Dismissal urged for 2 panelists in Guantanamo hearings

SAN JUAN -- Two members of a panel hearing cases of suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay should be dismissed because their pasts may make them biased against the defendants, the presiding officer recommended.

One man, Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Timothy K. Toomey, is an intelligence officer who was involved in capturing suspects in Afghanistan. An alternate panel member, Army Lieutenant Colonel Curt S. Cooper, acknowledged calling Guantanamo prisoners ''terrorists."

Army Colonel Peter Brownback made the recommendations in a letter to the commission's appointing authority. The recommendation for their dismissal was made after defense challenges last month at preliminary hearings for four Guantanamo prisoners charged with war crimes.

''Specifically, his comments that the detainees in Cuba were terrorists, or words to that effect, might cause some to believe that he has prejudged the cases," Brownback wrote in the letter dated Sept. 15, 2004.

Toomey's activities in Afghanistan could be seen as problematic, wrote Brownback, who recommended keeping panel members Marine Colonel Jack K. Sparks Jr. and Marine Colonel R. Thomas Bright -- two members individually challenged because of their links with the war on terrorism.

Sparks lost a reservist working as a firefighter in the Sept. 11, 2001, attack in New York, and Bright assembled lists of detainees bound for Guantanamo.

Brownback's recommendations were made after an unexpected challenge from the government's top prosecutor, who joined defense lawyers in their assertion that Brownback's close relationship with the commission's appointing authority could be viewed as a conflict.

Brownback said it was inappropriate for him to comment on challenges made to his impartiality but said he had evaluated whether he could do the job. He is the only person on the five-member panel with law experience.

''To the best of my knowledge, there was not any item brought forth in voir dire [challenging of members] which might cause a reasonable person to believe that I could not provide a full or fair trial or to show that my impartiality might reasonably be questioned," Brownback said.

Chief prosecutor Army Colonel Robert Swann asked Brownback to evaluate his suitability.

Brownback worked with the commission's appointing authority, John Altenburg, in Fort Bragg, N.C. He also spoke at a retirement roast for Altenburg and attended the wedding of Altenburg's son. Brownback's wife also worked in Altenburg's office.

''We request that [Brownback] closely evaluate his own suitability to serve as the presiding officer . . . with particular attention focused on whether his impartiality might reasonably be questioned," Swann said in his filing.

Altenburg is expected to decide on challenges to the panel members, including Brownback, by the first week of November. Only three members are needed to hold commissions, or trials, the first set to begin in December.

Meanwhile, two alleged Al Qaeda fighters boycotted US military hearings Thursday meant to decide whether they are being properly held as enemy combatants. Both prisoners allegedly fought against US forces in Afghanistan, said Navy Commander Daryl Borgquist, a spokesman for the review tribunals.

The two cases brought to 23 the number of prisoners who have refused to attend the Combatant Status Review Tribunals, criticized by human rights groups and attorneys who say the hearings are shams and do not allow the men to have attorneys present.