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User:Geo Swan/Walter Ruiz

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Walter Ruiz
NationalityUSA
Occupationlawyer
Known fordefending Guantanamo captives

Commander Walter Ruiz is an American lawyer and an officer in the United States Naval Reserve.[1][2][3] Ruiz worked as a Federal public defender prior to the Navy reactivating him in April 2009, and assigning him to defend Guantanamo captives.

After Ruiz replace Keubler he too became a vocal critic of the military commission process, and how it undermined defense attorney`s efforts.[4][5][6]

[7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] In 2009 he was appointed to serve as Defense attorney for captives who faced charges before the Guantanamo military commissions.

In January 2013 Ruiz requested permission for suspects`attorneys to stay for up to 48 hours in the high-security Camp Platinum.[15] Ruiz argued that the defense needed to see the conditions of detention for themselves, and that roadblocks imposed upon the defense justified the extended stay. Presiding Officer James Pohl expressed incredulity that Ruiz was requesting permission to sleep with his clients, until Ruiz repeated his explanation that he merely wanted to be on hand in a neighboring cell.[16]

In February 2013 Ruiz reported that Guantanamo guards had improperly seized privileged documents his clients needed to aid in their defense.[17][18] Ruiz reported that security officials had improperly been secretly monitoring the conversations between the suspects and their attorneys. According to Jane Sutton, reporting for Reuters, Ruiz got into a shouting match with retired admiral Bruce E. MacDonald, when he was testifying.[19] MacDonald is the Convening Authority, and thus Ruiz's boss.

On February 12, 2013, Wells Bennett, a Brooking Institute Fellow quoted Ruiz`s questions to court official [20]


References

[edit]
  1. ^ Michelle Shephard (2009-04-08). "Six years on, Omar Khadr's fate more uncertain than ever". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on 2013-02-15. Not true. Kuebler led Khadr's third U.S. military defence team since the Pentagon charged the Toronto-born teenager in 2005. Lt.-Cmdr. Walter Ruiz, a reservist and assistant federal public defender in Florida, joined the case in September and would have taken the helm after Kuebler's dismissal.
  2. ^ Michelle Shephard (2009-06-01). "Khadr loses bid to fire U.S. lawyers". Guantanamo: Toronto Star. Archived from the original on 2013-02-15. This recent controversy in a case that has been dragging on since 2005 pitted Khadr's former chief defence lawyer, Navy. Lt.-Cmdr. Bill Kuebler, against Navy Cmdr. Walter Ruiz and rest of Khadr's legal team.
  3. ^ Michelle Shephard (2009-10-07). "Omar Khadr's star lawyer to be fired". Guantanamo: Toronto Star. Archived from the original on 2013-02-15. The focus and thrust of the defence efforts seemed to be towards an alternative resolution through diplomatic or political methods," writes one of Khadr's former lawyers, Ruiz. "While this strategy is perfectly legitimate and ultimately is the preferred resolution for Omar Khadr, I privately discussed with Cmdr. Kuebler the urgent need to obtain a balance with emphasized added trial preparation in the event a diplomatic solution failed.
  4. ^ Dina Temple-Raston (2012-05-04). "At Sept. 11 Trial, Military Commissions Face Scrutiny". National Public Radio. Archived from the original on 2013-02-15. Defense attorneys aren't so sure. "When Gen. Martins says we are aligned with federal courts, we may be aligned from some degree on paper, but in practice there is no alignment whatsoever," says Cmdr. Walter Ruiz. He's defending Mustafa al-Hawsawi, a man accused of sending money to the Sept. 11 hijackers. He says that the system has been stacked against his client almost from the start.
  5. ^ Colin Perkel (2009-04-28). "Omar Khadr hearing to resume at Gitmo". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on 2013-02-15. Cmdr. Walter Ruiz, one of Khadr's Pentagon-appointed lawyers, said he planned at Wednesday's news conference in New York to stress the age issue and that Washington has violated an international child-welfare treaty.
  6. ^ John Knefel (2013-02-05). "What's really going on at Guantanamo?". Salon magazine. Archived from the original on 2013-02-15. Despite Gen. Martins' reassurances, the five defense teams are united in their criticisms of the entire system as fundamentally flawed, and possibly susceptible to outside influence. "Who is the master of puppets?" Commander Walter Ruiz asked at the end of the week in a wry homage to Metallica, suggesting that there are hidden players pulling the strings of the case. Ruiz also said he believed the killing of the media feed on Monday was in direct violation of the rules governing closure of the court. The judge's order removing the outside entity's ability to kill the feed is further evidence for Ruiz's claim.
  7. ^ Louis Charbonneau (2009-04-29). "Omar Khadr's case may resume: lawyer". Reuters. Archived from the original on 2013-02-15. Walter Ruiz, one of the lawyers for Toronto-born Omar Khadr, said his team had received the announcement from one of the judges presiding over the case of his client.
  8. ^ Carol Rosenberg (2013-02-14). "Photo of Mecca mosque, FBI agent's memoirs seized at Guantanamo". The News Tribune. Archived from the original on 2013-02-15. MacDonald at one point began shouting at Navy Cmdr. Walter Ruiz, defense lawyer for al-Hawsawi, as the two men disagreed over whether Ruiz was provided with a proper translator to speak with the Saudi captive.
  9. ^ Jane Sutton (2013-01-31). "Judge orders end to secret censorship of Guantanamo court". Guantanamo: Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on 2013-02-15. After Thursday's hearing, another of the defense lawyers, Commander Walter Ruiz, said: "Is this a system that we can believe in? Who is pulling the strings? Who is the master of puppets?"
  10. ^ "Chaos, controversy mark latest military commission hearings in Guantanamo". Public Radio International. 2013-02-01. Archived from the original on 2013-02-15. Navy Cmdr. Walter Ruiz, the lawyer for co-defendant Mustafa al-Hawsawi, said, consequently, the defense would need time to look over and adjust their witness request arguements based on the new ruling.
  11. ^ Jane Sutton (2013-01-29). "http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.reuters.com%2Farticle%2F2013%2F01%2F29%2Fus-usa-guantanamo-idUSBRE90S0Y220130129&date=2013-02-15". Guantanamo: Reuters. Archived from the original on 2013-02-15. Navy Commander Walter Ruiz, a defense attorney for alleged al Qaeda money courier Mustafa al Hawsawi, said a two-day visit was needed to get an intimate understanding of the conditions of confinement. {{cite news}}: External link in |title= (help)
  12. ^ "Pentagon refuses extension for Guantanamo Sept. 11 trial". San Juan, Puerto Rico: USA Today. 2012-02-03. Archived from the original on 2013-02-15. Ruiz said he and the other defense lawyers are considering various options, including asking MacDonald to reconsider, but he conceded they have few avenues to address what they say is another example of a tribunal system that favors the prosecution.
  13. ^ Charlie Savage (2012-05-05). "U.S. to Restart Tribunal, Aiming to Show It's Fair". Guantanamo: New York Times. p. A13. Archived from the original on 2013-02-15. "Mark Martins gives press conferences talking about how these men have been assigned experienced, qualified attorneys who have a background in death penalty defense, but what he doesn't get into is all the obstacles and inadequate resources and interference with our defense," said Cmdr. Walter Ruiz, a Navy lawyer representing another Sept. 11 defendant, Mustafa al-Hawsawi.
  14. ^ "9/11 plot suspects head back to court at Guantanamo". Miami: Reuters. 2012-05-03. Archived from the original on 2013-02-15. "The odds continue to be silently and deliberately stacked against a fair process," said Navy Commander Walter Ruiz, an attorney appointed to represent Hawsawi. He said the case was hampered by the "gaping black hole of information" about what happened to his client after his arrest in 2003.
  15. ^ Charlie Savage (2013-01-29). "Guantánamo Lawyers Seeking 48-Hour Visits". New York Times. p. A16. Archived from the original on 2013-02-15. Commander Ruiz acknowledged security and logistical concerns and suggested that it would be acceptable to be in an adjoining cell, but said the defense needed to see "sleeping cycles and what goes on at night." The defense is also seeking correspondence with the Red Cross about their clients' confinement issues
  16. ^ Chris McGreal (2013-01-29). "Lawyers for 9/11 suspects ask to be locked up at Guantánamo: Defence team requests to spend two nights in prison cells in order to understand conditions in which 9/11 accused are held". Fort Meade: The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2013-02-15. The military judge, Colonel James Pohl, expressed surprise at the request. "You want to sleep with your client?" he asked one of the defence lawyers, Commander Walter Ruiz. "No, I don't want to sleep with my client," responded Ruiz, who represents Mustafa al-Hawsawi. Ruiz said he intended to sleep in a nearby cell.
  17. ^ Carol Rosenberg (2013-02-14). "Alleged 9/11 plotter disrupts testimony of Pentagon official at Guantánamo". Kansas City Star. Archived from the original on 2013-02-14. For MacDonald's testimony, the issue is what political or military influences caused him to swear out the charge sheets in 2011 after Attorney General Eric Holder abandoned an effort to stage the Sept. 11 terror trial in Manhattan.
  18. ^ Charlie Savage (2013-02-14). "Legal Clashes at Hearing for Defendants in 9/11 Case". New York Times. p. A17. Archived from the original on 2013-02-14. Admiral MacDonald, a former top judge advocate of the Navy, began calmly, saying that he was among a group of uniformed lawyers who were "disgusted" by the Bush administration's original military commission rules and had fought to revamp the system to make it fairer, including barring evidence obtained by torture.
  19. ^ Jane Sutton (2013-02-14). "Guards seized Guantanamo defendants' legal documents". Guantanamo: Reuters. Archived from the original on 2013-02-14. As "convening authority," he signed off on the charges and approved the decision to try the case as a death penalty case. Defense lawyers said he acted improperly by making that decision before all members of the defense teams had obtained the security clearances they needed to meet with the defendants and read classified documents.
  20. ^ Wells Bennett (2013-02-12). "2/12 Hearing #2: Audiovisual Club Part Two". Lawfare. Archived from the original on 2013-02-15. Thus, the court reporter—and not Elkins—would be the contact point for audio recordings. CDR Walter Ruiz, Mustafa al-Hawsawi's lawyer, rises to say that he might have a question—but doesn't know. He adds that his inquiry might upset the court; he's eager, obviously, to push Elkins on seemingly inconsistent answers about the OCA's ability to record audio. How can Elkins not know what the OCA's capability is on the one hand, and then surmise that the OCA doesn't record what it receives, or that it cannot separate out audio channels on the other?
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