Diane E. Beaver is an American lawyer and former officer in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

. In 2001, she was Chief of the Eastern U.S. Torts Branch of the U.S. Army Claims Service. By 2002, she was deployed to the

Guantanamo Bay detention camp The Guantanamo Bay detention camp, also known as GTMO ( ), GITMO ( ), or simply Guantanamo Bay, is a United States military prison within Naval Station Guantanamo Bay (NSGB), on the coast of Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. It was established in 2002 by p ...

as a lawyer in the U.S. military prison complex there. As of 2016, she is currently practicing commercial litigation for the

Bryan Cave Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP (BCLP) is an international law firm with 31 offices worldwide. BCLP is headquartered in St Louis, Missouri. BCLP states that it specializes in Real Estate, Tax, Finance, Corporate, Litigation & Corporate Risk and ...

law firm in St. Louis, Missouri.

Guantánamo experience

In October 2002, when Beaver worked for the

United States Army Judge Advocate General's Corps The Judge Advocate General's Corps of the United States Army, also known as the U.S. Army JAG Corps, is the legal arm of the United States Army. It is composed of Army officers who are also lawyers ("judge advocates"), who provide legal service ...

, she drafted a legal opinion advocating for the legality of harsh interrogation techniques that were being proposed for use at Guantanamo, including *

waterboarding Waterboarding is a form of torture in which water is poured over a cloth covering the face and breathing passages of an immobilized captive, causing the person to experience the sensation of drowning. In the most common method of waterboard ...

; *exposure to extremes of temperature; *the use of non-injurious physical contact; and *"scenarios designed to convince the detainee that death or severely painful consequences are imminent for him and/or his family." She also advised that Category II and III methods (the harshest) "undergo a legal review prior to their commencement". In a meeting in October 2002, Beaver warned her fellow officers to make sure that observers from the

International Committee of the Red Cross The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is a humanitarian organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, and is a three-time Nobel Prize laureate. The organization has played an instrumental role in the development of rules of war and ...

(ICRC) not observe the use of the "harsher" interrogation techniques. After leaving the Army Beaver was hired by the

United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and superv ...

. Beaver testified before the

Senate Armed Services Committee The Committee on Armed Services, sometimes abbreviated SASC for Senate Armed Services Committee, is a committee of the United States Senate empowered with legislative oversight of the nation's military, including the Department of Defen ...

on June 17, 2008. The final paragraph of the written statement she submitted to the committee read: : She retired from the army as a lieutenant colonel. Beaver was one of the four individuals profiled in the 2009 documentary '' The Guantanamo Trap''.

Education

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) is a private research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1853 by a group of civic leaders and named for George Washington, the university spans 355 acres across its Danforth ...

, J.D., 1987 *

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, IUB, or Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana Univer ...

, B.A., 1979

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Beaver, Diane American women lawyers American lawyers United States Army Judge Advocate General's Corps Living people United States Department of Defense officials Women government officials United States Army colonels Women in the United States Army Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Guantanamo Bay detention camp Washington University School of Law alumni Indiana University Bloomington alumni