Unclassifiedi/ Unclassifiedii

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Unclassifiedi/ Unclassifiedii UNCLASSIFIEDI/ Summary of AdministrativeReview Board Proceedings for ISN 727 The Administrative Review Board was called to order . The Designated Military Officer ( DMO ) was sworn . The BoardReporter was sworn. The PresidingOfficerannouncedthe conveningauthorityandpurposeofthe AdministrativeReviewBoard proceedings. TheAdministrativeReviewBoardmembersweresworn TheAssistingMilitaryOfficer wassworn TheAssistingMilitaryOfficerpresentedtheEnemy CombatantNotificationform , A , to theAdministrative ReviewBoard. TheAssisting Military Officerpresentedthe Enemy CombatantElectionForm , Exhibit EC - B, to theAdministrative ReviewBoard. Itwas notedby the Presiding Officer that from Exhibit EC - B , the Detainee had chosen not to be present for the Administrative Review Boardproceedings. The PresidingOfficer confirmedthattheAssistingMilitaryOfficerhadmet with the Detaineeandinformedhim of rightsregardingtheproceedings, thatthe Detainee appearedto understandtheprocess, thatthe UnclassifiedSummary of Evidence was readto the Detainee, thata translator was usedduringthe interview , andthatthe AssistingMilitary Officerconfirmedthatthe translator spoke thesame languageas the Detainee TheDesignatedMuitary Officerpresentedthe UnclassifiedSummary of Evidence, Exhibit - 1, andDMO- 2, theFBIRedactionMemorandumto theAdministrative ReviewBoard TheDesignatedMilitaryOfficerstatedthat a copyoftheseexhibitshadbeenpreviously distributedto theAssistingMilitary andDetainee TheDesignatedMilitaryOfficergave a briefdescriptionofthe contentsof the UnclassifiedSummaryofEvidence, Exhibit - 1, to theAdministrativeReview Board The PresidingOfficeraskedthe DesignatedMilitary for anyfurtherunclassified information ISN727 Enclosure( 7) Page 1 of4 20882 UNCLASSIFIEDII - The Designated Military Officer confirmed that he no further unclassified information and requested closed session to present classified information relevant to the disposition of the Detainee The Presiding Officeracknowledgedthe request When asked iftheAssisting Officer had any information topresent on of the Detainee to the Administrative Review Board, the Assisting Military Officer stated that he previously submitted a summary of theinterview . The Assisting Military Officer presented the Detainee's written statement (Exhibit EC - C 1 The Assisting Military Officer stated that he hadnot reviewed the above mentioned documents due to Detainee's impulsive presentation Administrative ReviewBoardrecessedat1332hours, 3 June 2005, in order for the BoardMembers, theAssistingMilitary Officerandthe DesignatedMilitary Officer to reviewExhibitEC - C 1-5. The AdministrativeReviewBoardwas reconvenedat1343hours, 3 June2005. PresidingOfficer: Duringthe recessthe AssistingMilitaryOfficerprovidedthe AdministrativeReviewBoardpanelwiththree exhibits. The exhibitswere providedto the AssistingMilitaryOfficerby the Detaineeon this date at approximately1230 hours. The Detaineeprovidedthese itemsandthe first one is as ExhibitOne. This exhibit includessix different items. Firstis a report by ProfessorTimothyValentineofValentine Moore(ph) Associates This itemis a writtencompilationthat describes that the Detainee was nottheperson shownina video describingterroristactivityinChechnya. The next itemis anunclassifieddocument which is stillwithinthe large packetbrought in [ ] starts withpage five, a statementoffacts onOmar Deghayes. This is somekindof backgroundinformationon him . It starts withpage five and goes throughpage twelve. The nextitem inthis packetis two- page item , from thirty -two to thirty-three andit starts out with an itemby Douglas, Ford, J. Frank and B. Frank, Not Guilty, Number 12, 1957. The nextitem inthis packetofinformationstarts out with ExhibitA , declassified materials, Deghayes, March14, 2005. The nextitem inthis packetis a three-page item , pages seventeen, eighteenandnineteen, describingabuseat GuantanamoBay as it relates to Mr.Deghayes, the Detainee. The next itemonthis large exhibitis anothercompilation ofpages that from six throughtwelve. It starts, probleminvolvesthe use of incompetenttranslators...PRnumber one broughtwith him a translatorwho soundedas if he was probablyIraqibut spokebadEnglishandbadArabic. " Thosesix itemsare ina strangecollectionofinformationthat hasbeenpresentedas ExhibitOne andthey willbe markedappropriatelyby the AssistingMilitaryOfficer. The AssistingMilitaryOfficer alsobrought informationmarked PrivilegedAttorneyDetaineeMaterialsEmbargoeduntil 10 AM , Thursday, February17, 2005. Itis markedas anExhibitby the AssistingMilitary Officer. Itis a single pagedocument. The nextitemisan unclassifiedreportthat isfour ISN 727 Enclosure ( 7) Page2 of4 20883 UNCLASSIFIEDINU UNCLASSIFIEDI/ pagesinlengthand it is an article from independentnewspaperon Sunday, 24 April2005, titled Guardsat GuantanamoTorturedMe, says UK Man. This is submitted by the Detainee OmarDeghayes and is now enteredintothe record. Administrative Review BoardMember's questions: BoardMember: I noticed inthis one packet you gave us [ that] it had a collection of these different items the upper left comer there is a pencil mark that appears to describe a sequence of documents and it looks like document seventeen is not inthe package. I am wondering where document seventeen is Itis notin my package anyway Assisting Military Officer cannotgive a satisfactory answerto that question because I copied it just as it was handedto meby the Detainee Presiding Officer: So there is a possibility that there is a page missing here or that he missed the count ? BoardMember: Hemayhave missedthe countbecauseit goes from eightto nine on the bottomrighthand side but I just wantedto clarify forrecordthat thereiswhat appearsto be an item missingbut it doesn'tappearthatdocumentseventeenmayhaveever existed becausethese go in sequenceinthe bottom . Inthe eventthat anyoneasksthe question is documentseventeen ?' like I did, don'tthink there is a documentseventeen. AssistingMilitaryOfficer: One possibility is that inthe processofcopying the original that he handedus, which we gave back to him , it referringto the copy machine) mayhave double fed two sheets... ... PresidingOfficer: Or he missed count. Assisting Military Officer Or he missed the count ! BoardMember: Who putthe marks on the upper corner, you or him ? AssistingMilitaryOfficer: They werehere... BoardMember: OK. BoardMember: I havea question, I was readingthroughthis packageyou providedusand it ison the it is onthis thirty - pagepackage...it's the second ' seven page andwhat I want to ask youaboutisyourperceptionofhis thought processes...becauseon the secondpage seven, footnote eight, states reasonMr.Deghayesneededlegal assistancewith the CSRTprocessis he suffers fromwhat counselclearlyrecognizes as psychoticthought processes you ... isyourassessment? I knowyou'renot anexpertonthis butwhenyouaskedhima questiondidhe seemto respond? Was ISN 727 Enclosure ( 7 ) Page3 of4 20884 UNCLASSIFIEDI/ cognizantofthe questionandrespondedina comprehensiblemanner? Whatwas your assessment? Assisting Military Officer: I thought that he was quite lucid and he answered all of my questions satisfactorily . He did to want to the show every time we interviewed him BoardMember: Didhe tendto go off thesubject orgo off on a tangent or... AssistingMilitaryOfficer Well, overall , I would say he didbecause kepttryingto steer himto the factthat the purposeofthis reviewboardis to assess futurebehavior andhekeptgoingbackto the injusticesdoneto himinthe past. BoardMember; Didhe speak Englishwith you ? AssistingMilitaryOfficer: Hespeaksvery goodEnglish. The Presiding Officer read the remainder ofthe unclassifiedportion of the Administrative Review Boardproceedings, andthen adjournedtheproceedings . ThePresidingOfficeropenedthe classifiedportionofthe session . The Presiding Officer adjourned the classified portion of the session andthe Administrative Review Board was closed for deliberation andvoting. AUTHENTICATION I certifythe materialcontainedinthis transcript is a true andaccuratesummaryofthe AdministrativeReview Boardproceedings Colonel, USA Presiding Officer ISN727 Enclosure( 7) Page4 of4 20885 UNCLASSIFIED 02 - JUN -2005 From : Deghayes, Omar Amer To: Presiding Officer Via Assisting Military Officer Subject: Translation of Detainee's Written Statement Submitted by Deghayes, Omar Amer , ISN # ] Jun 2005 by OARDEC Linguist OL- ( x.x.x) - Refersto the paragraphnumberonthe UnclassifiedSummaryofEvidence. Notesinsquarebrackets[ ] are translatorandAMO comments Inthe nameofALLAH, MostGracious, MostMerciful I and my Lawyer answered all accusations mentioned at the CSRT or at the interview before. It was just four accusations. I answered all of them in details with preemptory proof it was not true. Some of these papers and answers are enclosed in Exhibit 2 After the windup from the first board (CSRT), I am seeing creation or makingup anew accusations different than the old accusations ? And all these accusations also are not true. I demand statements from many parties to prove that all these accusations are not true. You did not llowme or the AMO to call my family and other people,which I demand statements from . For example, I am not an employee at Sanibel charity organization. I demand a statement from the head ofattorneys inEnglandand their society (Law Society), which I associated. I demand a statement from newscaster for the nightly news program at BBC Broadcasting station, whom he searched accusations against me, he found it is not true and he announce this live to the people inEngland. The newscaster agreed to
Recommended publications
  • Guantanamo and Citizenship: an Unjust Ticket Home
    Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law Volume 37 Issue 2 Article 19 2006 Guantanamo and Citizenship: An Unjust Ticket Home Rory T. Hood Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarlycommons.law.case.edu/jil Part of the International Law Commons Recommended Citation Rory T. Hood, Guantanamo and Citizenship: An Unjust Ticket Home, 37 Case W. Res. J. Int'l L. 555 (2006) Available at: https://scholarlycommons.law.case.edu/jil/vol37/iss2/19 This Note is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Journals at Case Western Reserve University School of Law Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law by an authorized administrator of Case Western Reserve University School of Law Scholarly Commons. GUANTANAMO AND CITIZENSHIP: AN UNJUST TICKET HOME? Rory T. Hood t "Trying to get Uganda to take an interest is pretty difficult; [JamalAbdul- lah Kiyemba has] been here since he was 14. 1 am asking the [Foreign Of- fice] whether they will allow him to apply for citizenship from Guan- tanamo Bay. If you are out of the countryfor more than two years, it can be counted against you. He probably has now been-but not of his own free will.' -Louise Christian - Atty. representing Jamal Abdullah Kiyemba I. INTRODUCTION Jamal Abdullah Kiyemba, Bisher al-Rawi, Jamil al-Banna, Shaker Abdur-Raheem Aamer, and Omar Deghayes are currently in the custody of the United States government at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.2 A citizen of Uganda, an Iraqi exile, a Jordanian refugee, a Saudi citizen, and a Libyan exile, respectively, these men form an unlikely group; yet, each share one common trait.
    [Show full text]
  • E-Bulletin on Counter-Terrorism and Human Rights
    International Commission of Jurists E-BULLETIN ON COUNTER-TERRORISM & HUMAN RIGHTS No. 59, January 2012 AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST Ethiopia: Swedish journalists convicted under draconian Anti-Terrorism Law Ethiopia: Five people, including journalists, convicted under repressive Anti-Terrorism Law Burundi: Journalist arrested and charged for terrorism for interview of rebel leader Kenya: Wave of arbitrary arrests hits Kenya after terrorist attacks and warnings Egypt: Military Council ends emergency law but not for “thugs” Syria: President imposes the death penalty on “terrorist” weapon smugglers Iraq/Turkey: Anti-terrorism airstrike kills 35 smugglers; authorities admit “mistake” AMERICAS USA: Calls for closure multiply, as Guantánamo detention centre turns 10 USA: Indefnite detention of terrorists signed into law with “serious reservations” by US President USA: US President asked to justify US drones strategy by NGO USA: Federal court dismisses Guantánamo torture damage lawsuits USA: CIA torture interrogations whistleblower prosecuted by Justice Department USA: Remedies for torture in court are matters for Congress, rules Appeals Court USA/Italy: No obligation to give immunity to Abu Omar kidnapper, says federal court USA/Afghanistan: Governmental report accuses US of ill-treatment of prisoners in Bagram Canada: More than two years after clearing by Federal Court, Abousfan Abdelrazik de- listed by UN Chile: President accuses indigenous people of “terrorist” arson without evidence Argentina: Generic “terrorism” aggravating circumstance introduced
    [Show full text]
  • Decision--English
    ***UNOFFIAL TRANSLATION***§ Proceedings: Preliminary Investigations 150/09 – N Offense: Torture and others ADMINISTRACION CENTRAL COURT FOR PRELIMINARY CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS DE JUSTICIA NUMBER FIVE NATIONAL COURT MADRID DECISION IN MADRID, THE TWENTY-SEVENTH OF JANUARY, TWO THOUSAND AND TEN FACTS FIRST. – The facts under investigation are defined in the April 27, 2009 decision, completed, and with regard to Iaheen Ikarrien with the petition of complaint dated September 24, 2009, which was accepted October 29, 2009, according to the April 27 Decision: FIRST. -Indictment 25/03 was initiated in this Court against Hamed Abderrahman Ahmed, Ikassrien Lahcen, Jamiel Abdul Latiff Al Banna and Omar Deghayes for alleged offenses of Involvement in the Terrorist Organization Al Qaeda. 1) Subsequently, the Criminal Division of the National Court handed down a sentence on 10/04/05, condemnatory against the first of those cited above (Hamed Abderraman Ahmed), even though the sentence of the Supreme Court dated 06/22/06 annulled [the lower court decision], acquitting the indicted party. 2) In the second case (Ikassrien Lahcen), the Criminal Division of the National Court handed down a sentence on 10/10/2006, acquitting the indicted party. 3) and 4) In the case of Mr. Al Banna and Mr. Deghayes, this Court issued European Orders for Detention dated 05/24/04, orders that were repeated on the 14 and 19 of December 2007 before the imminent arrival in the United Kingdom of said indicted § Translation provided by the Center for Constitutional Rights, www.ccrjustice.org. Page numbering differs from the original Spanish version. Please send any comments to: [email protected].
    [Show full text]
  • Fabricating Terrorism British Complicity in Renditions and Torture TABLE of CONTENTS
    Fabricating Terrorism British Complicity in Renditions and Torture TABLE OF CONTENTS FOREWORD by Geoffrey Bindman....................................................................................................................3 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................................................4 British Complicity in Rendition and Torture Overview....................................................................................7 PART ONE - RENDITIONS ....................................................................................................................................10 1. Definitions........................................................................................................................................................10 2. The responsibilities of British authorities........................................................................................................14 3. Case studies ..................................................................................................................................................21 Case 1 - Binyam Mohammed Al Habashi ......................................................................................................21 Case 2 - Jamal Al Harith ..................................................................................................................................24 Case 3 - Jamil El Banna and Bisher Al Rawi ..................................................................................................26
    [Show full text]
  • I Would Like to Join Amnesty International. Copyright, but May Be Reproduced by „ Any Method Without Fee for Advocacy, Please Send Me Details
    Close Guantánamo symbol of injustice undreds of men of many different nationalities have national security. Access to lawyers is perceived as Hbeen transported to the USA’s offshore prison camp detrimental to the interrogation process. Access to the at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. At every stage of their ordeal, courts is seen as disruptive of military operations. their dignity, humanity and Arbitrary detention has been the result. “The United States Government will work to fundamental rights have advance human dignity in word and deed, been denied. Five years on, hundreds of men are still held in Guantánamo. None has been tried. None has appeared speaking out for freedom and against The first detainees were in court. All, in Amnesty International’s opinion, are violations of human rights.” flown from Afghanistan to unlawfully detained. Many have been tortured or ill- National Security Strategy of the USA, March 2002 Guantánamo in January 2002 treated, whether in Afghanistan or elsewhere prior to – hooded, shackled and tied their transfer to Guantánamo, or during their transfer, or down like cargo. They were the first of more than 750 as part of the interrogation process in the base, or just people of some 45 nationalities who would be taken to through the harshness of the Guantánamo regime – the base in this way, among them children as young as 13. isolating, indefinite and punitive. By association, their They have included people who were simply in the wrong families too have suffered the cruelty of this virtually place at the wrong time, dozens of whom were handed incommunicado island incarceration.
    [Show full text]
  • Exhibits Attached to Arguments on Admissibility, Declaration of Mohammed Abdullah Saleh Al-Asad, and Declaration of Zahra Ahmed Mohamed
    BEFORE THE AFRICAN COMMISSION FOR HUMAN & PEOPLES’ RIGHTS 49th ORDINARY SESSION: APRIL-MAY 2011 COMMUNICATION NO. 383/2010 In the matter between: MOHAMMED ABDULLAH SALEH AL-ASAD and DJIBOUTI EXHIBITS ATTACHED TO ARGUMENTS ON ADMISSIBILITY, DECLARATION OF MOHAMMED ABDULLAH SALEH AL-ASAD, AND DECLARATION OF ZAHRA AHMED MOHAMED EXHIBITS The United Republic of Tanzania Departure Declaration Card, 27 December 2003…….A Center for Human Rights and Global Justice, On the Record: U.S. Disclosures on Rendition, Secret Detention, and Coercive Interrogation (New York: NYU School of Law, 2008)………………………………………………………………………………..B Letter to the Attorney General of Djibouti, 31 March 2009…….….…..…….…….….…C United Nations Human Rights Council, 13th Session, Joint Study on Global Practices in Relation to Secret Detention in the Context of Countering Terrorism, U.N. Doc. A/HRC/13/42 (19 February 2010)………………………………………………………. D Republic v. Director of Immigration Services, ex parte Mohammed al-Asad (Habeas Corpus petition), High Court of Tanzania, 17 June 2004………………………………...E Amnesty International, United States of America: Below the radar- Secret flights to torture and ‘disappearance,’ 5 April 2006……………………………………………….F Prepared Remarks of Treasury Secretary John Snow to Announce Joint U.S. and Saudi Action Against Four Branches of Al-Haramain in the Financial War on Terror, JS-1107, 22 January 2004…………………………………………………………………………..G Henry Lyimo, Guardian (Dar es Salaam), Yemenis, Italians Expelled, 30 December 2003…………………………………………………………………………………...….H Roderick Ndomba, Daily News (Dar es Salaam), Dar Deports 2,367 Aliens, 30 December 2003……...……………………………..………………………………………………….I International Committee of the Red Cross, ICRC Report on the Treatment of Fourteen “High Value Detainees” in CIA Custody, 2007…………………………..……….……...J International Seismological Centre Earthquake Data…………………………………….K U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • Transcendence in the Animal: Guantanamo's Regime of Indefinite Detention and the Open in the Cage
    Volume 60 Issue 3 Article 5 11-1-2015 Transcendence in the Animal: Guantanamo's Regime of Indefinite Detention and the Open in the Cage Joseph Pugliese Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.law.villanova.edu/vlr Part of the National Security Law Commons Recommended Citation Joseph Pugliese, Transcendence in the Animal: Guantanamo's Regime of Indefinite Detention and the Open in the Cage, 60 Vill. L. Rev. 573 (2015). Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.villanova.edu/vlr/vol60/iss3/5 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Villanova Law Review by an authorized editor of Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law Digital Repository. \\jciprod01\productn\V\VLR\60-3\VLR305.txt unknown Seq: 1 15-OCT-15 8:57 2015] Pugliese: Transcendence in the Animal: Guantanamo's Regime of Indefinite De TRANSCENDENCE IN THE ANIMAL: GUANTANAMO’S´ REGIME OF INDEFINITE DETENTION AND THE OPEN IN THE CAGE JOSEPH PUGLIESE* N the closing pages of an essay in which Penny Pether tracks her unwa- Ivering “pursuit of the unspeakable,” she abruptly shifts location from Australia to Charlottesville, Virginia. Visiting Thomas Jefferson’s house, Monticello, she describes a scene that continues to haunt her: Monticello itself is dwarfed by the vast underground warren of rooms where slaves worked to keep the house going, its domestic beauty seeming like a lovely poisoned fungus feeding on hidden corruption. The enslaved
    [Show full text]
  • Cageprisoners Cageprisoners
    CAGEPRISONERS BEYOND THE LAW – The War on Terror’s Secret Network of Detentions AFRICA East Africa PRISON NAME LOCATION CONTROL SITE CONDITIONS DETAINEES STATUS Unknown Unknown East African Arabic Muhammad al-Assad was taken from his - Muhammad al- Suspected speaking jailers, with home in Tanzania and was only told that Assad Proxy Detention possibly Somali or orders had come from very high sources that Facility Ethiopian accents. he should be taken. The next thing he knew he had been taken on a plane for three hours to a very hot place. His jailers who would take him for interrogation spoke Arabic with a Somali or Ethiopian accent and had been served with bread that was typical of those regions. He was held in this prison for a period of about 2 weeks during which time he was interrogated by an English-speaking woman a white western man who spoke good Arabic. 1 Egypt Al Jihaz / State Situated in Nasr State Security Many former detainees have consistently - Ahmad Abou El Confirmed Security City which is in Intelligence approximated that cells within this centre are Maati Proxy Detention Intelligence an eastern roughly four feet wide and ten foot long, with - Maajid Nawaz Facility National suburb of Cairo many packed together, and with many more - Reza Pankhurst Headquarters detainees held within a small area. A torture - Ian Nesbit room is also alleged to be close by to these cells so that detainees, even when not being tortured themselves, were privy to the constant screams of others. Abou Zabel 20 miles from State Security El Maati reports that he spent some weeks in - Ahmad Abou El Confirmed the centre of Intelligence this prison.
    [Show full text]
  • Joint Expert Opinion in This Important Case
    1. Introduction The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) is an U.S.-based non-profit legal and educational organization dedicated to advancing and protecting the rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Founded in 1966 by lawyers that represented the civil rights movements in the south of the U.S. and currently based in New York, CCR has a long history of pursuing strategic public-interest litigation to ensure accountability for abuses in the exercise of executive power and to strengthen the rule of law. The European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) is an independent, non- profit legal and educational organization similarly dedicated to protecting civil and human rights throughout, and beyond, Europe. Founded by a small group of human rights lawyers in 2007 and based in Berlin, ECCHR aims to facilitate, support and directly engage in innovative litigation - using international, European and national laws - to enforce human rights standards and hold state and non-state actors accountable for egregious abuses. CCR and ECCHR have accrued considerable legal expertise on issues arising from the treatment of detainees at Guantánamo Bay and other U.S overseas prisons in the post 9-11 context, in undertaking complex litigation against senior U.S officials responsible for facilitating ill-treatment and torture, including of civilians and of ‘high value detainees’, worldwide and in advising on matters involving the application of extraterritorial jurisdiction and the principles of universal jurisdiction under international law. 1 We accordingly welcome this opportunity to provide our joint expert opinion in this important case.
    [Show full text]
  • RECKONING with TORTURE: Memos and Testimonies from the “War on Terror”
    RECKONING Memos and Testimonies with TORTURE from the “War on Terror” ACTIVISM TOOLKIT RECKONING with TORTURE: Memos and Testimonies from the “War on Terror” INSIDE Introduction How to Use This Resource Additional Resources “Reckoning with Torture” Script “Reckoning with Torture: Memos and Testimonies from the ‘War on Terror’” is a public education program designed to draw attention to the torture and abuse of detainees in U.S. custody. Modeled on a series of events first hosted by the ACLU and the PEN American Center, this toolkit will provide you with the basic materials needed to stage your own “Reckoning with Torture” event. Hosting a local event that brings attention to the torture and abuse of detainees since 9/11 will help build support for a full investigation of the torture program, and ensure that such atrocities are not re- peated again. INTRODUCTION Before the September 11th attacks, the United States condemned torture, protested secret tri- bunals, decried disappearances, and challenged secret and arbitrary detentions. But a growing public record of official documents and testimonies makes undeniably clear that prisoners were tortured, abused, and in some cases even killed in U.S. custody since 9/11, and that officials at the very highest levels of our government authorized and encouraged the mistreatment. Although the Obama administration has taken important steps toward ending the abuses, the world is watching to see whether the United States’ stated commitment to human rights and the rule of law extends to investigating and prosecuting its own post 9/11 abuses. It is essential for our security and for our standing in the world that we condemn these violations of our Constitu- tion and of domestic and international law, and that we hold accountable those who authorized the abuse and torture of prisoners in America’s name.
    [Show full text]
  • Omar Deghayes.Qxd
    June 2005 AI Index: AMR 51/088/2005 USA Who are the Guantánamo detainees? CASE SHEET 9 Libyan citizen/UK resident: Omar Deghayes Full name: Omar Deghayes Nationality: Libyan citizen/UK resident Age: 35 Family status: Married with a three- year-old son © Private Occupation: Lawyer Background in Brighton and studied law in British universities. A devout Muslim, Omar Deghayes visited prisoners to “If torture and abuse had a smell, offer them support. Omar Deghayes’ ambition was none of the American soldiers would to be a human rights lawyer. be able to sit next to anyone else.” In 2001, Omar Deghayes decided to travel with Omar Deghayes a friend and look for work. He went to Malaysia, Pakistan and eventually Afghanistan, where he married In March 1980 Amnesty International issued an Urgent and had a son. Action featuring a Libyan trade union leader and political When the international conflict in Afghanistan opponent of Colonel Mu’ammar al-Gaddafi. He had been started after the 11 September 2001 attacks in the arrested by Libyan secret police and was executed three USA, Omar Deghayes fled to Pakistan with his wife days later. The Urgent Action stated that the man had and baby. They were planning to return to the UK five children. One of those children is Omar Deghayes. when they were arrested in Lahore in April 2002, Omar Deghayes and his family managed to flee reportedly for a bounty of US$5,000. persecution in Libya and were eventually granted Omar Deghayes was caught up as an “enemy political asylum in the UK.
    [Show full text]
  • The Public Record \273 Judge D...
    The Public Record » Judge Denies Habeas Petition Of An Ill And Abused... http://pubrecord.org/law/7605/judge-denies-habeas-petition-abused/print/ - The Public Record - http://pubrecord.org - Judge Denies Habeas Petition Of An Ill And Abused Libyan Detained At Guantanamo Posted By Andy Worthington On May 11, 2010 @ 10:11 pm In Law | 1 Comment Photo: Brennan Linsley/AFP On April 20, unnoticed by any media outlet whatsoever, a Libyan prisoner at Guantánamo, Omar Mohammed Khalifh (also identified as Omar Abu Bakr) lost his habeas corpus petition . I learned about the ruling through a “Guantánamo Habeas Scorecard” maintained by the Center for Constitutional Rights , but although Judge James Robertson’s unclassified opinion is not yet available, to ascertain why he decided that the government had met its burden of proof in establishing that Khalifh was part of, or supported al-Qaeda and/or the Taliban, at least part of his story — and of the government’s allegations — can be found through publicly available documents , and through representations made on his behalf by his lawyer, Edmund Burke. Other information has been provided to me by the former Guantánamo prisoner Omar Deghayes , who is aware of how Khalifh has been treated at Guantánamo over the last eight years. As I explained in my book The Guantánamo Files , drawing on the publicly available information, Khalifh (or Abu Bakr) was seized during a series of house raids in Karachi, Pakistan in February 2002, which led to the capture of Abdu Ali Sharqawi, a Yemeni also identified as Sharqwi Abdu Ali al-Hajj, and more commonly known as Riyadh the Facilitator, and at least 15 other men.
    [Show full text]