E-Bulletin on Counter-Terrorism and Human Rights
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2. Bensayah Belkacem Had Phone Conversations with Abu Zubaydah
UNCLASSIFIED CombatantStatusReviewBoard TO : Personal Representative FROM , CSRT ( 6 October 2004) Subject: Summary of Evidence for Combatant Status Review Tribunal: AL HAJJ, Boudella 1. Underthe provisionsofthe Secretaryofthe NavyMemorandum dated 29 July 2004, ImplementationofCombatantStatusReviewTribunalProceduresfor EnemyCombatants Detainedat GuantanamoBayNavalBase Cuba, a Tribunalhas beenappointedto reviewthe detainee'sdesignationas an enemy combatant. 2. An enemy combatanthas been definedas an individualwho was part ofor supportingthe Taliban or al Qaida forces, or associatedforces that are engagedin hostilitiesagainst the United States or its coalitionpartners. This includesany personwho committeda belligerentact or has directly supportedhostilitiesinaidofenemy armed forces. 3. The UnitedStatesGovernmenthas previouslydeterminedthat the detaineeis an enemy combatant. This determinationis basedon informationpossessedby the UnitedStates that indicatesthat he is associatedwith al Qaida. a The detainee is associatedwith al Qaida: 1. The detainee was arrested with BensayahBelkacem, a known al Qaida associate, for InternationalTerrorismby the Bosnia- Herzegovinaauthorities. 2. Bensayah Belkacem had phone conversations with Abu Zubaydah, a senior aide to Usama Bin Laden, who was in charge of screening recruits for al Qaida training camps inAfghanistan. 3. The detainee and othersacted as an organizedterrorist groupandthey were incontact with known al Qaida member, Abu Zubaydah . 4. Detainee was arrested by Bosnianauthorities in connection -
Extraordinary Rendition« Flights, Torture and Accountability – a European Approach Edited By: European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights E.V
WITH A PREFACE BY MANFRED NOWAK (UNITED NATIONS SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON TORTURE) 1 SECOND EDITION 2 3 CIA- »EXTRAORDINARY RENDITION« FLIGHTS, TORTURE AND ACCOUNTABILITY – A EUROPEAN APPROACH EDITED BY: EUROPEAN CENTER FOR CONSTITUTIONAL AND HUMAN RIGHTS E.V. (ECCHR) SECOND EDITION 4 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS 09 PREFACE by Manfred Nowak, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture © by European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights e.V. (ECCHR) 13 JUSTICE AND ACCOUNTABILITY IN EUROPE – DISCUSSING Second Edition, Originally published in March 2008 STRATEGIES by Wolfgang Kaleck, ECCHR This booklet is available through the ECCHR at a service charge of 6 EUR + shipping. Please contact [email protected] for more information. 27 THE U.S. PROGRAM OF EXTRAORDINARY RENDITION AND SECRET DETENTION: PAST AND FUTURE Printed in Germany, January 2009 by Margaret Satterthwaite, New York University All rights reserved. 59 PENDING INVESTIGATION AND COURT CASES ISBN 978-3-00-026794-9 by Denise Bentele, Kamil Majchrzak and Georgios Sotiriadis, ECCHR European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) I. The Freedom of Information Cases (USA/Europe) Greifswalder Strasse 4, D-10405 Berlin 59 FOIA Cases in the U.S. Phone: + 49 - (0) 30 - 40 04 85 90 / 40 04 85 91 62 Freedom of Information Cases in Eastern Europe Fax: + 49 - (0) 30 - 40 04 85 92 Mail: [email protected], Web: www.ECCHR.eu II. The Criminal Cases Council: Michael Ratner, Lotte Leicht, Christian Bommarius, Dieter Hummel 68 The Case of Ahmed Agiza and Mohammed Al Zery (Sweden) Secretary General: Wolfgang -
The Current Detainee Population of Guantánamo: an Empirical Study
© Reuters/HO Old – Detainees at XRay Camp in Guantanamo. The Current Detainee Population of Guantánamo: An Empirical Study Benjamin Wittes and Zaahira Wyne with Erin Miller, Julia Pilcer, and Georgina Druce December 16, 2008 The Current Detainee Population of Guantánamo: An Empiricial Study Table of Contents Executive Summary 1 Introduction 3 The Public Record about Guantánamo 4 Demographic Overview 6 Government Allegations 9 Detainee Statements 13 Conclusion 22 Note on Sources and Methods 23 About the Authors 28 Endnotes 29 Appendix I: Detainees at Guantánamo 46 Appendix II: Detainees Not at Guantánamo 66 Appendix III: Sample Habeas Records 89 Sample 1 90 Sample 2 93 Sample 3 96 The Current Detainee Population of Guantánamo: An Empiricial Study EXECUTIVE SUMMARY he following report represents an effort both to document and to describe in as much detail as the public record will permit the current detainee population in American T military custody at the Guantánamo Bay Naval Station in Cuba. Since the military brought the first detainees to Guantánamo in January 2002, the Pentagon has consistently refused to comprehensively identify those it holds. While it has, at various times, released information about individuals who have been detained at Guantánamo, it has always maintained ambiguity about the population of the facility at any given moment, declining even to specify precisely the number of detainees held at the base. We have sought to identify the detainee population using a variety of records, mostly from habeas corpus litigation, and we have sorted the current population into subgroups using both the government’s allegations against detainees and detainee statements about their own affiliations and conduct. -
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tHe ABU oMAr CAse And “eXtrAordinAry rendition” Caterina Mazza Abstract: In 2003 Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr (known as Abu Omar), an Egyptian national with a recognised refugee status in Italy, was been illegally arrested by CIA agents operating on Italian territory. After the abduction he was been transferred to Egypt where he was in- terrogated and tortured for more than one year. The story of the Milan Imam is one of the several cases of “extraordinary renditions” imple- mented by the CIA in cooperation with both European and Middle- Eastern states in order to overwhelm the al-Qaeda organisation. This article analyses the particular vicissitude of Abu Omar, considered as a case study, and to face different issues linked to the more general phe- nomenon of extra-legal renditions thought as a fundamental element of US counter-terrorism strategies. Keywords: extra-legal detention, covert action, torture, counter- terrorism, CIA Introduction The story of Abu Omar is one of many cases which the Com- mission of Inquiry – headed by Dick Marty (a senator within the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe) – has investi- gated in relation to the “extraordinary rendition” programme im- plemented by the CIA as a counter-measure against the al-Qaeda organisation. The programme consists of secret and illegal arrests made by the police or by intelligence agents of both European and Middle-Eastern countries that cooperate with the US handing over individuals suspected of being involved in terrorist activities to the CIA. After their “arrest,” suspects are sent to states in which the use of torture is common such as Egypt, Morocco, Syria, Jor- dan, Uzbekistan, Somalia, Ethiopia.1 The practice of rendition, in- tensified over the course of just a few years, is one of the decisive and determining elements of the counter-terrorism strategy planned 134 and approved by the Bush Administration in the aftermath of the 11 September 2001 attacks. -
Although the Use of the Term Al Qaeda Remains Dubious and As I've Stated
KC & Associates Investigations Research Associates Quinault Valley Guns & Blades / Urban Escape & Evasion Course International Relations * Military * Terrorism * Business * Security www.kcandassociates.org [email protected] Kathleen Louise dePass Press Agent/Publicist .360.288.2652 Triste cosa es no tener amigos, pero más triste ha de ser no tener enemigos porque quién no tenga enemigos señal es de que no tiene talento que haga sombra, ni carácter que impresione, ni valor temido, ni honra de la que se murmure, ni bienes que se le codicien, ni cosa alguna que se le envidie. A sad thing it is to not have friends, but even sadder must it be not having any enemies; that a man should have no enemies is a sign that he has no talent to outshine others, nor character that inspires, nor valor that is feared, nor honor to be rumored, nor goods to be coveted, nor anything to be envied. -Jose Marti Briefing Paper Saudi Arabian nation-state involvement in 9/11 Attacks on WTC From the desk of Craig B Hulet? September 12, 2011 Saudi Arabian nation-state involvement in 9/11 Attacks on WTC/WTO By Craig B Hulet? Although the use of the term al Qaeda remains dubious and as I’ve stated many times it was never used prior to the 9/11 attacks in any diplomatic cable, declassified documents, state department travel warnings, nor anywhere else for that matter, one is forced into this paradigmatically useful term after ten years of that forced usage. And bearing this in mind and that it was not Ussamah Bin Laden who orchestrated 9/11, please allow the point to be taken here for making my argument, which is all we can do these days. -
The “Journey of Death” 1
THE JOURNEY OF DEATH – OVER 700 PRISONERS ILLEGALLY RENDERED TO GUANTANAMO BAY WITH THE HELP OF PORTUGAL 28 January 2008 THE “JOURNEY OF DEATH” 1 - OVER 700 PRISONERS ILLEGALLY RENDERED TO GUANTANAMO WITH THE HELP OF PORTUGAL - Reprieve can now conclusively show that Portuguese territory and airspace has been used to transfer over 700 prisoners to torture and illegal imprisonment in Guantanamo Bay. Through comparing flight logs obtained from Portuguese authorities, 2 information from the US Department of Defence showing dates of arrival of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, and unclassified testimony from many of the prisoners themselves, 3 Reprieve is for the first time able to name 728 prisoners rendered to Guantanamo Bay through Portuguese jurisdiction. 1 So said Adil Al-Zamil, prisoner transported on Flight RCH108Y through Portuguese jurisdiction to Guantanamo Bay: “I call the journey to Guantanamo ‘the journey of death.’ I discreetly wished that the plane would fall to end the pain I felt.” Source: Kuwaiti Gitmo Detainees Speak Out about Abuse, By Rania El Gamal, Kuwait Times, December 1, 2006 2 Flight logs obtained by Ana Gomes MEP in 2006 reveal that on at least 94 occasions aircraft crossed Portuguese airspace en route to or from Guantanamo Bay between 2002-2006 . On at least 6 occasions rendition aircraft flew directly from Lajes in the Azores to Guantanamo. See appendix for full copies of the logs. 3 The US Department of Defence has released ‘in-process’ records of Guantanamo inmates, detailing when prisoners were first weighed and measured on entry to the prison. It is possible confirm the identities of prisoners transported to Guantanamo through Portuguese jurisdiction by matching the ‘in- process’ dates of particular prisoners held in Guantanamo with flights contained in the Portuguese flight logs. -
Citizens No More
Citizens No More ‘War on Terror’ Abuses in Bosnia and Herzegovina July 2007 Cageprisoners, PO Box 45798, London, SW16 4XS Tel: 07973264197 Email: [email protected] Website: www.cageprisoners.com TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................... 3 TIMELINE .................................................................................................................. 4 HISTORY .................................................................................................................. 5 Genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina .................................................................. 5 Entry of foreign fighters and humanitarian aid workers ....................................... 5 The Dayton Peace Accords on Bosnia ................................................................. 5 TUZLA BASE ............................................................................................................. 6 Nihad Karsic and Almin Hardaus .......................................................................... 6 Abdel Halim Khafagy ............................................................................................. 7 Complicity of Italian and German authorities ...................................................... 8 BOSNIAN ALGERIANS IN GUANTANAMO BAY ................................................ 9 Arrest and detention ............................................................................................... 9 Bosnian authorities -
Yearbook of International Humanitarian Law — Volume 16, 2013
YEARBOOK OF INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW — VOLUME 16, 2013 CORRESPONDENTS’ REPORTS 1 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Contents Overview — United States Enforcement of International Humanitarian Law ............................... 1 Cases — United States Federal Court ............................................................................................. 5 Cases — United States Military Courts – United States Navy ....................................................... 6 Cases — United States Military Courts – United States Army ...................................................... 7 Cases — United States Military Courts – United States Marine Corps ......................................... 9 Overview — United States Detention Practice ............................................................................. 12 GTMO Detainee Transfers [2013] ................................................................................................ 13 Cases — United States Detention Practice ................................................................................... 14 Detainee Challenges — United States Courts of Appeals ............................................................ 15 Detainee Challenges — United States District Court .................................................................. 21 US Military Commissions ............................................................................................................ 24 US Military Commission Cases — Court of Military Commission Review ............................... -
City on the Hill Or Prison on the Bay? the Mistakes of Guantanamo and the Decline of America’S Image
CITY ON THE HILL OR PRISON ON THE BAY? THE MISTAKES OF GUANTANAMO AND THE DECLINE OF AMERICA’S IMAGE HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS, HUMAN RIGHTS, AND OVERSIGHT OF THE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED TENTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION MAY 6, 2008 Serial No. 110–167 Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Affairs ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.foreignaffairs.house.gov/ U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 42–293PDF WASHINGTON : 2008 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate 0ct 09 2002 10:47 Jun 12, 2008 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 F:\WORK\IOHRO\050608\42293.000 Hintrel1 PsN: SHIRL COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS HOWARD L. BERMAN, California, Chairman GARY L. ACKERMAN, New York ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey Samoa DAN BURTON, Indiana DONALD M. PAYNE, New Jersey ELTON GALLEGLY, California BRAD SHERMAN, California DANA ROHRABACHER, California ROBERT WEXLER, Florida DONALD A. MANZULLO, Illinois ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York EDWARD R. ROYCE, California BILL DELAHUNT, Massachusetts STEVE CHABOT, Ohio GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York THOMAS G. TANCREDO, Colorado DIANE E. WATSON, California RON PAUL, Texas ADAM SMITH, Washington JEFF FLAKE, Arizona RUSS CARNAHAN, Missouri MIKE PENCE, Indiana JOHN S. TANNER, Tennessee JOE WILSON, South Carolina GENE GREEN, Texas JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas LYNN C. -
General Assembly Distr
UNITED NATIONS A General Assembly Distr. GENERAL A/HRC/10/3/Add.1 24 February 2009 ENGLISH/FRENCH/SPANISH ONLY HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL Tenth session Agenda item 3 PROMOTION AND PROTECTION OF ALL HUMAN RIGHTS, CIVIL, POLITICAL, ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS, INCLUDING THE RIGHT TO DEVELOPMENT Report of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, Martin Scheinin Addendum COMMUNICATIONS WITH GOVERNMENTS* * The present report is being circulated as received, in the languages of submission only, as it greatly exceeds the word limitation currently used by the relevant General Assembly resolution. GE.09-11434 (E) 020309 050309 A/HRC/10/3/Add.1 page 2 CONTENTS Paragraphs Page Introduction .................................................................................................... 1 - 5 3 Communications transmitted, replies received and press statements ............ 6 - 376 4 Afghanistan .......................................................................................... 6 - 12 4 Algeria .................................................................................................. 13 - 14 5 Chile ..................................................................................................... 15 - 27 5 China .................................................................................................... 28 - 41 10 Egypt .................................................................................................... 42 - 56 13 El Salvador -
JTF-GTMO Detainee Assessment
S E C R E T / / NOFORN / / 20330924 DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE HEADQUARTERS, JOINT TASK FORCE GUANTANAMO U.S. NAVAL STATION, GUANTANAMO BAY, CUBA APO AE 09360 JTF-GTMO-CDR 24 September 2008 MEMORANDUM FOR Commander, United States Southern Command, 3511 NW 9lst Avenue, Miami, FL 33172 SUBJECT: Recommendation for Continued Detention Under DoD Control (CD) for Guantanamo Detainee, ISN US9YM-001463DP (S) JTF-GTMO Detainee Assessment 1. (S//NF) Personal Information: JDIMS/NDRC Reference Name: Abd al-Heela Current/True Name and Aliases: Abd al-Salam al-Hilah, Abd al-Salam Ali Abd al-Rahman, Abu Umar, Abd Salam al- Nuaman Place of Birth: Sanaa, Yemen (YM) Date of Birth: 30 January 1968 Citizenship: Yemen Internment Serial Number (ISN): US9YM-001463DP 2. (U//FOUO) Health: Detainee is in overall fair health. 3. (U) JTF-GTMO Assessment: a. (S) Recommendation: JTF-GTMO recommends this detainee for Continued Detention Under DoD Control (CD). JTF-GTMO previously recommended detainee for Continued Detention Under DoD Control (CD) on 30 July 2007. b. (S//NF) Executive Summary: If released without rehabilitation, close supervision, and means to successfully reintegrate into his society as a law-abiding citizen, it is assessed detainee would immediately seek out prior associates and reengage in extremist support activities. Since 2005 detainee has become increasingly uncooperative, deceptive, and continues to withhold information of intelligence value indicating his possible continuing support for extremism. Additionally, detainee is assessed to still hold a strong anti-US sentiment, as evident by an incident report that indicated detainee wished the destruction of CLASSIFIED BY: MULTIPLE SOURCES REASON: E.O. -
Sharqawi Abdu Ali Al Hajj, Civil Action No 09-745 (RCL), June 8, 2011
Sharqawi Ali al-Hajj ISN 1457 Citizenship: Yemen Detained Since: February 2002 Sharqawi Ali al-Hajj Sharqawi Ali al-Hajj, born in 1974, is a Yemeni, who was seized in a house raid in Karachi, Pakistan in Feb- ruary 2002. Initially questioned by American interrogators, he freely answered questions about his business in Pakistan, explaining that he was doing what he could to help Yemeni refugees. He was promised that, if he continued to answer questions, he could go home to Yemen. However, his transfer to Jordan came about because, as his attorney, John A. Chandler, explained, “The CIA lied about his going home; it decided to torture Sharqawi in the hope that they might get more information from him.” Sharqawi then became one of at least 15 prisoners whose torture was outsourced to the Jordanian authori- ties between 2001 and 2004. Prior to his rendition, his Pakistani guards told him, “May your mother pray for you,” and other such exhortations, knowing that he was on his way to the Jordanian secret police. In Jordan, he was held for over almost two years. In Jordan, Sharqawi was again told that, if he cooperated, he could go home. The cooperation, it soon be- came apparent, involved obtaining information from him about prisoners held in Guantánamo, but there was no way he could please his captors, and no way that he was going home. As John Chandler also explained, “Sharqawi was shown pictures of men who he later met in Guantánamo. He was asked a series of questions from Americans posed by his Jordanian captors.