Accused chaplains family speaks out

<p>The father of an Army chaplain accused of mishandling classified information said Monday that the charges are based on ethnic and religious profiling of his son as a Chinese-American and Muslim.</p><p>Joseph Yee, 76, told a news conference that his son, Capt. James Yee, had been subjected to grossly unfair treatment _ including being held in isolation after his arrest last year on suspicion of espionage, while serving as a chaplain to suspected terrorists at the militarys detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.</p><p>Charges of spying and aiding the enemy _ both capital offenses _ were never brought, but Capt. Yee, 35, now faces lesser allegations of mishandling of classified data, disobeying orders, adultery and storing pornography on an Army computer. The latter two fall under the purview of conduct unbecoming an officer.</p><p>Yees father, who was born in Pennsylvania, served in the Army in the 1940s and has two other sons who also are Army captains. He met with reporters hours before flying to Fort Benning, Ga., for the resumption of a hearing in James Yees case on Wednesday. Also present were James mother, and an aunt and uncle.</p><p>We want nothing less than the dropping of all charges, Joseph Yee said. Theyve smeared the Yee family name. I think (military officials) are running a conspiracy against him. Its a waste of time and of taxpayers dollars. I think its gone on long enough.</p><p>Joseph Yee said he wanted to know why James was confined for 76 days in a naval brig in South Carolina, much of that time in manacles, while another Army officer, Col. Jack Farr, accused of basically the same charges of mishandling classified material and making false statements, was allowed to remain on duty.</p><p>How much have you heard about Col. Farrs case? Whats the story on him? he asked. Col. Jack Farr is Caucasian and not a Muslim. James is Chinese and a Muslim. This is ethnic and religious profiling.</p><p>A Pentagon spokeswoman referred inquiries to a military spokeswoman at Guantanamo, who did not immediately return a call seeking comment on Yees statement.</p><p>Farr, an Army Reserve intelligence officer on six-month assignment to Guantanamo, was charged Nov. 29 with transporting secret documents without proper containers and with lying to investigators. His case is pending.</p><p>While declining to discuss the charges against his son, Yee said the family had suffered enormous emotional and psychological stress over the harsh treatment of James, a 1990 West Point graduate who first became interested in Islam while serving with a Patriot missile battery in Saudi Arabia, studied for four years in Syria, and rejoined the military as a Muslim chaplain.</p><p>He was very Army. He did his duties well and he really liked the Army. Thats why he went back in, Joseph Yee said.</p><p>At the naval brig in Charleston, S.C., he said, James was in solitary confinement with one hour of exercise a day, no phone calls and no reading material except the Quran.</p><p>They wouldnt tell him the time of day and wouldnt even tell him which way was Mecca so he could pray, he said. They had no concern for his feelings at all. They treated him worse than the detainees at Guantanamo.</p><p>He said family members were allowed one two-hour visit in October 2003 and were looking ahead to another at Thanksgiving when James was suddenly released with no prior notice.</p><p>The charges, filed by military prosecutors at the time of Yees release from custody, have been under review since then, with a preliminary hearing postponed twice. Yees lawyers say they have yet to see classified documents that the government is expected to cite as evidence.</p>

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