By Prensa Latina,
Washington : The Bush administration pressures courts on the naval base of Guantanamo, Cuba with political objectives, while soldiers use violent interrogation techniques, said former Pentagon prosecutor Col. Morris Davis Tuesday.
Davis said that high government officials demanded that he speed trials against possible terrorists confined in Guantanamo to try to create the image of an adequate justice system for the public.
Among these officials, he mentioned Sub Secretary of Defense Gordon England, who made it clear that accusing prisoners with a high profile had strategic value in an election year.
Davis also criticized the position of recently retired legal advisor William Haynes in relation to the development of the legal processes, “No one can be absolved, because we would not have any way to explain the verdict to people after having these guys there for so much time,” Davis said Haynes stated at that time.
In his statements, Davis regarded the decision to accept evidence obtained by simulated drowning of people, “waterboarding,” and other forms of torture as a lack of ethics, and questioned the use of elements derived from the use of such methods in the trials.
“Let the judge solve it,” Davis said was the answer by DoD legal consultant Brig. Gen. Thomas Hartmann.
Davis appeared as a witness in the case of Salim Ahmed Hamdan, alleged chauffer for Osama Bin Laden, at the prison of Guantanamo, on Cuban territory against the will of its government and people.
Davis, who resigned his post in October, said “I resigned my position after I perceived an escalation in the pressure to act in an incorrect way,” Davis pointed out.