William C. Kuebler

Who is William C. Kuebler?

William "Bill" C. Kuebler is an American lawyer and a Lieutenant Commander in the United States Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps, assigned to the U.S. Navy Office of the Judge Advocate General, International and Operational Law Division. Kuebler was previously assigned to the Office of Military Commissions. Prior to the decision of the United States Supreme Court in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, to overturn the then current version of the Guantanamo military commissions on constitutional grounds Kuebler was detailed to defend Ghassan Abdullah al Sharbi. Al Sharbi had insisted on representing himself and Kuebler refused superior orders to act as his lawyer.

On June 4, 2007 Kuebler was the detailed counsel for Canadian youth Omar Khadr, Kuebler declined to join in the discussion as to whether charges against Khadr should be dropped, on jurisdictional grounds, because he had not had a chance to meet with Khadr, and didn't feel comfortable representing him without his consent. Peter Brownback, the officer presiding over Khadr's commission, did dismiss all charges, because the Military Commissions Act only authorized the commissions to act against "unlawful enemy combatants", and Khadr's Combatant Status Review Tribunal, like those of all the other Guantanamo captives, had only confirmed that he met the Bush Presidency's definition of an "enemy combatant".