Guantánamo Bay
A US appeals court has rejected a
habeas corpus petition from Algerian prisoner Abdul Razak Ali and dismissed his
lawyers’ argument that due process rights apply to Guantánamo prisoners. Abdul
Razak Ali has been held by the US military since 2002 without charge. The judgment shows that the US is still relying on now debunked myths about the
apparent risk posed by fellow prisoner Abu Zubaydah, whom the judgment called a
“senior terrorist leader”; Ali had spent 18 days in the same Pakistani guesthouse
Abu Zubaydah was caught in. In 2018, Ali was one of eleven prisoners who
brought a case against their detention as being unconstitutional. The case is
ongoing, however Ali’s claim in this case was dismissed and thus he appealed
individually.
Due to coronavirus-related
lockdowns at Guantánamo, the scheduled trial of five men accused of involvement
in attacks on New York City in 2001 is likely to be delayed further. Currently,
lawyers are not able to visit their clients or have telephone contact with
them. Furthermore, lawyers working remotely do not have access to all of the
security-vetted evidence. Pre-trial hearings scheduled for the coming months
have also been put back.
Although no recent cases of
coronavirus have been reported at Guantánamo since the initial two among
military personnel, and none among the prisoner population, the US military
remains secretive about the procedures in place and troop rotations have taken
place during the lockdown. A group of senators has thus written to the defence
secretary expressing concern “about the potential for a “significant outbreak”
of the coronavirus at the Pentagon prison at Guantánamo Bay” and seeking “answers
to how the military is safeguarding the 40 prisoners there and the American
forces responsible for them.”
The Inter-American Commission on
Human Rights (IACHR) issued its final report on human rights violations committed
by the US government against former Algerian prisoner Djamel Ameziane. The
report found the US responsible for his torture and illegal detention without
charge. It “is the first decision ever made by a major regional Human Rights
body regarding the human rights violations committed at the Guantanamo Bay
prison camp and marks a historic victory for
Mr. Ameziane and the rights of others detained at Guantanamo Bay to
judicial reparations.” Ameziane said: “I was tortured for more than a decade at
Guantanamo, and still suffer from the trauma of my horrible experience. The Commission’s decision is a significant
step towards reparations for me and for other Muslim men and boys who were
unjustly detained and abused in Guantanamo Bay during the dark days of the ‘War
on Terror’. I urge the United States to honor the Commission's recommendations,
acknowledge the serious harms that we suffered, and close the prison camp. Guantanamo Bay must end. I am especially concerned about my fellow
Algerian, Sufyian Barhoumi, who has been cleared for transfer for many years
but continues to be held indefinitely.
Sufyian, we have not forgotten you, and pray for your safe return home”.
The report made recommendations including the payment of reparations.
LGC Activities:
With the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the London Guantánamo
Campaign’s monthly Shut Guantánamo! demonstration will be held virtually at
12-2pm on Thursday 4 June. To take part, please email a photo/video of your
banner to us at london.gtmo@gmail.com before 12pm on
4 June or share your picture/video to our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/London-Guantánamo-Campaign-114010671973111/ or via Twitter (or just a message – some possible messages
available through the link below) @shutguantanamo between 12 and 2pm on
Thursday 4 June. More details here: https://www.facebook.com/events/250151392977927/
