Ex-Guantanamo General Says He Was Pressed

By RANDALL RICHARD, AP National Writer

BRISTOL, R.I. - The general who commanded the Guantanamo Bay prison for seven months in 2002 says he was under constant pressure from military intelligence officers to bend his "by-the-book" rules on how to treat al-Qaida and Taliban suspects.

In interviews with The Associated Press, Brig. Gen. Rick Baccus said military intelligence wanted him to make the suspects' lives less comfortable to get them to cooperate with interrogators.

Baccus said he could not go into detail about everything military intelligence wanted. But he said it generally involved "putting the detainees in isolation, or in different locations. They thought that by throwing them into a whole new set of circumstances that it might cause them to be a little more forthcoming."

~snip~


Within days of his return to Rhode Island, Baccus was fired from his National Guard job by its adjutant general, Reginald J. Centracchio, and placed on standby reserve. Centracchio has declined to explain why.


Baccus said he was fired for refusing to answer questions about command decisions in Guantanamo that Centracchio posed and that Army superiors had ordered him not to answer.

~snip~

more http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=542&ncid=693&e=7&u=/ap/20040520/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/guantanamo_commander

It's because of men like him, men of morals, that the rest will rightfully hang.

================
Former Guantánamo chief clashed with army interrogators
General's sacking cleared way for Pentagon to rewrite rules

The commander of Guantánamo Bay, sacked amid charges from the Pentagon that he was too soft on detainees, said he faced constant tension from military interrogators trying to extract information from inmates.

Brigadier General Rick Baccus was removed from his post in October 2002, apparently after frustrating military intelligence officers by granting detainees such privileges as distributing copies of the Koran and adjusting meal times for Ramadan. He also disciplined prison guards for screaming at inmates.

In one of the general's first interviews since his dismissal, he told the Guardian: "I was mislabelled as someone who coddled detainees. In fact, what we were doing was our mission professionally."

Gen Baccus's unceremonious departure offers a rare insight into how the Pentagon rewrote the rules of warfare to suit the Bush administration's view of a radically changed world following the terror attacks of September 11 2001.

more…
http://www.guardian.co.uk/guantanamo/story/0,13743,1219887,00.html





===

<snip>

Gitmo dispute

The Defense Intelligence Agency, which is in charge of interrogating the prisoners held at the prison at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is having trouble getting information. Defense sources tell us interrogators are being undermined by the general in charge of the prison, Army Brig Gen. Rick Baccus, who is being too nice to the 598 captured terrorists.

<snip>

Gen. Baccus in April addressed the detainees and began speaking with the words "peace be with you" and finished with "may God be with you." He promised that as long as he is in charge the prisoners will be "treated humanly."

Gen. Baccus also authorized putting up posters supplied by the International Committee of the Red Cross around the camp. The posters remind prisoners they need only cooperate as required by the Geneva Convention on the rules of war — name, rank and serial number.

The too-kind treatment upset Army Maj. Gen. Michael Dunlavey, who is in charge of the interrogation unit at Guantanamo Bay, nicknamed "Gitmo." A spokesman for Gen. Dunlavey could not be reached for comment.

<snip>

Bill Gertz and Rowan Scarborough are Pentagon reporters. Mr. Gertz can be reached at 202/636-3274 or by e-mail at bgertz@WashingtonTimes.com . Mr. Scarborough can be reached at 202/636-3208 or by e-mail at rscarborough@WashingtonTimes.com .

http://www.gertzfile.com/gertzfile/ring100402.html
===


Relieved of his command ... Brigadier-General Rick Baccus was accused of wanting to allow the prisoners too many human rights. Photo: AFP/ Rhona Wise
====

<snip>

"The commander of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp - who was criticised in the US press for being too soft on the inmates - has been dismissed" Turns out that he hadn't violated enough of the Geneva Conventions. "In August Gen Baccus told a visiting group of journalists, including the Guardian, that uniformed officers had concerns that the Guantanamo Bay inmates continued to be labelled 'enemy combatants' rather than 'prisoners of war', a classification which would give them more rights under the Geneva conventions and which would assure their release at the end of hostilities. "

<snip>

Officials at the Guantanamo Bay base, a US enclave in Cuba, said Gen Baccus had left because his unit, responsible for running Camp Delta, the base's detention centre, was merged with Joint Task Force 170, a combined unit drawn from the Defence Intelligence Agency, CIA and FBI, which questions the inmates.

His commanding officer in the Rhode Island national guard, Major-General Reginald Centracchio, said he had sacked him for various reasons that "culminated in my losing trust and confidence in him". A national guard spokesman said General Baccus had failed to keep the headquarters up to date with reports on the troops' well-being.

<snip>

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,812646,00.html

===============

Soldiers at Guantánamo Bay mark anniversary, carry on
Troops pray, observe moment of silence; detainees aren't told

09/12/2002

Associated Press

GUANTÁNAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba – The 598 detainees at this U.S. outpost thousands of miles from ground zero have no calendars and were not told that Wednesday was Sept. 11.

"We're not making any special announcements to them," said Brig. Gen. Rick Baccus, who heads the detention mission at the base in remote eastern Cuba.

<snip>

"Although the Department of Defense is preparing to conduct military commissions, no trials are imminent," said Maj. Ted Wadsworth, a Pentagon spokesman. "No charges have been approved."

U.S. officials say the detainees are being treated humanely under conditions set by the Geneva Conventions, though Washington has refused to classify them as prisoners of war, calling them unlawful combatants.

"While the public debates the technicalities of how these people should be classified, we will continue to follow the traditions of humane treatment," Brig. Gen. Baccus said.

<snip>

http://www.txcn.com/sharedcontent/dallas/nation/9-11/stories/091202dni...

========================
<snip>

Last week, a brief article in the Washington Post gave a lot more details than we were able to glean from the local media about the recent removal of Vo Dilun-based Brigadier General Rick Baccus as a National Guard commander. Baccus was the head of the military police in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where suspected Al Qaeda members and other alleged terrorists have been held for months. The Post article indicated that Baccus "has been removed from his job amid allegations that he was uncommunicative with superiors and that he improperly tried to interfere in the interrogation of suspected Taliban and Al Qaeda prisoners jailed there."

He was also said to have "clashed repeatedly with a number of senior officers, including the head of the camp's interrogation unit, Army Reserve Major General Michael Dunlavey. Some sources said Baccus complained that at times interrogators were rude or too intrusive with the detainees, an assertion Baccus denied in interviews with Rhode Island news organizations."

Now, imagine this incredible outrage: "A number of military officers also have complained that Baccus coddled detainees by beginning his addresses to them over loudspeakers with the phrase, `peace be with you.' Others said Baccus raised questions about some tactics of psychological pressure that interrogators sometimes used on prisoners, even though the interrogators were within the bounds of proper tactics, sources said. Baccus has denied those accusations."

Well, there you go. According to the report, Baccus appears to be a stickler for following Geneva Conventions for detaining prisoners of war. We'll wait until the whole story becomes clearer, but based on this, it sounds as if Rick Baccus is one of the good guys.

<snip>
http://www.providencephoenix.com/archive/pj/02/10/24/pj.html

===

According to a news article of June 21, 2002, at the US Department of Defence website, he said: "As to the detainees, the task force must ensure they're treated humanely within the spirit of the Geneva Convention. Humane treatment means we have to provide them clothing, food, shelter and allow them to practise their religious beliefs."

<snip>

Brigadier-General Rick Baccus refused to soften up the detainees for interrogation purposes. Eventually, he was relieved of his duties on October 9, 2002, for being "too nice" to prisoners. In addition to that, he also lost his appointment with Rhode Island National.

Whatever happened at Abu Ghraib is an offshoot of the shameful removal of Brig Baccus who had tried to treat prisoners with minimal human dignity and eventually lost his job.

Prosecuting and blaming a dozen low-ranking soldiers and guards is implausible. The responsibility lies at a much higher level in the chain of command.

<snip>
http://www.dawn.com/2004/05/10/letted.htm

===

<snip>

Rick Baccus, who headed the military police operation at Guantanamo for seven months in 2002, said that the two sides were sometimes at odds.
Baccus had ordered religious books for the detainees and arranged a special meal schedule for Ramadan, the Muslim holiday. He also proposed more recreation time and showers.

But the interrogators, Baccus said, complained that these were special accommodations that undermined their information gathering.

"They would view that as us giving a reward. And I would view that as humane treatment," said Baccus. "There is nothing inherently wrong. It's just a natural tension that existed." ...

<snip>

Baccus said he taught the MPs to keep their emotions in check when dealing with detainees. The MPs received two weeks of training when they arrived and were under close supervision, he said.


One problem was that soldiers liked taking pictures.

"One of the things you realize is that everybody has a camera," Baccus said. The guards were forbidden to photograph the detainees, but images left the camp anyway, he said.

Baccus said he ordered regular inspections and confiscated photographs from soldiers.

<snip>

Baccus said the specifics of how the MPs and interrogators handled the detainees are classified. "There was no question that we were to treat the detainees humanely," he said...

<snip>

He used three groups to help him watch the MPs: The Red Cross, which had regular access to the facility; his noncommissioned officers, who monitored the cell blocks; and the Muslim chaplins, who relayed complaints from the detainees.

<snip>

http://floricane.typepad.com/buttermilk/sand_storm_the_middle_east /
http://www.projo.com/news/content/projo_20040509_baccus9.19caf1.html

====

<snip>

Rick Baccus, who, a Defense source recalled, mainly "wanted to keep the prisoners happy." Baccus began giving copies of the Qur'an to detainees, and he organized a special meal schedule for Ramadan. "He was even handing out printed 'rights cards'," the Defense source recalled. The upshot was that the prisoners were soon telling the interrogators, "Go f--- yourself, I know my rights." Baccus was relieved in October 2002, and Rumsfeld gave military intelligence control of all aspects of the Gitmo camp, including the MPs.

Pentagon officials now insist that they flatly ruled out using some of the harsher interrogation techniques authorized for the CIA. That included one practice—reported last week by The New York Times—whereby a suspect is pushed underwater and made to think he will be drowned. While the CIA could do pretty much what it liked in its own secret centers, the Pentagon was bound by the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Military officers were routinely trained to observe the Geneva Conventions. According to one source, both military and civilian officials at the Pentagon ultimately determined that such CIA techniques were "not something we believed the military should be involved in."

<snip>
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4989438 /

==
<snip>

The dismissal came as 12 Kuwaiti prisoners mounted the first organised legal and diplomatic effort to challenge the US policy that holds terrorism suspects indefinitely at Guantanamo without court hearings or charges being filed.

<snip>

The 12 captives contend they are not members of al-Qaeda, nor the Taliban, but charity workers who were helping refugees created by Afghanistan's harsh regime when they were caught up in the chaos of the war last northern autumn and winter. In trying to flee to Pakistan, they say, they fell into the hands of Pakistanis who "sold" them to US troops, collecting a bounty.

Their families have retained a Washington firm that specialises in international law.

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/10/16/1034561210959.html

===


Brig. Gen. Rick Baccus, 51, who ran the detention operation from March to October 2002, said in an interview Friday that he directed subordinates to make surprise visits to all areas of the detention center and to report mistreatment. He regularly spoke with Muslim chaplains who served the prisoners and maintained "a constant, open dialogue" with the Red Cross, he said.
"They were welcome any time of day or night," Baccus said. In contrast to Abu Ghraib, Red Cross representatives were at Guantanamo nearly the entire time he was there, he added.

<snip>

http://www.southcoasttoday.com/daily/05-04/05-17-04/a02wn366.htm

===


American military officers are taught the rules of the Geneva Conventions and told they must ignore illegal orders which violate these treaties, even if they come from "temporary occupants of the White House" as General Douglas MacArthur once described. This caused conflicts last year as a courageous General in charge of security at Gitmo, Brigadier General Rick Baccus, insisted on obeying the Geneva Conventions by referring to the prisoners as POWs. Baccus was removed after irritating Major General Michael Dunlavey, who is in charge of interrogating the prisoners, with his decision to allow the Red Cross to put up posters advising detainees they need only provide their name, rank and number during questioning.

Meanwhile, quiet resistance within the US military delayed plans for military tribunals, avoiding another violation of the Geneva Conventions. The British sent stern warnings that executing British citizens deemed POWs by the Red Cross would not be tolerated, so their nine citizens have been excused from death threats. This past Summer, after months of private discussions about POW treatment at Gitmo, the Red Cross openly declared the US Government in violation of the Geneva Conventions based upon first hand reports from Cuba. Food quality and exercise rights were tied to cooperation during interrogations, reports of physical torture emerged, and it was revealed that three boys under age 16 were in custody. Since Gitmo was run as a high security facility with all activities considered secret, Gitmo commanders were enraged at the prospect of facing an international war crimes tribunal in the future.

<snip>

http://www.g2mil.com/Dec2003.htm

===
<snip>

Speaking in a get-acquainted interview with The Herald and The Associated Press, Brig. Gen. Rick Baccus said it was "not really" of concern to him that Pentagon guidelines for any upcoming Military Commissions consider the captives innocent until proven guilty.

Baccus added that he had not received word yet to prepare for the trials. Guantánamo Bay is considered a likely location to hold them, although none of the 299 prisoners now held at Camp X-Ray have been charged and no venue has been set.

"They're all killers. They all were carrying weapons against United States servicemen," said Baccus, 49, a career army officer, lately with the Rhode Island National Guard, who took command of the prison project March 28.

<snip>

http://www.broward.com/mld/broward/news/3031790.htm

=

Military Uniform = Deceit to CNN

CNN reporter Bob Franken: “Journalists were kept in polite custody during the operation far from here. Military officials cited operational security, what they like to call ‘OpSec.’ So reports of the transfer were provided only by the ones who were in charge of it.”
Franken to Brigadier General Rick Baccus: “How can we know that you’re telling the truth?”
Baccus: “As you are well aware, the International Committee of the Red Cross is on station. They were informed of the move yesterday and they have access to the detainees as of today with no problems, so they could verify that.”
Franken: “May I follow up? The International Red Cross, as you know, does not report to the public, nor do you report whatever their deliberations are. How can the public know that you’re telling the truth about the move?”
Baccus: “Well, as a commissioned officer in the armed forces, I can assure you that what I’ve said is the truth.”
– Story on the move of detainees from Camp X-Ray to Camp Delta, April 29 NewsNight on CNN.

http://www.mediaresearch.org/notablequotables/2002/nq20020513.asp
Entire transcript: http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0204/29/asb.00.html
==

Brigadier-General Rick Baccus, commander of the prison-guard unit at Guantanamo, says "some sections" of the 1949 Geneva Convention on prisoners of war are being applied to the inmates. He lists food and shelter, medical treatment and freedom of religion.

When asked who decides when to follow the conventions and when to ignore them, he replied, "That has been directed by the Secretary of Defence."

But the Geneva Convention says a "competent tribunal" should decide the status of detainees if there is doubt as to whether they are prisoners of war. The idea of Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld as sole arbiter does not sit well with Michael Byers, a professor of international law at Duke University in North Carolina.

<snip>

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines02/0905-01.htm

==

<snip>

WHEN I sat down with US Brigadier General Rick Baccus in July and
asked him if he was happy that the Guantanamo Bay detainees were
terrorists and if he believed they were being treated humanely, he
grimaced.

The man in charge of the 598 detainees held in cages on the cliff-top
Cuban prison then smiled and trotted out the official line.

"Dangerous men... Geneva Convention... enemy combatants..." he
droned, following the official US line to the letter.

But it was the grimace that gave the game away.

Even the senior officer supervising this extraordinary internment
camp clearly had doubts about the wisdom of Guantanamo Bay.

<snip>

http://squawk.ca/lbo-talk/0210/2114.html

===

the kind ofofficer that herr FUEHRER does not want in his
Imperial Army

Nice job! :thumbsup:

Obviously, the situation in Gitmo got so bad the Capt James Yee was compelled to try to smuggle proof of the atrocities out of it, despite the personal threats and smear campaign against him...

crossed my mind that maybe the pornographic photos he was accused of looking at on government computers were photos of prisoner abuse...

:shrug:

hope he gets called to testify....

Hope this gets out...

This man needs to be better known. He's an obvious example of hoe the unrotten apples were punished.

I wonder what General Miller has to say about him now!

Have you considered sending it to one of the congressional staffers. Would be a beauty for them to have when/if they ask him questions.

Great resource. Thanks for the work. I really think it could be useful to the congresscritters, at least those who care.

is free to send any of my stuff to anyone they want. I'm not particular about getting credit.

Hillary would probably like this now that you mention it.

If we had a real American President who believed in the Constitution and the good side of our legacy, in a few years the whole world would love us and we could have actually won the "heart of minds" of the Arab world.

But no, racism - from a bunch of college cold warriors who fantasize about sexually torturing Arabs - decided that the American Way wasn't good enough, so they fired the "by the books" guy who FOLLOWED THE LAW.

This is just unreal. Remember when this story came out a long time ago? It was all right before our eyes the whole time, but we just didn't want to see it.

(I've always wondered.)

This line says it all, imo:

When asked who decides when to follow the conventions and when to ignore them, he replied, "That has been directed by the Secretary of Defence."

But the Geneva Convention says a "competent tribunal" should decide the status of detainees if there is doubt as to whether they are prisoners of war.

In Yiddish it's used as a compliment, the equivalent of "heck of a guy".

They are in red alert Cover Up mode!!!

although 'man' is certainly not incorrect.

I think you've outdone yourself. Well done!! And thanks.

Thanks :)

You are one helluva talented individual!!!

:yourock:

The magical powers of google ;)

This background puts a lot of context on the Convention violations and the piss poor job done by the Armed Services Committee last week.

Hillary Clinton?

Robert Byrd?

Senator Akaka?

Who else?

<snip>

Brigadier General Rick Baccus told The Associated Press that intelligence officers were always asking questions such as: "Why are they getting two showers and two exercise periods a week instead of one? Why are you doing that?"

<snip>

Baccus says he never allowed physical abuse, degradation or photographing of prisoners at Guantanamo, where 600 prisoners are held on suspicion of links to the Taliban or al-Qaida.

<snip>

http://www.ktvotv3.com/Global/story.asp?S=1884494

==


Ex-Guantanamo chief 'pressured'

From correspondents in Bristol, Rhode Island

May 21, 2004

<snip>

Baccus has been informed by Pentagon lawyers that he may be called to testify at the hearings.

<snip>

Baccus said that, during his command, he would not allow physical abuse, degradation or photographing prisoners. He also said the International Red Cross was given open access to the detainees and encouraged to report any complaints.

<snip>

Sergeant Major Raymond W Funaro, now retired, was the senior noncommissioned officer under Baccus.

"His philosophy was that we will abide at all times to the spirit of the Geneva Conventions, that these people were under lock and key and would be treated like human beings," he said.

That, Funaro said, is the reason abuses "didn't happen at Gitmo" under Baccus's command.

http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/news/politics/8715341.htm

===

<snip>

Colonel Thomas Pappas, who commanded the military intelligence brigade at the prison, said interrogators sometimes instructed the military police to strip detainees and shackle them before they were questioned, a report in the New York Times said.

Col Pappas said the practice was among the changes recommended by Gen Miller - and among those resisted by Gen Baccus.

<snip>
http://mathaba.net/x.htm?http://mathaba.net/0_index.shtml?x=50525