/news/opinion/17042823.htm
date= April 7, 2007
publisher=Monterey Herald
title=Three tales of Gitmo 'taint'
accessdate=2007-04-11] cite news
publisher=The Nation
url=http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070416/scheer
date=April 4, 2007
title=Leave Your Morals at the Border
author=Robert Scheer
accessdate=2007-04-11] cite news
url=http://harpers.org/archive/2007/04/horton-colonel-with-a-conscience
title=Colonel with a Conscience
author=Scott Horton
publisher=Harpers
date=April 2 2007
accessdate=2007-04-11] According to the Wall Street Journal Couch considered requesting reassignment from the prosecution team, but instead merely requested reassignment from working on the prosecution of Mohamedou Ould Slahi. While Couch believed that Slahi was actually guilty, he had come to believe that the confessions and other evidence against Slahi had all been too tainted by abusive interrogation techniques for it to ethical to use it. Couch thought that the interrogation techniques had violated the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the United States own laws, and International treaties which the United States was obliged to obey because it was a signatory.

According to the "Wall Street Journal" Couch and Swann had a loud and acrimonious confrontation over his decision. Its article reported that when Swann learned of Couch's moral reservations he demanded: "What makes you think you're so much better than the rest of us around here?"

The "Wall Street Journal" further reported::"An impassioned debate followed, the prosecutor recalls. Col. Swann said the Torture Convention didn't apply to military commissions. Col. Couch asked his superior to cite legal precedent that would allow the president to disregard a treaty."

References