![US Marine paralegal accused of false statement after Guantanamo abuse claim](https://www.jurist.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/jurist-white-text.png)
[JURIST] Lt. Col. Colby Vokey, the US Marine defense coordinator for the western US, told the Associated Press Friday that his paralegal, Sgt. Heather Cerveny, has been accused of having made a false statement by Army Col. Richard Basset. Bassett was ordered to investigate alleged abuses of detainees [JURIST report] at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] after Cerveny provided a two-page sworn statement [PDF] last October claiming she conversed with a group of off-duty Marines who bragged of beating and abusing detainees.
Cerveny said the Marines identified themselves as guards, and led her to believe that the mistreatment – including the arbitrary denial of privileges, physically striking detainees, and depriving the detainees of hydration – was common practice and laughed at stories of how prisoners had been handled. Basset submitted his report [AP report] in December but it has not been made public. AP has more.