Barry Wingard

Barry Wingard (born 1967) is an American lawyer and retired lieutenant colonel in the United States Air National Guard.[1][2]

Barry Wingard
Born1967 (age 53–54)
NationalityUnited States
OccupationLawyer, military officer
Known forDefended captives before Guantanamo military commissions

Military career

Wingard's original military service was an enlisted soldier in the United States Army.[1] Wingard is an Iraq War Veteran.[3][4] He served fifteen years in the United States Army, prior to earning a J.D. degree and joining the United States Air Force.

In civilian life Wingard is a public defender in Allegheny County Pittsburgh.[4][5][6][7]

Lieutenant Colonel Wingard served as one of the attorneys for Kuwaiti detainee in Guantanamo Fayiz Al Kandari who was charged before a Guantanamo military commission in 2008.[1][8][9][10]

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette described Wingard and Darrel Vandeveld as "...among a handful of military attorneys who have chosen to risk their careers by publicly voicing criticisms of the Military Commissions, which face an uncertain future."[5]

On September 30, 2012, Lillian Thomas, writing in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, wrote that, paradoxically, when the Office of Military Commissions suddenly dropped all charges against Faiz al Kandari, it made it more difficult for Wingard to work on his behalf.[2]

Col. Wingard, 45, long maintained that the charges against his client -- material support of terrorism and conspiracy -- were based on flimsy, third-hand evidence. But now that they have been dropped, his client's situation is worse, since there is now no real hope of a judicial proceeding, and his ability to advocate for Mr. al-Kandari is reduced.[2]

Thomas pointed out that Wingard could no longer travel to Kuwait to seek exculpatory evidence, he would no longer be provided with government translators.[2] Guantanamo authorities have arbitrarily cancelled visits to Guantanamo for client-attorney interviews, and his correspondence with his client is no longer protected from censors' scrutiny.

References
  1. Barry Wingard (2009-07-01). "No Justice Today at Guantanamo". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2009-07-01.
  2. Lillian Thomas (2012-09-30). "A military attorney's access to his Guantanamo client eroded". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Archived from the original on 2012-10-01. Col. Wingard, 45, long maintained that the charges against his client -- material support of terrorism and conspiracy -- were based on flimsy, third-hand evidence. But now that they have been dropped, his client's situation is worse, since there is now no real hope of a judicial proceeding, and his ability to advocate for Mr. al-Kandari is reduced.
  3. Nawara Fattahova (2009-06-10). "Two Kuwaiti detainees in Gitmo prison to be tried in US". Kuwait Times. Archived from the original on 2012-10-01. Retrieved 2009-07-01.
  4. Barry Wingard (2009-07-02). "No justice today at Guantanamo". Juneau Empire. Archived from the original on 2012-10-01. Retrieved 2012-10-01. The writer is a lieutenant colonel in the Pennsylvania Air National Guard and an Air Force judge advocate general. He began his career in the Army as an enlisted infantry soldier.
  5. Lillian Thomas (2009-05-10). "Military attorneys risk careers to criticize practices at Guantanamo". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 2009-07-01.
  6. "Guantanamo suicide exposes detainees' despair under Obama". Khaleej Times. 2009-06-05. Archived from the original on 2012-10-01. Retrieved 2009-07-01.
  7. Barry Wingard (2010-06-01). "Going Along to Get Along: Can Kuwait Ever Satisfy U.S. Demands?". The Public Record. Archived from the original on 2012-10-01. Nonetheless, the reverse of this scenario is exactly how the US has treated its ally Kuwait in connection with the remaining Kuwaiti detainees confined at Guantanamo Bay. For eight years, in response to each U.S. demand, Kuwait has given the required assurance or taken the required action, only to face expanding requirements and watch the goal line shift further back.
  8. Jenifer Fenton (2011-10-17). "Detainees in Guantanamo fear indefinite detention". CNN. Archived from the original on 2012-10-01. Retrieved 2012-10-01. Lt. Col. Barry Wingard is defending Al Kandari before the military commission that is hearing his case at Guantanamo Bay. He says that after the 9/11 attacks, Al Kandari remembers leaflets falling all around him. On the leaflet there was a picture of an Afghan man, who was holding a bag of money. The leaflet read: "You turn in your Arabs and we will give you money."
  9. Barry Wingard (2009-07-26). "Sunday Forum: Eight years later, still waiting for justice". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Archived from the original on 2012-10-01. I received military orders last year directing me to report to Washington, DC, to defend a Kuwaiti detainee at Guantanamo named Fayiz al-Kandari. Prior to accepting these orders, I assumed Guantanamo Bay was full of al-Qaida operatives and others involved with the Sept. 11 attacks on our nation. I have since learned that is not the case.
  10. Glenn Greenwald (2009-07-02). "The still-growing NPR "torture" controversy". Salon. Archived from the original on 2012-10-01. In fact, as reported just recently by Harper‘s Luke Mitchell, Jeremy Scahill, and Lt. Col. Barry Wingard, there is ample evidence that very serious abuse is still occurring in America’s detention facilities, including at Guantanamo (all of which confirmed similar reports from earlier this year).


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