A Profile of 517 Detainees through Analysis of Department of Defense Data

The Denbeaux study was a study led by Professor Mark Denbeaux of Seton Hall University.cite news
url=http://law.shu.edu/news/guantanamo_report_final_2_08_06.pdf
title=Report on Guantanamo detainees: A Profile of 517 Detainees
publisher=Seton Hall University
author=Mark Denbeaux et. all.
date=February 8 2006
accessdate=2008-02-01] Denbeaux and his son Joshua Denbeaux, an attorney for two Guantánamo detainees, oversaw a statistical analysis of the unclassified information about the
Guantánamo Bay detainees.Some of Denbeaux's students analyzed:
#Where the documents said the detainees were captured.
#Who the documents said captured the detainees.
#The relationship the documents alleged existed between the detainee and al Qaeda.
#The relationship the documents alleged existed between the detainee and the Taliban.

An article in the Village Voice reported: [ [http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0610,hentoff,72399,6.html The Worst of the Worst? A report, based entirely on Defense Department documents, exposes the truth about Guantánamo] , "Village Voice", March 3 2006] :"Already, however, we now know much more about how "dangerous" they really are because of a stunning, heavily documented investigation by the Seton Hall (New Jersey) School of Law. Titled "Report on Guantánamo Detainees," it profiles 517 of the prisoners at Gitmo entirely based on "analysis of Department of Defense data."

An editorial by the BBC's John Simpson summarized the study concluding that: [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4708946.stm No surprises in the war on terror] , "BBC", February 13 2006]
*92% of the Guantanamo detainees had not been al-Qaeda fighters.
*only 5% of the Guantanamo detainees were captured by the Americans themselves.
*440 of 517 detainees appeared to have been captured by bounty hunters, in return for a $5,000 reward.

The study itself reveals that those 92% who are not al-Qaeda fighters were deemed to be either other al-Qaeda members or Taliban or members of other affiliated hostile groups. Of these other affiliated groups, the study's authors express surprise in a second report that some of these groups are not listed in federal no-fly lists. [http://law.shu.edu/news/second_report_guantanamo_detainees_3_20_final.pdf SECOND REPORT ON THE GUANTANAMO DETAINEES: Inter- and Intra-Departmental Disagreements About Who Is Our Enemy (.pdf)] , "Denbeaux & Denbeaux", Mar 20, 2006]

Contrary to Simpson's reading, the study does not indicate how many detainees were captured by bounty hunters. It merely refers to the detainees captured by non-U.S. forces "at a time in which the United States offered large bounties for capture of suspected enemies."

The Denbeaux's primary sources did not include data on actual bounties. One example of a bounty was given in the references: that of Salim Hamdan, who was known to have worked directly for Osama Bin Laden. The reference comes from an article [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/08/magazine/08yemen.html The Bush Administration vs. Salim Hamdan] , Jonathan Mahler, "New York Times Magazine", January 8 2006] in the New York Times Magazine.

The study says: [http://law.shu.edu/news/guantanamo_report_final_2_08_06.pdf REPORT ON GUANTANAMO DETAINEES A Profile of 517 Detainees (.pdf)] , "Denbeaux & Denbeaux", February 8, 2006] :"In a handful of cases the detainee's possession of a Casio watch or the wearing olive-drab clothing is cited as evidence that the detainee is an enemy combatant. No basis is given to explain why such evidence makes the detainee an enemy combatant."

The authors are the legal representatives of Guantánamo Bay detainees Rafiq Bin Bashir Bin Jalud Al Hami and Mohammed Abdul Rahman [ [http://thetalkingdog.com/archives2/000525.html TD Blog Interview with Joshua Denbeaux] "Talking Dog blog", April 5, 2006]

Major Michael Shavers, a Pentagon spokesman, called the study "flawed because its authors didn't have access to classified evidence." [http://www.postwritersgroup.com/archives/cocc0221.htm The Shame of Guantanamo] , "Washington Post Writer's Group", February 21 2006]

ee also

*List of Guantánamo Bay detainees
*Guantánamo military commissions
*No-hearing hearings

References

External links

* [http://www.denbeauxlaw.com/ Denbeaux & Denbeaux]