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June Publisher guantánamo global justice initiative center for constitutional news briefing rights june 2008 Breaking News: Supreme subject to extensively documented Court Rules in Boumediene v. torture and cruel, inhumane and de- Fourteen other detainees currently Bush/Al Odah v. U.S., Up- grading treatment during interroga- face military commission holds Detainees’ Rights tions. The government had previously charges,while the vast majority of the announced its plan to seek the death 275 men at Guantanamo have In an historic decision, the U.S. Su- penalty against him. been held for over six years in arbi- preme Court ruled on June 12, trary detention without charge or 2008, that Guantánamo detainees Al-Qahtani's torture was personally trial. The military commissions, cre- have a Constitutional right to a hear- approved by former Defense Secre- ated by the 2006 Military Commis- ing before a fair and neutral judge, tary Donald Rumsfeld. The torture sions Act, provide far fewer protec- in a legitimate court, to challenge techniques used against him in- tions than otherwise provided for their detention. In the case of Boume- cluded beatings, severe sleep depri- under U.S. law. diene v. Bush/Al Odah v. U.S. , the vation, forced nudity, sexual humilia- U.S.’s highest court ruled that the tion, attacks by dogs, temperature Recent Military Commission provision of the Military Commis- manipulation and religious abuse. Actions Further Challenge Le- sions Act which suspended detain- gitimacy of the Military Com- ees’ right to habeas corpus was un- Al-Qahtani's attorney, Gitanjali mission Process constitutional. Gutierrez of the Center for Constitu- tional Rights, subsequently revealed Several actions over the last month This decision marks the third time that that al-Qahtani had attempted sui- have raised further concerns about the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld cide after the death penalty charges the military commissions processes the rights of Guantánamo detainees were referred against him. In addi- gearing up to try a small number of – in 2004 in Rasul v. Bush, and in tion, the U.S. Justice Department re- prisoners at Guantánamo. 2006 in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, the leased a report which described court upheld detainees’ rights to concerns by US security officials On May 30, 2008, the military com- challenge their detention under fed- about the legality and acceptability missions judge in Omar Khadr’s eral law and their rights under the of al-Qahtani’s interrogations. case, Col. Peter Brownback, was Geneva Conventions. The Bush Ad- suddenly removed from his position ministration has, to date, resisted all Four Prisoners Charged in presiding over Khadr’s commission. of the high court’s decisions. Military Commissions The judge had ordered prosecutors to supply a prison log of Khadr’s Detainees’ attorneys will now act Charges of conspiracy and provid- treatment to the defense. Earlier, on quickly to bring their clients’ cases ing material support to terrorism May 23, 2008, the Supreme Court before judges, as mandated by the were filed against four detainees: of Canada ruled that Canadian gov- court, and seek relief. Ghassan Abdullah al-Sharbi (Saudi), ernment officials had violated Jabran Said bin al-Qahtani (Saudi), Khadr's rights by interrogating him in Military Commissions Sufyan Barhoumi (Algerian), and Guantánamo. Khadr was arrested Charges Dropped Against Binyan Mohamed (British resident). and detained as a 15-year-old juve- Mohammad Al-Qahtani Mohamed was a victim of the so- nile in Afghanistan and currently called “extraordinary rendition” pro- faces military commissions charges. On May 13, 2008, the military com- gram: he was previously transferred missions charges were dropped by U.S. forces to Morocco and tor- On May 10, 2008, Captain Keith against Mohammad al-Qahtani, a tured before being returned to U.S. Allred, another military commissions Guantánamo detainee who was custody. judge, disqualified a senior military (continued on pg. 2) Center for Constitutional Rights www.ccrjustice.org official from having any involve- Guantánamo detainee, Murat selves under the names of real ment in the military commission of Kurnaz, testified before a Con- Guantánamo detainees. Some detainee Salim Ahmad Hamdan, gressional committee on May 20, refused to speak, while others pre- on the grounds that the official is 2008. His testimony was part of sented statements seeking to bring too closely aligned with the prose- two hearings in which witnesses the stories of Guantánamo detain- cution. A week later, the judge called for the closure of ees inside U.S. courtrooms. The postponed the commission until Guantánamo, a solution for the activists' protest is designed to after the Supreme Court's ex- approximately 50 refugees there draw attention to the denial of pected ruling in the lead who cannot be safely repatriated detainees' rights and demand the Guantánamo detainee cases, to their home countries, and an closure of the prison at which should be decided by the improvement of the conditions in Guantánamo. end of June 2008. the prison. In addition, on May 28, 2008, In addition, on May 6, a House the military attorney for Judiciary subcommittee heard testi- Mohammad Jawad, another juve- mony regarding the involvement of nile when picked up by U.S. government lawyers in approving forces, filed a motion to dismiss the use of torture and circumvent- military commissions charges ing international legal obligations. against him on the grounds that he was subject to systematic sleep British former detainees deprivation as a form of torture sue UK government and about the news briefing.. during interrogation. intelligence agencies This news briefing is produced monthly by the Center for Consti- U.S. Announces Plans for Eight former Guantánamo detain- tutional Rights, which coordinates Large Afghan Prison ees filed lawsuits against the British the representation of detainees at government and its security ser- Guantánamo Bay with a network 29 Afghans formerly imprisoned in vices, on April 18, 2008, accus- of over 500 pro bono habeas Guantánamo or the U.S. military ing them of complicity with the counsel. It is translated into Ara- base at Bagram were released Americans in their unlawful deten- bic and Dari and is available from Afghanistan’s Pol-i-charki tion at Guantánamo and seeking online at Prison on May 1, 2008. These damages. All were released with- prisoners are all transferees were out charge after years of U.S. de- http://www.ccrjustice.org/ transferred to Afghan custody by tention in Guantánamo. learn-more/reports/ the U.S. military. On May 17, Guantanamo-newsletter however, the U.S. military an- Guantánamo Protestors nounced that it was planning to Convicted in Washington, If you would like to receive this build a new 40-acre prison under DC newsletter, send us more informa- U.S. control in Afghanistan at the tion, or get in contact: Bagram base, indicating plans for 34 anti-torture activists were con- expanded future indefinite deten- Center for Constitutional Rights victed in Washington, DC on 666 Broadway, 7th Floor tion in Afghanistan. Thursday, May 29, 2008. The New York, NY 10012 activists were arrested during a http://www.ccrjustice.org/ Congressional Committee protest at the Supreme Court on (212) 614-6443 Hears Testimony of Former January 11, 2008, the sixth anni- [email protected] Detainee versary of the arrival of the first detainees at Guantánamo Bay. For the first time, a former The activists are representing them- Center for Constitutional Rights www.ccrjustice.org .
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