OMAR AHMED KHADR, ) Appellant, ) ) Case Nos
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Case 1:04-cv-01136-JDB Document 170-2 Filed 04/20/2007 Page 1 of 4 IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CIRCUIT ______________________________ ) OMAR AHMED KHADR, ) Appellant, ) ) Case Nos. 05-5064 (Lead) ) 05-5103 (Appellant) ) 05-5104 (Appellee) v. ) ) GEORGE W. BUSH, et al., ) Appellees. ) ______________________________) APPELLANT OMAR KHADR’S MOTION TO HOLD CASE IN ABEYANCE AND TO STAY ISSUANCE OF MANDATE PENDING SUPREME COURT DETERMINTION OF PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI Appellant Omar Khadr respectfully requests that this Court hold his case in abeyance, specifically in regard to the Government’s Motion to Govern Further Proceedings, and withhold issuance of its mandate to dismiss, pending the outcome of Mr. Khadr’s Petition for Writ of Certiorari in the U.S. Supreme Court. Unlike the other habeas petitioners in Al Odah v. United States (No. 05-5064), whose petition for certiorari was denied on April 2, 2007, Mr. Khadr’s petition for certiorari is still pending before the Supreme Court. Holding his case in abeyance and issuing a stay is appropriate because if certiorari is granted, action in this Court or the district court may be unnecessary. The relief requested here is identical to that already granted by this Court to Mr. Khadr’s co-petitioner before the Supreme Court, Salim Hamdan, in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld (No. 07-5042). On March 5, 2007, Petitioners in Al Odah v. United States (No. 05-5064) filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari, appealing this Court’s decision issued on February 20, 2007. Mr. Khadr, although a litigant in that case, declined to join the Al Odah petition. Rather, Mr. Khadr joined another Guantánamo detainee, Salim Hamdan, in filing a Petition for Writ of Certiorari and Writ Case 1:04-cv-01136-JDB Document 170-2 Filed 04/20/2007 Page 2 of 4 of Certiorari Before Judgment to the Supreme Court on February 27, 2007 (No 06-1169). The Government’s opposition was filed on March 30, 2007, and Mr. Khadr and Mr. Hamdan filed a reply brief on April 10, 2007. It is expected that the Hamdan-Khadr Petition will be considered by the Supreme Court at its conference on April 27, 2007. This Court has already granted Mr. Hamdan the relief that his co-petitioner, Mr. Khadr, seeks here. On February 6, 2007, Mr. Hamdan filed in this Court a motion to hold briefing and related action on his appeal in abeyance, pending either action on his and Mr. Khadr’s then- anticipated petition for writ of certiorari or the Court’s ruling in the Al-Odah and Boumediene cases. On March 22, 2007, this Court granted Mr. Hamdan’s motion to hold the case in abeyance while the Hamdan-Khadr Petition for Writ of Certiorari is pending. This Court also directed Mr. Hamdan to file status reports at 90-day intervals beginning 90 days from the date of the order, and also directed both parties to file motions to govern future proceedings within 30 days of the Supreme Court’s disposition on the aforementioned Petition for Writ of Certiorari. Mr. Khadr also notes that he has joined the Al Odah petitioners’ Motion for Extension of Time to Respond to the Government’s Motion to Govern Further Proceedings, which was filed with this Court on March 22, 2007. That motion was granted in part on April 11, 2007, ordering that motions be filed by April 12, 2007. It is appropriate to hold Mr. Khadr’s case in abeyance for the same reason that it was with respect to Mr. Hamdan’s: because the very jurisdictional issue decided by this Court in Al Odah and Boumediene is still pending in the Hamdan-Khadr petition for certiorari, a decision by the Supreme Court to grant certiorari may moot the need for action by this Court. Moreover, Mr. Khadr is unable to provide a meaningful response to the Government’s Motion to Govern Further Proceedings until the disposition of his petition for certiorari is decided. Mr. Khadr 2 Case 1:04-cv-01136-JDB Document 170-2 Filed 04/20/2007 Page 3 of 4 therefore requests that any briefing schedules and all future action in this matter be set 30 days after the Supreme Court’s decision on the Hamdan-Khadr petition for writ of certiorari.. WHEREFORE, for all the foregoing reasons, Mr. Khadr respectfully requests that this Court hold Mr. Khadr’s case in abeyance and stay issuance of its mandate pending a decision by the Supreme Court on the Hamdan-Khadr petition for writ of certiorari. Respectfully submitted, _/s/ _________________________ Muneer I. Ahmad (D.C. Bar No. 483131) Kristine A. Huskey (D.C. Bar No. 462979) Richard J. Wilson (D.C. Bar No. 425026) American University Washington College of Law International Human Rights Law Clinic 4801 Massachusetts Ave., N.W. Washington, D.C. 20016 (202) 274-4147 Counsel for Appellant Omar Khadr 3 Case 1:04-cv-01136-JDB Document 170-2 Filed 04/20/2007 Page 4 of 4 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that today, April __, 2007, a copy of the foregoing Appellant Omar Khadr’s Motion to Hold Case in Abeyance and to Stay Issuance of Mandate Pending Supreme Court Determination of Petition For Writ of Certiorari was sent by Federal Express overnight service to: Robert M. Loeb Attorney, Appellate Staff Civil Division, Room 7268 U.S. Department of Justice 950 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W. Washington, D.C. 20530-0001 ______________________________ Muneer I. Ahmad 4.