Exclusive: Marine Sergeant Comes Forward to Report Abuse at Guantanamo Bay

The interrogation was conducted over drinks? Good way to get credible information.

Very depressing. More so because the vast majority of detainees are innocent. In the past year the U.S. has released hundreds of people after discovering them to be ordinary civilians. That shouldn’t be too much of a surprise, since the U.S. offered bounties in the thousands of dollars for any Al Qaida members; it was only a matter of time before criminals began salem-witch-pointing at anything with two legs, simply to collect an illicit paycheck. Close Guantanamo now!

This is ridiculous. It’s reasonable to believe that some prisoners had their privilages revoked without reason, or that they’ve been punched in the face. However, I don’t believe that these guards smash the heads of prisoners with their cell doors.
If these statements were made, it’s plausible that these claims are distasteful tall tails that were told with the sole purpose of impressing a woman. It’s a simple fact of life that men lie to impress women. Furthermore, I am interested to know what statements this young woman made prior to hearing these statements. She’s a soldier, and I think all soldiers hold a very low opinion of these prisoners. I’m sure she expressed some amount of hatred toward these prisoners… otherwise, WHY WOULD THEY EVEN MAKE SUCH STATEMENTS?
Assuming the allegations are true, I don’t imagine these soldiers would openly admit to such actions. That would serve no purpose. The only people that would hear about it are the people who would like to hear about it… and I think this young woman is one of those people.

Shocked??? Not at all!!!
I’ve asumed since day 1 this
sort have of abuse/torture has been
going on at Gitmo. Rumsfeld
has alot to answer for,
the venue should be at an International War Crimes
Tribunal at the Hague.
Our reputation for moral leadership in the world is in the
proverbial toilet.

In my law enforcement experience, both military and civilian, this is “hear-say”. Where is that used in court? I wonder what they would do to her if the situation were reversed. Her a prisoner in their jail. I guess I would need to see some more evidence before I came out with those remarks.

We have seen our enemy, and we have now become our enemy. When will we learn that taking a “cowbo approach” only leads to more of what we do not want. Our constitution and laws are what we are. If we loose these, we become the terrorists. Sounds like some of out brave men and women in the Army are lost and have become terrorists!

Seems pretty stupid to me that she brought this sitaution public. She does not seem to have any information that could be used to prosecute anyone. Basically, she just threw some gasoline on a forest fire…genius.

Are you kidding me? Our country has become a bunch of wimps. These guys are trying to kill our guys!!! Don’t you understand that? What planet are you from? For better or worse, we are in Iraq. Will the country let us win? Let’s kick some ass like we did in WW2, and we would be out of there in a year, but because weve got so many wimps in this country we will lode the war.

Sgt. Cerveny says, in the end, she felt a duty to report what she heard, even if she might be accused of betraying the ranks. “What it comes down to for me, morals and simple rights and wrongs. And I don’t think a uniform changes that.”
What a well spoken thought. How sad the upper ranks of the military and the pentagon leadership don’t feel the same.

So, Brian Ross, where are the medical records? What are the names of the guards? What other proof do you have other than hearsay?
You call this hard edge reporting?

Yeah Right and tomorrow they’ll be saying that the guards at Gitmo flushed a koran down the toilet. O they already accused them of that Come on It’s election season – you know-DIRTY DEEDS DONE DIRT CHEAP. DIRTY DEEDS DONE DIRT CHEAP

Attention previous Pundits:
If you watch the interview, you will see that Sergeant Cerveny was demanded by her superior to file the affadavit. What part of superior do you not understand?

So here we find a young lady who actually has the heart to stand up for, what we all generally believe in (humnan rights.) And of course we criticize her for standing up in the face of hate from her peers. Everyone has everything backwards these days there are a few things people are entitled to no matter what the crime, and abuse is not one of them, unless they are sentenced to a punishment. We have our own problems here in the states lets stop with the different standards for everyone punish these people responsible accordingly they’re not better then me in any way; are they better than you?

Hello??? Is anybody paying attention??? Where are all the comments on how stupid these sailors are for running their mouths, true or not????

This should be discouraging to everyone. Beyond reflecting poorly on the U.S. military, it is a symptom of a decay in the leadership. Military members are supposed to be disciplined in the face of challenges. This abuse indicates a lack of leadership. That was what was found at Abu Garib and now we are seeing it in Gitmo. I’m disappointed in my fellow military members and concerned that this will metastasize into someting worse.

This woman is exceptionally courageous to to come out with this. These are not tall tales about torture … remember the Abu Graib pictures. How many would believe that our soldiers were doing that?
Sickening , what we have come to .
Torture, indefinite detention with no charges filed and not even a right to a trial. Is this the democracy we want to export?

First 99 percent sure what she is saying is baloney.
Thank you all the ones who have bashed the marines here. Al Queada loves your support.
REMEMBER TO VOTE FOR A DEMOCRAT IS A VOTE FOR BIN LADEN!
Brian Ross is only pursuing reports by people accusing republicans of abusing pages by the way.

On everyone at Gitmo being a terrorist: Rubbish. There is no evidence of that. If there was, these people would have been tried by now. So, these sailors are beating up innocent people. [Note: innocent until proven guilty is a cornerstone of our country, even for conservatives (I hope)]
On the “Hearsay evidence” comment: Many at Gitmo are there because of yet-to-be-proven hearsay. also, the new Military tribunal rules allow for hearsay against the prisoners. Why can we not have the same against the sailors?
On “impressing the woman.” I don’t know what kind of women you hang out with, but who would be impressed by stories of smashing innocent people’s heads into doors. Great pick up line.
On “Semper Fi” It is semper fi to the country and to the marine corps, both of which stand for much more than criminal behaviour.
Finally: How can anyone think that this does not happen, when we all saw the pictures from Abu Ghraib, know of our soldiers raping and executing innocent people in Iraq, etc?

As a Marine myself I support Sgt Cerveny. I am thankful that I am serving with such a courageous person who would be willing to risk everything to come forward with this. She did the right thing and I hope that I would have done the same thing if put in her position. I think we should all be standing in support of her. The military members of this country are and should be held to a higher standard than those of other countries. We have rules and laws for a reason. Stop bad mouthing her and be proud that you have some one with such strong morals defending your country.

SELL OUT. keep your mouth shut!!!

This is news? Hearsay is not admissible in a court of law for good reason–It’s unreliable. Any good journalist would tell you that hearsay is useless unless backed up by a second separate source. Hmmmm…
God bless our troops,
tmblweed

Touche Lisa. If I was in the military today at gitmo it doesn’t matter how drunk I was, I certainly would not shoot my mouth off about mistreating prisoners. Esp. to a stranger. No wonder we can’t win the war.

I hope this story is not coming as a real surprise to anyone. You may or may not believe the individual, but we have heard the story many times before.

Poor knowledge of Geography & History has convinced many Americans that Afghanistan & Iraq belong to same league and deserve similar treatment. Many have raised the issue of Iraq while discussing the ill treatment of Gitmo prisoners, who are from differnt region of the world i.e. Afghanistan.

This is the lunacy that happens when you deal with women in the military and I’m a 54 year old woman with a 19 year old daughter. My son is a Marine.

This is a crock. Women aren’t Marines and never will be. I’m a strong Texas Woman who has three Marines in family. Uncle, Husband, Son. This chick is a disgrace to the Corps and our Country.

The more comments I read on this site, the more I realize what the US is turning into. America has lost its heart, and the thugs have taken over.
I won’t even get into whether this kind of “kill all the brown people” attitude is moral or Christian. Just think about this – is it okay for other countries to randomly brutalize US soldiers? Because that’s the precedence we’re establishing at Gitmo, right here, right now. Your attitude about prisoners at Gitmo puts American soldiers at risk. Period. And you’re an idiot if you don’t realize that.

I neither agree with the young lady or dis-agree. I just feel it’s a sad day when the America I grew up in, use to be known as the country known as the “Land of the Free”, the “Home of the Brave”, “Innocent until proven guilty”, “The right to a fair trial”, both for the detainee and the men who may be falsely accused are no longer values we hold near and dear. I truly beleive the founding fathers of this country who sacraficed thier blood and soul would be agree that these are sad times. I am not angry, but cry for America.

This isn’t about blaming the troops, it’s about blaming the torturers. If anyone is breaking ranks, they are. They are dishonoring the military and the country with their criminal brutality.

To those with the notion that marines are some sort of out of control machines. You have been watching too many movies. This seargent represents what a marine should be. A marine has a job of acting professionally at all times if a marine hears of criminal behavior he or she reports it to a superior officer. Failure to do so disrespects the Corps and the Country. It will be investigated, I hope. Marines serve the country Semper Fi is not a gang symbol. Those who want to punish a marine for doing her duty are not worthy to be marines. Marines do not enable criminals. Semper Fi used to say marines cover for criminal behavior have tarnished the proud marines who have served with honor. Marines are faithful to the ideals and hopes of America. Sgt. Cerveny seems an excellent example, she reported possible criminal behavior up the chain of command to the inspector generals office.
I served from 1943 when I was 17 to 1974. I was in WW2, the Korean War, and in Vietnam. If I had heard of behaviour like this I would have done exactly as the Sgt has done. Semper Fi.

While what the soldiers is doing is disgusting, currupt and immoral – the thought that they will someday be back among us Americans is downright frightening. The GOP leadership is not only creating a generation of foreign terrorists – but a generation of domestic ones as well.

Who cares? In the very, very least, they deserve a good smack. Shame on the desk jockey for snitching about something she’ll never understand. Legal Marines are not field Marines. They’re very nearly civilians. She doesn’t kwow what she’s talking about, and drunken Marine talk isn’t known for its accuracy or truthfulness. Semper Fi.

Next week US Citizens too, can disappear, be detained, rendered and interrogated for life with no legal recourse under the “Military Commissions Act” Bush will sign next week.
That scenario became possible under the language changes made by the white house 3 days before passage:
If the military mistakenly designates you, a US Citizen, as an “Alien Enemy Combatant” and decides *not* to put you on trial. Then you *never* get any review or chance to prove you are a US citizen. Even if you had your passport in your pocket.
If this bill stands the “Existential Battle” is lost with a completeness that the most terrible weapon of Bin Ladin’s perverse imagination could not match.
Graham Poor

In regard to detainee abuse, we have become morally bankrupt when we begin to say, “well the enemy does worse, so that makes it OK.”

It is particularly remarkable that so many responders turn to personal assaults on this woman. We’ve now heard that she: can’t be a proper marine because she is a woman, supports al qaeda, is lying, and was first making hatefull comments herself.
The second irony is that in stead of addressing the substance, a lot of people dismiss the account of this woman because this would be hearsay. A commenter mentioned that it can’t be used is court. While that is true hearsay is a proper start for an investigation. Furthermore the military tribunals will be able to convict based on hearsay. Will everyon condemning hearsay do the same for the tribunals?
As one commenter mentioned: regardless wether the statements made by the male marines were true, they were bragging about mistreatment of prisoners. That is a total disregard for the Navy. They weaken the US. Were is your moral outrage on that? The US is fighting an insurgency in Iraq and the very least the US needs is marines either mistreating prisoners or lying about doing so.

This story is strange. It diddn’t start hear as i read about t a few days ago over on Raw story, who got it from somewhere else. Basically, I’m confused about the “Navy guards” both pieces mentioned. First:Naval Brigs normally have Marine guards and, second,All the pictures i have seen of guards, the guards look like Army soldiers, not Marines OR Navy. Also, the first article I read mentioned she talked to these guys on the Camp Pendleton Marine Base outside Oceanside California–that’s confusing. this Article says she talked to them on Gitmo. I’m against prisoner abuse, but i’m also against shoddy journalism. these facts should be checked before a big expose is launched by ABC or anyone else.

First let me start with saying I am a 25 year military retiree. I am amazed by the number of people who are upset with the military.
We would have a different flag flying if it were not for the men and women who serve.
I have no doubt that what this Marine is saying is true. The is no question that she should have up channeled the information. But, anyone who has been in the military knows that young men what to impress young women.
What she has done is proper and correct. She is a military NCO and has a certain obligation. Let’s investigate the alligations and get to the bottom of this.
Oh, and let’s suppost OUR troops.

the basic moral difference between an enemy on the battlefield and one who is your prisoner is simple – on the battlefield s/he is still a threat – as your prisoner s/he is not.
if the only difference between us and them are the excuses given for torture we and they do, how are we better than islamic terrorists?
torture yields buckets of info – almost all unreliable so you can’t act on it …
.. there are better ways to gain vengence than torturing prisoners we hold .. and we alienate people across the planet whom we need to help us defeat islamic terrorists … so sad, so foolish, so short-sighted

I don’t know what were they thinking every person has a soul and a fillings , how they can respect anything better for out army back in Afg. Kuwait and Iraq if we are taking steps like this with them .Why they didn’t show their’s good sides of faces .
I came from country that was in war in 1994 belive me not pretty at all

First, bashing in the head of some prisoner doesn’t take a lot of courage and surely does nothing to win the war on terrorism.
From the ABC news interview, it’s clear that the U.S. Marine Corps cooperated with ABC, giving them access to do interviews in her office.
Being loyal does not mean covering up illegal crimes.
For the guards, if they were, in fact, just boasting (boys being boys), they need to recceive, at least, an Article 15 for being stupid.
I have 30 years active duty and am now retired. She did right

I wrote the first comment yesterday when this blog posted. Obviously it isn’t posted. So Here it is again. Why did this Marine take this story to a civilian news agency and not go through her chain of command? Is this story true or is it hear say over drinks? Why is it so easy for americans to trash our country and our military? What boat do they need to take to get to country where they can feel more safe than here? We should maybe pamper our enemies and carry candy instead of weapons to protect the rights of people who could care less about our country.

What a shoddy, irresponsible piece!
Read the affidavit. Not admissable in court. Not even good enough to get a warrant.
It’s all hearsay! “He said this, and the other guy said that”
And this legal aid also makes inferences into the alledged statements by the sailors and marines she seeks to indict.
More moonbat kool-aid…

I am not surprised by some of the stupid comments by the right wing phonies..These idiots who do not understand anything need to realize how we act is what makes us different!Otherwsie we are the same as the terrible people we are fighting.This is way to deep for W to understand,he has the brains of a 10 year old,and a spoiled one at that.

This is child’s play compared to what Bush is doing to people in his secret prisons.
The republican congress just gave him permission to torture anyone he want to, and gave him a “get out of jail free card”.

I am not shocked at the behavior of our uniformed personnel. They are working under extreme duress and strains fighting a war that was FABRICATED in the minds of a few EGOTISTS and war mongers. many of our soldiers do not agree with this war and question its very existence. With that frustration, they can easily turn into something of a being less than human and exemplify what our leaders have portrayed us to be in the world. We sure are world leaders setting precedence the Bush way…

Unfortunately, there are a lot of stupid Americans. Americans are no different than any other people, we claim to be, but the actions here speak otherwise. We all have a right to agree or disagree… I see that in the comments above.
Anyway, I skimmed through some of the comments and one stands out in particular. The one that Americans should stand together or else we hang separately (or something like that). To say that we shouldn’t snitch on our own is ridiculous. I just saw a news report recently that talked about a high school kid alerting his school about a possible threat. Sure enough, and thanks to him, they caught the would be perpetrators before they could act. If this kid hadn’t told on his school mates, there would be another headline to add to the Amish school shooting.

But the important thing is, these guys still have heads to smack. That’s more than you can say for the actual innocent people they capture.

The guards were either bragging or lying. It was not the Sgt’s job to determine the voracity of these statements. It was her job/obligation to report the crime. It is now the job of the leadership to determine whether these guards were/were not bragging or lying and what the repercussions should be. If the leadership does not perform their duties to the satisfaction of the citizenry of this country (whatever the outcome may be), then it is the job/obligation of the populace to rectify this problem. Let’s stop pointing fingers and take some personal responsibility. We can support our troops by following these stories and demanding appropriate responses from our leadership!

I believe that America has finally had enough of being taken advantage of and abused by other countries. What’s good for the goose is not always good for the gander….they can kidnapp and torture and behead our people but when our soldiers punch a detainee in the face or deny him privilages people are wanting to shut Gitmo down????? These guys don’t deserve the “posh” treatment they are even recieving at Gitmo…these guys are f@%*ing terrorists for crying out loud! Do you really think that the US and UN POWs are treated with respect??? Hell no they are tortured beyond belief and starved and killed! These people hate us and want us all dead….An Eye For An Eye my friend!!!!!!

“who spent a week at the base in late September as a legal aide to a military lawyer” Sounds like she had a great time while drinking at the NCO club. All expense paid vacation.

S.J., “an eye for an eye” isn’t a prescription, it’s meant as a limitation to keep a bad situation from escalating. If the guards behaved as the Sgt. says they did, their actions serve only to make a bad situation worse and allow terrorists feel justified. People who are treated humanely are more likely to treat others humanely. Those who are abused are more likely to abuse others. We have both the chance and the obligation to show a better way. Let’s be the good guys and demonstrate how to rise above the temptation to exact vengeance.

The comment that these guys were trying to impress a woman is the DUMBEST thing posted here. What woman would be impressed by a guy who brags about brutalizing people? Give me a break!

One other thought on this matter. She was part of the “defense” of a detainee – isn’t it the job of defense counsel to weave and spin on anything they can to get their client out of his/her current mess? Sounds like defense counsel is giving it his best shot…lots of publicity about alleged abuses will only strengthen his case against the Plaintiff. Think about it.

I think it’s time to close Gitmo, turn those people back over to their home country and put our Soldiers back into the field where they belong rather than sitting around guarding worthless ‘prisoners’.

>>>
…It’s a simple fact of life that men lie to impress women…
>>>>
I don’t know what kind of “men” you hang around with; but if you believe this–and ACCEPT it as routine behavior–you have a serious problem…which causes an even bigger problem for the rest of us. What kind of ‘ethical values’ are these…George Bush’s?!

The Sgt. did right, I would not want these personel in my unit.Sounds like she went through the chain of command before reporting.

“People who are treated humanely are more likely to treat others humanely.”
Uhhh, what has someone been smoking? We’re talking about TERRORISTS here–you know, those folks who saw off people’s heads in front of a camera, etc., etc.

It seems that the good SGT is universally supported by those of us in the military. We realize the value and requirement that we treat our prisoners humanely. These yokels arguing that because Al Queda brutalizes prisoners authorizes us to do the same are just plain fools. Those of us who have spent time in Iraq and are career military realize that the way to defeat an insurgency is to out-govern it. By mistreating prisoners we make it more difficult to bring the fence-sitters over to our side and pushe them into the arms of the terrorists. We also dehumanize ourselves. These guards who mistreat prisoners will one day rejoin the rest of us here in the U.S. and will struggle to readjust. Every officer and NCO recognizes that discipline keeps units together and brings troops home safely. If, and that is a big IF, this story is true, then the leadership in GITMO has failed these guards by not enforcing discipline.
Let me be clear to everyone bad mouthing this SGT and saying that women should not serve in the military. You are wrong. Our women are serving heroically and valuably overseas and earning combat medals. Stop dissing them.

OK, here we have unproven boasting by marines in front of an attractive girl at a bar. When they found out she was a lawyer they then shut up. Well DUH! They thought their lies could land them in trouble and it did! The fact that she is defending these enemies in court puts her testimony in doubt. The Geneva convention does not cover terrorists only soldiers of countries that have signed the treaty. I don’t consider these actions as torture but possible mistreatment. These murderers should have been tried by tribunal a long time ago so they would not be at Club Gitmo any longer. Why is everyone so quick to attack our military??

Me thinks they just pull her bra strap.

Just because another group of people are primitive and and cruel, does not mean we should lower ourselves to their standards. I do not believe a single detainee has been convicted of anything. I also believe that the reason King George and his Court Jester, Dumbsfeld, will not allow these people to have a fair trial, with legal representation, is because they can’t prove in a court of law, that they are guilty of anything.

First, she’s completely biased. Note her job. Second, all she relates is hearsay. Third, it was over drinks.
Can anyone take this seriously?
Of wait, there may be an election coming.
What a brave young woman

Why are we shooting the messenger? The Sgt. should not be the focus of our ire; she has done what we pay her to do. The problem is with the yahoos shooting off their mouths in a bar. They have created this mess and should be dealt with accordingly . . .

i wonder how she feels about the real torture that may occur to her marine brothers after they see this report. why did she report to ther media apparently before she even finished her report to her superior. torture is not okay in any situation. these so called service members who keep ratting out there comrads to the mass media for what seems to be mostly minor lapses in judgement need to be rooted out of service because they are not respecting the chain of command. consider your actions and how they affect the good men in the the field the same way respect the fact that not all muslims are terrorists.

As a former Block Sgt at Camps Delta and 5,I can honestly say that that crap COULDN’T happen.She’s a good looking gal and the men outnumber the women 80 to 1,there,every gal there is a target(Gitmo Queens) that all the youngsters try to hit on or impress…everything ther,is so out in the open,with the detainees,that it is virtually impossible to do that which these children claim happen.way too many safegaurds,and beleive me…the Detainees wouldn’t allow it to happen…We only think we’re in charge,Red Cross and Habeas lawyers(ACLU)have grubby little fingers in everything…it is “The Fishbowl” I don’t fault what she did in reporting,but those people, if they bragged about it are full of crap-ola!

Why would she lie?

Hope you guys do realize that these stories are false. Having served in the Marine Corps I would not, for one minute, believe what a female Marine has to say. If these men did say it, they were telling tall tales trying to impress her.

Brave woman! I believe you.