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U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE MEMBER CALLS UPON ATTORNEY GENERAL TO “THOROUGHLY INVESTIGATE” DETAINEE DEATHS AT GTMO

Rep. Anna G. Eshoo (D- Calif.), a senior member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, has formally called upon Attorney General Eric Holder to “thoroughly investigate” the deaths of three detainees at the Guantánamo Bay Detention Center. She expressed “grave concerns” based on reports by Seton Hall Law’s Center for Policy & Research and the subsequent revelations of Guantánamo guards detailedin a Harper’s Magazine exposé, “The Guantánamo ‘Suicides.’” The three detainees died on June 9, 2006. Seton Hall Law Professor and Director of the Center for Policy and Research, Mark P. Denbeaux, stated, “An independent investigation is long overdue.”

Rep. Eshoo further called upon the Attorney General to review the Naval Criminal Investigative Service’s (NCIS) investigation of the matter and to “review the report of the NCIS to determine its veracity, and should your conclusions warrant, to then take appropriate actions.”

Professor Denbeaux added, “It is significant that a senior member of the Intelligence Committee recognizes the need for a thorough investigation. Our report, Death in Camp Delta, raised serious questions about the deaths of the three detainees. The Harpers’ article provided some of the answers—and those answers are very disturbing. We agree that the only way to resolve these issues is through a thorough investigation.”

Death in Camp Delta is the Center’s 15th Guantánamo Report; previous reports have been introduced into the Congressional Record by the Senate Armed Services Committee, the Senate Judiciary Committee, the House Armed Services Committee, and as part of a Resolution by the European Parliament. The Guantánamo reports have also been cited by media throughout the world. Death in Camp Delta and all previous reports may be found at http://law.shu.edu and will be included in the Guantánamo Archives, a joint project between Seton Hall Law School and New York University to document, preserve, and make accessible the legal records and the human stories of the Guantánamo Bay Detention Camp.

Seton Hall University School of Law, New Jersey’s only private law school, and a leading law school in the New York metropolitan area, is dedicated to preparing students for the practice of law through excellence in scholarship and teaching, with a strong focus on clinical education. The Center for Policy and Research enables students to gain practical experience while engaging in research and analysis that promotes respect for the rights of individuals worldwide. The students examine primary sources pertaining to national security law and practices of the U.S. government, as well as the reliability of forensic evidence for criminal investigations and prosecution. Seton Hall Law is located in Newark, NJ and offers both day and evening degree programs. For more information, visit http://law.shu.edu.