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

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

. 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 ( es, Centro de detención de la bahía de Guantánamo) is a United States military prison located within Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, also referred to as Guantánamo, GTMO, and Gitmo (), on the coast of Guant ...

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 is an international law firm with 25 offices worldwide. Bryan Cave was headquartered in St Louis, Missouri. Berwin Leighton Paisner was headquartered in London. In 2018, Bryan Cave and Berwin Leighton Paisner me ...

law firm in St. Louis, Missouri.

Guantánamo experience

In October 2002, when Beaver worked for the

Judge Advocate General's Corps, United States Army 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 and who provide legal services to the Army at a ...

, 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 torture, 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 ...

; *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; french: Comité international de la Croix-Rouge) is a humanitarian organization which is based in Geneva, Switzerland, and it is also a three-time Nobel Prize Laureate. State parties (signato ...

(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 executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national secu ...

. 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 Defe ...

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 Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

. Beaver was one of the four individuals profiled in the 2009 documentary ''

The Guantanamo Trap ''The Guantanamo Trap'' is a documentary film about four individuals whose lives were changed by their association with the Guantanamo Bay detention camps. The film was directed by Thomas Wallner and won the special jury prize at the 2011 ...

''.

Education

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...

, J.D., 1987 *

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, or simply Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana University and, with ...

, 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 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