Uncommon Courage
As U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder recently said, "In our current struggle against international terrorism, when others surrendered faithful obedience to the law to the circumstances of the time, it was the brave men and women in the JAG Corps who stood up against the tides, many times risking their careers to do so. We all can learn from their example."
Common Cause is honoring the following military and civilian officials who stood up for the rule of law and worked to stop misguided policies and practices involving torture of detainees. Please join us by adding your signature to our letter of commendation, which will be delivered in the fall.
(Note: While we have selected these individuals for special recognition, this is by no means an exhaustive list of the many heroes who took steps to put an end to torture.)
Stuart Couch
Despite extreme pressure to prosecute senior al-Qaeda operative Mohamedou Slahi and a deep personal desire to bring Slahi to justice, Lt. Col. V. Stuart Couch refused to proceed with the case after he discovered that much of the evidence against Slahi had been obtained through torture.
Career Highlights: Lieutenant Colonel, United States Marine Corps; Senior Appellate Judge at Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals; Judge Advocate, United States Marine Corps (1992-2007); Prosecutor, Office of Military Commissions (2003-2006); Military Justice Officer, Camp Lejeune, NC (2001-2003)
Honors: American Bar Association Justice Award (2007); Defense Meritorious Service Medal (2006)
Read more: "The Conscience of the Colonel", Wall Street Journal
Mark Fallon
Deputy Commander Mark Fallon objected to the interrogation techniques used at Guantanamo, and raised concerns through NCIS leadership. He refused to participate in the torture of detainees, and made continued efforts to urge Pentagon decision-makers to reconsider more effective and humane interrogation techniques. His concerns, vis-à-vis NCIS Director David Brant, eventually reached Alberto Mora, who took up the issue at the Pentagon.
Career Highlights: Assistant Director for Training, Federal Law Enforcement Training Center; Special Agent, Naval Criminal Investigative Service (1981-2008); Deputy U.S. Marshal (1979-1981)
Honors: Armed Service Civilian Service Medal; US Army Distinguished Civilian Service Medal; US Secret Director’s Honor Award; DoD Special Award for Counterintelligence; Department of the Navy Civilian Service Medal; DoD Award for the Most Outstanding Action / Innovation; NCIS Special Operations Commendation
Read more: "Gitmo interrogations spark battle over tactics", MSNBC, Oct. 23, 2006
Steven Kleinman
A career military interrogator, USAF Col. Steven Kleinman documented his concerns that there were significant problems at Guantanamo, most especially the lack of personnel trained and experienced at interrogations as early as May 2002. During a deployment to Iraq in September 2003, he intervened to stop an interrogation session where the detainee was kneeling and being slapped across the face for an extended period of time. He immediately followed up by voicing his opinion that the use of such techniques constituted violations of the Geneva Conventions and could even be considered war crimes. Kleinman continued on to stop other interrogation sessions, after which he began to be excluded from interrogation plans and even threatened by members of a special operatons task force that oversaw the military interrogation of high-value detainees in Iraq.
Career Highlights: Senior Intelligence Officer, United States Air Force
Honors: Defense Meritorious Service Medal; Meritorious Service Medal; Air Force Commendation Medal (1OLC); Army Commendation Medal (1OLC); Air Force Achievement Medal (2OLC)
Read more: "Air Force Instructor Details Harsh Interrogations", Washington Post; "Torturing Democracy" documentary
Brittain Mallow
Criminal Investigation Task Force Commander Col. Brittain P. Mallow objected to the interrogation techniques used at Guantanamo, and raised concerns through Army leadership. He refused to participate in the torture of detainees, even ordering CITF investigators not to participate in detainee torture. Mallow made continued efforts to urge Pentagon decision-makers to reconsider more effective and humane interrogation techniques.
Career Highlights: Colonel (retired), U.S. Army; Commander, DOD Criminal Investigation Task Force (2002-05), Deputy Commander US Army Criminal Investigation Command (2000-02)
Honors: Army Distinguished Service Medal (2005)
Read more: "Torturing Democracy" documentary
Alberto J. Mora
Upon hearing allegations of detainee abuse, former Navy General Counsel Alberto J. Mora immediately investigated the situation at Guantanamo and voiced his opposition to top Pentagon officials. Although his concerns were initially ignored, Mora persisted, and memorialized his concerns in a draft memo to Department of Defense General Counsel William Haynes II which led to Secretary Rumsfeld to rescind his December 2, 2002 authorization of the new, more aggressive interrogation techniques.
Career Highlights: Chief Counsel, International Division at Wal-Mart; General Counsel, United States Navy (2001-06); Foreign Service Officer to Portugal, U.S. Department of State (1975-78)
Honors: Profile in Courage Award (2006)
Read more: "The Memo: How an Internal Effort to Ban the Abuse and Torture of Detainees was Thwarted", New Yorker
Sam Provance
Army Sergeant Sam Provance was deployed to Iraq in September 2003 where he was the non-commissioned officer in charge of System Administration at the Abu Ghraib prison.
When a criminal investigation began of the prison, he told the truth to the investigators even though many of his contemporaries were scared into silence. When General Tabuga’s report was leaked he found out that he was the only military intelligence soldier listed as a witness. He was commanded to sign a written order stating that he would not talk to anyone about the investigation. However, when he became concerned that lower ranking personnel were being scapgoated for the crimes at Abu Ghraib, he violated the order, speaking out to the news media and cooperating extensively with the Senate Armed Services investigation of the abuse at Abu Ghraib. For violating the order not to speak he was demoted in rank and stripped of his security clearance.
Career Highlights: Intelligence Analyst (September 2002-October 2006); Systems Administrator
Honors: Two Army Commendation Medals for service in Operation Iraqi Freedom (Targeting Supervisor and Systems Administrator)
Read more: "Intel Staffer Cites Abu Ghraib Cover Up", ABC News; "Army Adds Farce to Shame"
Darrel J. Vandeveld
A former prosecutor within the Office of Military Commissions at Guantanamo Bay, Lt. Col. Vandeveld resigned in September 2008 after he discovered that the detainee he was charged with prosecuting, sixteen year-old Afghani Mohammed Jawad, had been subject to continued abuse and torture at both Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan and at Guatanamo. Furthermore, Vandeveld discovered that potentially exculpatory evidence had been kept from Jawad’s defense attorneys.
Career Highlights: Lieutenant Colonel, US Army JAG Corps; Office of Military Commissions, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba May 2007-September 2008; active duty service in Bosnia, Africa, Afghanistan and Iraq
Honors: Bronze Star Medal, Iraqi Campaign Medal, Joint Service Commendation Medal, two Joint Meritorious Unit Awards
Read more: "I was slow to recognize the stain of Guanatamo," Washington Post.
Do you know of others who you'd like to nominate for a "Common Cause Award for Uncommon Courage"? Send their stories to grassroots [at] commoncause.org with the subject "Uncommon Courage", and be sure to include your contact information so that we can reach you if we have questions.