John Byrne
Raw Story
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
According to an analysis by a New Jersey law professor, the Pentagon’s recent survey alleging that one in seven Guantanamo Bay prisoners return to terrorism is deeply flawed.
His analysis also reveals the Pentagon has refused to identify 60 percent of the men they claim have returned to terrorism, saying the information is classified.
The latest Pentagon recidivism analysis documents 74 recidivists, but lacks 45 names, adding that of the 29 names given, only half are labeled “confirmed” recidivists. Seton Hall University Professor Mark Denbeaux, who wrote the report, also alleges the analysis includes men who were never held at Guantanamo.
All told, 45 of 74 is 61 percent.
The Defense Department “has issued ‘recidivism’ numbers again, and again they are wrong and make no sense either independently or in comparison with the DoD’s previous numbers, definitions, names or reports,” Denbeaux said in a statement.
(ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW)
Along with his son, Denbeaux has authored several reports on Gitmo detainees, analyzing transcripts and records to attempt to reconstruct what they believe is a more honest accounting of prisoner statistics (their reports can be read here).
Pentagon spokesman Navy Cmdr. Jeffrey Gordon dismissed Denbeaux’s analysis when asked to comment by the Associated Press.
“We fundamentally disagree with the conclusions drawn by Professor Denbeaux and his students,” Gordon quipped, possibly attempting to undercut Denbeaux’s research by alluding to his younger researchers. “The return to terrorism analysis made public by the Defense Department is based on classified information, to which he had no access.”
Denbeaux’s complete report — and other recent reports he’s compiled — can be read here.
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