28/06/2006
Information `sensitive'; Guantanamo Bay commander back at post
SCOTT DODD
sdodd@charlotteobserver.com
A military inquiry has found that no classified information was disclosed at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility in Cuba after three prisoners committed suicide at the camp. However, a brigadier general determined that "unclassified sensitive information" was revealed to the public in the days after the June 10 suicides. The U.S. Southern Command said in a statement Monday that "appropriate administrative action" has been ordered by Guantanamo's commander, U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Harry Harris. Military spokesmen would not elaborate on what that means. The inquiry appeared to be directed at the prison's commander, Army Col. Mike Bumgarner, who allowed two Observer journalists to closely observe the facility and its officers in the wake of the prisoners' suicides. The investigation was ordered on June 13, the same day that an Observer story from Guantanamo caused controversy within the Defense Department. The story reported on the details of a June 12 staff meeting at the prison, where officers discussed steps to take after the deaths. Observer reporter Michael Gordon was allowed to listen in and report on that meeting by Bumgarner, who has commanded the facility for the past year and a half. Gordon's story included a quote from Bumgarner saying the detainees had lost the officers' trust. "There is not a trustworthy son of a ... in the entire bunch," Bumgarner said then. The day the story appeared, four U.S. journalists -- including Gordon and Observer photographer Todd Sumlin -- were ordered to leave the base by the Pentagon, making national news. Also that day, Navy Capt.-select Katie Hampf, Bumgarner's second-in-command, answered Bumgarner's phone and said she was the acting prison commander. The military refused to comment on Bumgarner's status. Bumgarner has since resumed command of the prison. He has long been scheduled to leave his post on Friday and rotate to Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri. Bumgarner would not comment on Monday. A Pentagon spokesman said the Observer story was not the reason the journalists were forced to leave Guantanamo. Instead, he said, the reporters were kicked out because other media were demanding access. But he acknowledged some officials within the Defense Department were uncomfortable with some details the Observer reported, saying Gordon's story caused "controversy." Gordon and Sumlin arrived to work on a profile of Bumgarner, a Kings Mountain native, the day the suicides occurred. That story appeared on June 18.
SOURCE: Charlotte Observer |
