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| Gitmo: microphones hidden in attorney-client meeting rooms | ||
| 2013-02-13 | ||
| A military lawyer at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, acknowledged Tuesday that microphones are hidden inside devices that look like smoke detectors in the rooms where defense lawyers meet detainees, but he said the government does not listen in on attorney-client communications. Both civilian and military defense lawyers at Guantanamo Bay meet their clients at a facility known as Echo 2, a camp that has about eight meeting huts. Navy Capt. Thomas J. Welsh, staff judge advocate at the base, said he became aware of the microphones when he saw a law enforcement agent listening in on a meeting between prosecutors and defense lawyers on a possible plea deal. The agent, wearing headphones, was sitting in a control room at Echo 2, where meetings are routinely monitored by video for security reasons. Welsh said he was assured by the Joint Detention Group commander at the base that the audio is turned off when lawyers meet with their clients — although it can be used in other situations. “Under my watch, definitely, we don’t listen in,” Welsh said.
The issue arose when an unknown government entity, believed to be the CIA, turned off the audio feed from the courtroom where Mohammed is on trial to a public gallery. The existence of such a “kill switch,” as well as the immediate decision to turn off the audio, caught the military judge, Army Col. James Pohl, by surprise. The judge ruled that in the future only he could cut the audio, and he barred any other government entity from exercising that power. But the defense raised questions about the monitoring of attorney-client communications in sidebars inside the courtroom and in meeting rooms. Maurice Elkins, the director of courtroom technology, explained that there are multiple audio feeds from the courtroom, some of which include ambient sound picked up by microphones. He said he was not aware of any capability to separate background noise that might include private conversations but acknowledged that he could not say what capabilities other government agencies might have. The chief military prosecutor, Army Brig. Gen. Mark Martins, said this week that the government does not listen to attorney-client communications at any location.
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| Posted by:Steve White |
| #4 They should be recorded and they should be listened to by Intel and CIA people. They know how to keep a secret, and they should not talk to the legal teams. Fire-walling information like this happens all the time on contracts and proposals. If any actionable intel turns up, then we should be on it right away without biasing the trial team. |
| Posted by: rammer 2013-02-13 22:47 |
| #3 Didn't say the conversations weren't recorded for later. |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2013-02-13 13:47 |
| #2 He said he was not aware of any capability to separate background noise that might include private conversations I am. There are well-known algorithms that can pull a single speaker out of a roomful of conversation. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2013-02-13 13:12 |
| #1 I bet the lawyer who reported this smokes. Probably discovered the microphone while disabling the smoke detector. |
| Posted by: airandee 2013-02-13 11:51 |