WASHINGTON, 21 March 2004 — The US Army Friday night dropped charges against Chaplain James Yee of mishandling classified information. The former Muslim chaplain previously faced accusations of spying at the Guantanamo Bay prison where he served, charges that could have resulted in his execution.
The charges against Captain Yee, a 35-year-old Chinese American West Point graduate, had become a persistent embarrassment for the Pentagon; he will be allowed to return to duty without undergoing interrogations and a polygraph test, which he had originally offered in exchange for immunity from charges stemming from his answers.
US Army Major General Geoffrey Miller, commander of Joint Task Force Guantanamo where 600 alleged Al-Qaeda and Taleban fighters are held, dropped the charges against Capt. Yee, suggesting concern over “national security” if the case proceeded, saying it could expose sensitive classified data to public view.
Gen. Miller said Capt. Yee would be offered “nonjudicial punishment” for accusations of adultery and pornography. These penalties will be minor, such as duty restriction or a temporary pay cut.
“We anticipate that Yee will be returned to him home duty state at Fort Lewis, Washington, at the conclusion of Article 15 proceedings,” US Southern Command, the military unit overseeing Guantanamo Bay, said in a news release. Article 15 is the military’s method for dealing with less serious infractions.
Yee’s layer, Eugene Fidell, rejected the claim saying lawyers for both sides had high security clearances and no information needed be released publicly.
“Chaplain Yee has won...The Army’s dismissal of the classified charges against him represents a long overdue vindication,” Fidell said in a statement released late Friday.
“Chaplain Yee is entitled to an apology,” Fidell said. “The army’s senior leadership must now complete the job of doing the right thing.”
The army had delayed the resumption a hearing of Yee’s case five times, citing various delays in security classifications of the sensitive documents found on Yee when he was detained last September.
The delays meant that even Fidell was not allowed to see the papers. Several weeks ago, however, military officials mistakenly sent him these documents. Yee’s lawyer said after reading through them, he found nothing even remotely classified.
“This news shows the government has finally come to its senses,” said Gary Solis, a former Marine Corps prosecutor who teaches the law of war at Georgetown University. “The Yee case has made the government look very bad from the beginning...a view held by military lawyers, as well.”
Yee was detained six months ago, after serving almost a year as chaplain to the detainees at Guantanamo, most captured during the war in Afghanistan.
Officials say that since Yee’s arrest these detainees have not had a Muslim chaplain and must minister to their own religious needs.
