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8/4/2019 Responsive Documents - CREW: DOJ: Regarding Information on Criminal Division's Handling of Guantanamo Deaths: 9/14/2011 - DOJ docs

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-DRAFT-

Memorandum

Sub ject: Date:

Pre lim ina ry Inquiry into Detain ee Deaths November 20, 2009

To: From:

Te resa McHenry, Chief

David Jaffe, Deputy Chief

A. Source: Source Name:

Date of Birth:

Citizenship:

Address :

B. Executive Summary:

This m em or andu m addresses the rpilts of the preliminary inquiry into allegations

and/or suspicion s ofL \L

Jalieges that the U.S. m ilitary

fals ely repo rte d the circum st an ce s sur roun ding the Jun e 10, 2006 deaths of three (3)

de tainees w hile in U.S. m ilita ry custody in Guantanarno Bay, Cuba, Upon ftrther

inqu iry into this ma tter by the Department of Ju stice (DOJ) Tria l A ttorney, Rob ert

McGovern, and Federal Bureau of Investigation (F Bf l Spec ia l Agent(

itis

C. Background Information Regarding[

Robe rt M cG ov ern, Trial Attorney

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B. June 10, 2006 Detainee Suicides:’

At approximately 12:30 a.m, on June 10, 2006, three detainees being held at the

U.S. detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba commiffed suicide by hanging

themselves in their cells. At the time of these deaths, there had been 41 previous suicide (attempts by detainees at Gudntanamo Bay Naval Station 2

1 CeD

The June 10, 200b suicides occurred in Alpha Block of Camp 1 which is located

inside of Camp Delta. Camp Delta is located inside the United States Naval Station in

Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Camp Delta consists of two main complexes which have

numerous single level cell blocks consisting entirely ofmetal fencing and bars whichexpose tho cell blocks to wind and 1ighfl

J

There is another facility called Camp America

TheJoint Detention Group, Joint Task Force

—Guantanamo Bay, Cuba

Headquarters is located across the street from Camp America an4

- Finally, there fã small

fenced facility named Camp Iguana located on the opposite IiEI of a large hill which is

directly adjacent to Camp America.

E.i

This memorandum is Unclassified as all information provided herein is unclassified and/or obtained from

open sources.2

Source: Washington Post news article, dated June 10, 2006, regarding the deaths of the thee detainees.Source: Al l information regarding the physical layout of JTF Compound was obtained from the website:

GlobalSecurity.corn.

2



DELETED PAGE INFORMATION SHEET

REQUEST NO: g1i2F

THE FOLLOWING)PAGE(S) WERE WITHHELD

BY THE CRIMINAL DIVISION FROM

DOCUMENT PURSUANT TO FOIA

EXEMPTION(S)

7

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:

Ip



Allegations Regarding GITMO Suicides

Overview of Domestic Security Section inquiry

The June 10 , 2006 Suicides

At approximately 12:30 am. on June 10, 2006, three detainees at Guantanamo

Bay Naval Station (GITMO) were found hanging in their cells from nooses made from

torn cloth the detainees had collected and secreted in their cells, The deaths were

determined to be suicides.

The deaths were thoroughly investigated by the Naval Criminal Investigative

Service (NCIS), which concluded that the deaths were indeed suicides.

( IThe Allegations

In February 2009[ Jcontacted DOJ. Jstatcd that

L had information suggesting that the militar’s account of the

deaths of the three detainee’s was not accurate Specifical1yJ jeported the

following information provided byL 1 c )

1



N

Cb)

c

The DOJ Inquiry

Between February and November 2009, the Criminal Division’s Domestic

Security Section (DSS) and the FB I conducted a preliminary inquiry into I iiallegations. The team interviewed a number ofwitnesses, including each witness

identifiedby[ nd reviewed the NCIS investigative rile, as well as

other documents and evidence; and conducted a site visit to GITMO.. teamand——

suspicions that the detainees had not died in their cells and that the r had

revealed the existence of an ongoing cover-up.E 0

jThe

th u owing is a brief overview of the intbrmation developed during the inquiry. C)

Interview of[1(c)

During an interview with prosecutors and FBI agents orL 2009,

L jstated the following:

He and his team were on guard duty on the night of the suicides. The

team performed perimeter duty and general patrol within the entire camp

area, and also manned several towers on the perimeter of Camp Delta, an

area that contained six mini-camps or cell blocks. On nf the camps

within Camp Delta, Camp One( One

of those cell blocks, known as lha, housed the detainees in question,

,, i L jteam had no responsibility for patrolling the actual cell blocks,

as that was the responsibility of the Navy.L jtated that from the

tower, the guards could see the cellblocks and could see into all the

individual cells. On the night in question ‘Jwas on patrol, but was

not in any of the towers. r tated, however that he later spoke to

two of his colleagues whJiad bein the towers,5- - . . -

and L ;_)vho informed him that they had not seen anything

occur in the cells in question or in th e cell blocks within Camp One.

illaimed that other colleagues also reported that they did not see

detainees being moved from Camp One to the medical clinic.

While on patrol on the night in question[ aw a detainee

)J) transport vehicle, known as a “paddy wagon,” exit Camp One twice over

the span of several hours. Because guards in paddy wagons were required

to check out weapons when transporting detainees, and because the guard

2



in the paddy wagon that night did in fact check out weapons

believed that a detainee was being transported in the paddy wagon on both

occasions, On the second occasion aw the paddy wagon turn

onto a side road leading to whathe l5Elieved be a secret facility that

C nd his men had previously discovered. (On a prior occasion

when\ Dhad observed the secret facility, he had heard screaming.)

Later on the night in question,5 saw a paddy wagon enter the

camp area and go straight to the medical clinic. Approximately 1.5 hours

later, the whole camp “lit up,” and there was activity around the medical

clinic. L 3vas told by a medical corps member that three detainees

had died and that they had rags down their throats.V

• V

[1 (V)

• Lidentified for the FBI three individuals ho could corroborate

hls accouiiit.L eported that 1andL vere in the

towers on the night in question and that j was presentduring .}ieeting. Laterf .Jattorney provided the

names oftwo additional person V

V

b( ‘(C,J

who purportedly could provide additional corrobora tion forL

account.

Other Witness Interviews

The FBI interviewed all five witnesses identified byf .

DSS prosecutor was present for some of the interviews.VJ

j\For instance: (j)

• Jstated that he was in one of the towers at some point that evening.

1{e said that while in the tower, he did not see detainees being removed

from their cells or the cell blocks. Based on his account, however, it was

not clear whether he was in the tower at the time of the suicides.

\i• jported that,e was not in the towers on the night in question,

contrary to L laim .V

• E ‘aid that he was in one of the towers that night, but that his tower

had a Iew of only the recreation yard.

jcould not remember whether he was in a tower at the time of the

suicides.

3



The witnesses gave inconsistent. rnos regardin eeting. Fo r

instance described the deaths as hangings, while

another recalled thati iescribed the detainees as having rags down their

throats. [

- 1yasnotpartof[

in question.

junit and was no t working on the night

9JJ/

I) i

NCIS Investigatio

\ )

4



/

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Site Visit

In addition to the foregoing, the FBI agents andqDSS prosecutor traveled to

GITh’IO. Based on that site visit, the team determined

1bDV(L -Conclusion Q 1(L)

Based on this inquiry, the investigative team determined that there is no credible

evidence supporting lallegations or suspicions regarding the detainee dea ths orhis allegations about any cover-up.

5



Page 1 of 1

Cc: Jaffe, David

Subject: just fyi re: gitmo case

Status reportAfter discussion with NCIS person today, learned that they still working onlocating the file.

L

Call if questions/concerns.

Teresa

zc

J

5/26/2009 A -

jA”

McHenry, Teresa

From: McHenry, Teresa

Sent: Wednesday, March 11, 2009 1:03 PM

To: Glavin, Rita (CRM); Raman, Mythili; Morton, John; Fagell, Steven



Page lofi

(b°McI-Ienry, Teresa

From: - -Sent: Thursday, February 12, 2009 10:48 AM

To : McHenry, Teresa

Subject: Contact Information fo[ .

L We will arrive in GTMO Sunday night and return

Thursday.

Do you see any problems with that? This will be totally unrealted to any issues pertaining to our

discussions with you fd1k

EWackenhut Security company

2/12/2009




Sent: Thursday, April 09, 2009 2:44 PM

To:

(FBI)iç )

Cc:affe, David; M cGovern, Robert_

- (C,)

Subject: FW:Contact Information forL -

Fyi-

—

Below includes contact information forft

belieiethat[

3hadsaid in our meeting w

ith[

]that he would forward w hat he hd• CD O )

From:L

-

Sent: Thursday, February 12, 2009 10:48 AM

To: McHenry, Teresa

Subject: ContactInformation fo1

J (J)

TWe will arrive in GTMO

Sundaynight and return Thurs

day.

Do yousee any problems with that? (bj

LWackenhut Securi

ty company

Matter\contact info fo[

L



January 14,2010

Congrpssman John Conyers Jr.

2426 Rayburn H.O.B.

Washington, DC 20515

-

Dear: Congressman Conyers:

This office representsfi

experiehces at Guantdnamo Bay.

Respectfully submitted,

statement is enclosed,

J•

Cc •. 2504LTC. Russell Sweet

Natiohäl Guard

2400 Wright Street.

Madi5Qn WI 53704

Congrssthan Ike Skelton

U.S. Hbuse of Representatives

2206 Rayburn House Office Building

Wasbington, DC 20515

Senator Russ Feingold

506 Hart Senate Office BuildingWashington, DC 205 10-4904

ijaain now reports his

(D

( C

(u’) e recollection of events at Guantanamo Bay during his tour of du are . ‘,..

inconsistent with tl1 findings of the NCIS investigation regarding the deaths of three detainees fri’.

hme 2006.



Congressman Bill Delahunt2454 Rayburn House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515

Governor Jim Doyle

Madison Office

P.O. Box 7863

Madison, WI 53707

Department ofDefense

Office of the Inspector General

400 Army Navy Drive

Arlington, VA 22202-4704

Col. Julio Barron

National Guard

2400 Wright Street

Madison, WI 53704

0



DELETED PAGE INFORMATION SHEET

REQUEST NO: ôt

THE FOLLOWING_PAGE(S) WERE WITHHELD

BY THE CRIMINAL DIVISION FROM

DOCUMENT PURSUANT TO FOIA

EXEMPTION(S) :

Lb) C)

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:



Page 1 of 3

McHenry, Teresa

From: Weinstein, Jason

Sent: Thursday, October 29, 2009 5:50 PM

To: McGovern, Robert; McHenry, Teresa; Jaffe, DavidCc: Reman, Mythili; Fagell, Steven

,

Subject J

Thanksl

From: MWovern, Robert

Sent: Thursday, October 29, 2009 4:40 PM

To: Weinstein Jason; McHenry, Teresa; Jaffe, David

Subject:RE :L

1 O’4

Sorry, Ijust returned from the FBI lab at Quantico. Tomorrow at 1pm is good for me too if that is still a go.


Sent: Thursday, October 29, 2009 11:24 AM

To: McHenry,Jeresa; Jaffe, David; McGovern, Robert

Subject: FW : jii) 34

DSS folks?


Sent: Thursday, October 29, 2009 11:24 AM ( V

To : Ruemmler, Kathryn (ODAG) (SMO)

Cc : Monaco, Lisa (ODAG); Reman, Mythili; Fagell, Steven /

Subject: REL ZI 5LULet me check with the DSS folks.

L10/30/2009



Page 2 of3

JFrom: Weinstein, Jason (CRM)

Sent: Thursday, October 29, 2009 11:19 AM

To: Ruemmier, Kathryn (ODAG)Cc: Monaco, Lisa (ODAG); Raman, Mythili (CRM); Fagell, Steven (CRM)

Subject: RE:L1’ 0

*

7

[a

I

/

j10/30/2009



Page 3 of 3

F fK( h A j’ 7

10/30/2009



Corrections in Harper’s story Page 1 of3

McHenry, Teresa

From: Jaffe, David

L) jq

‘

(1 Sent: Monday, January 18, 2010 4:21 PMTo: McHen, Teresa; McGovern, Robed; Weinstein, Jason

1< Subject: Re: Corrections in Harper’s story

A

1. In Section 1 of the article, the writer claims that the NCIS report “did not explain where they [the prisonerj were

able to acquire so much fabric beyond their tightly controlled allotment or why the Navy guards would allow such

an obvious and mediately observable deviation from permitted behavior.f

L2. In Section 2,r

4. In Section 3, there are several claims concerning the view that one would have at various towers.E

5. In the second to last paragraph of this section, there is a claim that “a distraught medical corpsman sLd ‘they

had dided because they had rags stuffed down their throats, and that one of them was severly bruised.f

6. For Section

(D

7. For Section 9, the author relates thatE 1bout “Camp No.’

8. Also for this section, the author claims that at the initial interview furnished McHenry

with the promised list of corrobrating witnesses and details on how they could be contacte9Z

9. Last uaraaraDh of Section

J ‘IL

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5

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To: Jaffe, David; McGovern, Robert; Weinstein, Jason

1/19/2010



Corrections in Harper’s story Page 2 of 3

Sent: Mon Jan 18 15:12:23 2010

Su bject: Fw: Corrections In Ha rper’s story

Fyi


To: Sweeney, Laura (SMO); FageI I, Steven

Sent: Mon Jan 18 15:1 1:36 2010

Su bjec t: Re: Corrections In Harpe r’s story

Yes-you are accurate in your statements.

And it wid be accurate to say doj attys and fbi agents.

Thks

T

(2(

•Ui’ .

I/

1/19/20 10



Corrections in Harpers story Page 3 of 3

UQ (

1/19/20 10



Page 1 of2

MeHenry, Te resa -Ii C’ / I

From: McHenry, Teresa (CRM)

To: Whitman, James (CIV)

Sent: Sat ian 23 11:14:08 201 0

Subject: RE: Al-Zahran i v. Rumsfeld, No. 09-28 (DDC)

Greetings, C—j

You can just_giv e me a call at your convenience, or we can set up a speciFic time (11:00 am on Monday?) and we

can discuss[ jJust let me know .

Teresa 616-8385

vJ I ‘

0



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