William C. Kuebler
Encyclopedia
William "Bill" C. Kuebler is an American
lawyer and a Lieutenant Commander
in the United States Navy
Judge Advocate General
's Corps, assigned to the Office of Military Commissions.
Prior to the decision of the United States Supreme Court in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld
, to overturn the then current version of the Guantanamo military commission
s on constitutional
grounds Kuebler was detailed to defend Ghassan Abdullah al Sharbi. Al Sharbi had insisted on representing himself and Kuebler refused superior orders to act as his lawyer.
On June 4, 2007 Kuebler was the detailed counsel for Canadian
youth Omar Khadr
,
Kuebler declined to join in the discussion as to whether charges against Khadr should be dropped, on jurisdictional grounds, because he had not had a chance to meet with Khadr, and didn't feel comfortable representing him without his consent.
Peter Brownback
, the officer presiding over Khadr's commission, did dismiss all charges, because the Military Commissions Act
only authorized the commissions to act against "unlawful enemy combatants", and Khadr's Combatant Status Review Tribunal
, like those of all the other Guantanamo captives, had only confirmed that he met the Bush Presidency's definition of an "enemy combatant
".
On 11 August 2007, Kuebler spoke to the Council of the Canadian Bar Association
at its annual meeting being held in Calgary
, Alberta
, urging the Bar Association to use its position to pressure publicly the Canadian government to repatriate Khadr. By the next day, the President of the Canadian Bar Association announced that, given the overwhelmingly positive reception that Council had given to Kuebler's speech, the Association was writing to the Canadian Prime Minister to urge immediate action. The announcement received prominent coverage in the Canadian print and television media.
Canadian attorney Dennis Edney
was barred from appearing at the October arraignment
after an early dispute over comments Kuebler had made to the Canadian press critical of Khadr's father. Kuebler continues, however, to work closely with Edney and Nathan Whitling
in legal proceedings in both Canada and the United States. All three appeared at a hearing in February 2008, along with U.S. assistant counsel Rebecca Snyder, where Kuebler moved to dismiss Khadr's case before the military commission because Congress did not intend for child soldiers to be prosecuted before military commission. Kuebler argued to the military judge that a child soldier, such as Khadr, was a "victim of Al Qaeda, not a member." In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, U.S. Senator Lindsay Graham
, author of the Military Commissions Act
seemed to agree. When asked about Khadr's case, Graham said, "I'm not comfortable on an issue like this with minors."
In February 2009, Kuebler was chosen as the recipient of the Reg Robson Civil Liberties Award for protecting civil liberties and human rights.
The award is given out annually by the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association
, the oldest and most active civil liberties organization in Canada whose mandate is similar to the American Civil Liberties Union
. Kuebler is the first non-Canadian to receive the award.
On Thursday, April 2 2009, Kuebler addressed the Lord Reading Law Society in Montreal
and mentioned that "up till now" he had not faced serious pressures from within in military concerning his work.
On April 4, 2009, the Canwest News Service (Canada) carried a report that Kuebler "has been fired from the (Khadr) case after accusing his boss of a conflict of interest". Col. Peter Masciola
is mentioned as giving Kuebler "his marching orders."
Masciola promoted Commander
Walter Ruiz to replace Keubler.
On April 7, 2009 the Presiding Officer of Khadr's case, over-ruled Masciola, asserting that only the Presiding Officer, or the suspect, had the authority to fire attorneys.
Steven Edwards, writing in the Ottawa Citizen
, reported that Kuebler had, coincidentally, been called into Masciola's office when Masciola received the phone call that informed him that Colonel Patrick Parrish
had over-ruled him.
Citing an unnamed source the Citizen reported that Masciola was "not at all pleased" to learn Parrish wanted to over-rule him. Masciola did not accept Parrish's ruling, and continued to decline to allow Keubler to meet with Khadr, to access the case file. According to the unnamed source:
In late May Parrish scheduled a hearing for June 1, 2009, to consider whether Keubler should remain as Khadr's counsel.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
lawyer and a Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant Commander is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander...
in the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
Judge Advocate General
Judge Advocate General's Corps, U.S. Navy
The Judge Advocate General's Corps also known as the "JAG Corps" or "JAG" is the legal arm of the United States Navy. Today, the corps consists of a worldwide organization of more than 730 Judge Advocates, 30 limited duty officers , 500 enlisted members and nearly 275 civilian personnel, serving...
's Corps, assigned to the Office of Military Commissions.
Prior to the decision of the United States Supreme Court in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld
Hamdan v. Rumsfeld
Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, 548 U.S. 557 , is a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that military commissions set up by the Bush administration to try detainees at Guantanamo Bay lack "the power to proceed because its structures and procedures violate both the Uniform Code of Military...
, to overturn the then current version of the Guantanamo military commission
Guantanamo military commission
The Guantanamo military commissions are military tribunals created by the Military Commissions Act of 2006 for prosecuting detainees held in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps.- History :...
s on constitutional
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...
grounds Kuebler was detailed to defend Ghassan Abdullah al Sharbi. Al Sharbi had insisted on representing himself and Kuebler refused superior orders to act as his lawyer.
On June 4, 2007 Kuebler was the detailed counsel for Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
youth Omar Khadr
Omar Khadr
Omar Ahmed Khadr is a Canadian child soldier and one of the juveniles held at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp. He was convicted of five charges under the United States Military Commissions Act of 2009 including murder in violation of the law of war and providing material support for terrorism,...
,
Kuebler declined to join in the discussion as to whether charges against Khadr should be dropped, on jurisdictional grounds, because he had not had a chance to meet with Khadr, and didn't feel comfortable representing him without his consent.
Peter Brownback
Peter Brownback
Peter E. Brownback III is a retired military officer and lawyer.He was appointed to be a Presiding Officer on the Guantanamo military commissions, by retired general John D. Altenburg....
, the officer presiding over Khadr's commission, did dismiss all charges, because the Military Commissions Act
Military Commissions Act of 2006
The United States Military Commissions Act of 2006, also known as HR-6166, was an Act of Congress signed by President George W. Bush on October 17, 2006. Drafted in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision on Hamdan v...
only authorized the commissions to act against "unlawful enemy combatants", and Khadr's Combatant Status Review Tribunal
Combatant Status Review Tribunal
The Combatant Status Review Tribunals were a set of tribunals for confirming whether detainees held by the United States at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp had been correctly designated as "enemy combatants". The CSRTs were established July 7, 2004 by order of U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense...
, like those of all the other Guantanamo captives, had only confirmed that he met the Bush Presidency's definition of an "enemy combatant
Enemy combatant
Enemy combatant is a term historically referring to members of the armed forces of the state with which another state is at war. Prior to 2008, the definition was: "Any person in an armed conflict who could be properly detained under the laws and customs of war." In the case of a civil war or an...
".
On 11 August 2007, Kuebler spoke to the Council of the Canadian Bar Association
Canadian Bar Association
The Canadian Bar Association represents over 37,000 lawyers, judges, notaries, law teachers, and law students from across Canada.-History:The Association's first Annual Meeting was held in Montreal in 1896. However, the CBA has been in continuous existence in its present form since 1914...
at its annual meeting being held in Calgary
Calgary
Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...
, Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
, urging the Bar Association to use its position to pressure publicly the Canadian government to repatriate Khadr. By the next day, the President of the Canadian Bar Association announced that, given the overwhelmingly positive reception that Council had given to Kuebler's speech, the Association was writing to the Canadian Prime Minister to urge immediate action. The announcement received prominent coverage in the Canadian print and television media.
Dennis Edney
Originally from Dundee, Scotland, Dennis Edney is a Canadian defence attorney based in Edmonton, Alberta noted for his involvement in high-profile cases, including Brian Mills, R. v...
was barred from appearing at the October arraignment
Arraignment
Arraignment is a formal reading of a criminal complaint in the presence of the defendant to inform the defendant of the charges against him or her. In response to arraignment, the accused is expected to enter a plea...
after an early dispute over comments Kuebler had made to the Canadian press critical of Khadr's father. Kuebler continues, however, to work closely with Edney and Nathan Whitling
Nathan Whitling
A Canadian attorney from Edmonton, Alberta, Nathan Whitling became widely known for his defense of Omar Khadr who was held in the American Guantanamo Bay detention camps.-References:...
in legal proceedings in both Canada and the United States. All three appeared at a hearing in February 2008, along with U.S. assistant counsel Rebecca Snyder, where Kuebler moved to dismiss Khadr's case before the military commission because Congress did not intend for child soldiers to be prosecuted before military commission. Kuebler argued to the military judge that a child soldier, such as Khadr, was a "victim of Al Qaeda, not a member." In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, U.S. Senator Lindsay Graham
Lindsay Graham
Lindsay Graham is a recording engineer and record producer living in Dallas, Texas. He owns and works from his studio, Junius Recording Co., in Old East Dallas.-Production work:...
, author of the Military Commissions Act
Military Commissions Act of 2006
The United States Military Commissions Act of 2006, also known as HR-6166, was an Act of Congress signed by President George W. Bush on October 17, 2006. Drafted in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision on Hamdan v...
seemed to agree. When asked about Khadr's case, Graham said, "I'm not comfortable on an issue like this with minors."
In February 2009, Kuebler was chosen as the recipient of the Reg Robson Civil Liberties Award for protecting civil liberties and human rights.
The award is given out annually by the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association
British Columbia Civil Liberties Association
The British Columbia Civil Liberties Association or BCCLA is a non-government organization in British Columbia, Canada dedicated to the preservation, maintenance and extension of civil liberties and human rights in Canada....
, the oldest and most active civil liberties organization in Canada whose mandate is similar to the American Civil Liberties Union
American Civil Liberties Union
The American Civil Liberties Union is a U.S. non-profit organization whose stated mission is "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States." It works through litigation, legislation, and...
. Kuebler is the first non-Canadian to receive the award.
On Thursday, April 2 2009, Kuebler addressed the Lord Reading Law Society in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
and mentioned that "up till now" he had not faced serious pressures from within in military concerning his work.
On April 4, 2009, the Canwest News Service (Canada) carried a report that Kuebler "has been fired from the (Khadr) case after accusing his boss of a conflict of interest". Col. Peter Masciola
Peter Masciola
Colonel Peter Masciola served as the Chief Defense Counsel for the Office of Military Commissions in 2008 and 2009.He was appointed in the fall of 2008.Masciola was President of the Judge Advocate Association in 2001-2002....
is mentioned as giving Kuebler "his marching orders."
Masciola promoted Commander
Commander
Commander is a naval rank which is also sometimes used as a military title depending on the individual customs of a given military service. Commander is also used as a rank or title in some organizations outside of the armed forces, particularly in police and law enforcement.-Commander as a naval...
Walter Ruiz to replace Keubler.
On April 7, 2009 the Presiding Officer of Khadr's case, over-ruled Masciola, asserting that only the Presiding Officer, or the suspect, had the authority to fire attorneys.
Steven Edwards, writing in the Ottawa Citizen
Ottawa Citizen
The Ottawa Citizen is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Canada. According to the Canadian Newspaper Association, the paper had a 2008 weekly circulation of 900,197.- History :...
, reported that Kuebler had, coincidentally, been called into Masciola's office when Masciola received the phone call that informed him that Colonel Patrick Parrish
Patrick Parrish
Patrick Parrish is an officer in the United States Army.-Case of William J. Kreutzer Jr:ColonelParrish presided over the case of Sergeant William J...
had over-ruled him.
Citing an unnamed source the Citizen reported that Masciola was "not at all pleased" to learn Parrish wanted to over-rule him. Masciola did not accept Parrish's ruling, and continued to decline to allow Keubler to meet with Khadr, to access the case file. According to the unnamed source:
In late May Parrish scheduled a hearing for June 1, 2009, to consider whether Keubler should remain as Khadr's counsel.