LGC Newsletter – October 2023

Guantánamo Bay

In a ruling on 27 October, the British investigatory powers tribunal (IPT) “said it will open a second investigation into allegations that the intelligence services” were involved in the mistreatment of a current Guantánamo prisoner, Yemeni Abd Al-Nashiri, and would examine a complaint filed on his behalf.

“Lawyers for Nashiri have argued that there is an “irresistible inference” that the UK’s intelligence agencies, including MI5, MI6 and GCHQ, participated in intelligence sharing relating to al-Nashiri and “were complicit in his torture and ill-treatment”.

“The IPT’s decision to investigate the claims comes after it agreed in May to examine a similar complaint by another man held at Guantánamo, Mustafa al-Hawsawi.

“In its latest ruling, the IPT – a specialist judicial body that hears complaints against the intelligence services – said the underlying issues in both cases “are of the gravest possible kind”.”

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/oct/29/second-investigation-to-open-into-role-of-british-spies-in-torture-of-guantanamo-detainee

 

Lawyers for two Malaysian prisoners, Mohammed Farik Bin Amin, 48, and Mohammed Nazir Bin Lep, 46, have negotiated plea deals with prosecutors, to be entered early next year, along with their sentencing. They agreed to “plead guilty to war crimes charges for being accessories” to the 2002 Bali bombings. Charged along with Indonesian prisoners “Hambali”, Encep Nurjaman, the former CIA secret torture prison detainees have had their case severed from his. They are accused of having served as money couriers and providing support to Hambali, who now faces trial alone. The maximum punishment is a life sentence.

“The military disclosed the existence of the deal this week with the release of a court filing by prosecutors and lawyers for Mr. Bin Amin, which scheduled a hearing starting Jan. 15 for the entry of a plea, assembling a military panel and sentencing. The terms were under seal, including any limits on his prison sentence, where he would serve it and whether his testimony was sought against Mr. Nurjaman. Less is known about when Mr. Bin Lep will be sentenced. On Thursday, his lawyer, Brian Bouffard, said only that “Mr. Bin Lep will fully cooperate with the U.S. government.” Christine Funk, the lawyer for Mr. Bin Amin, declined to discuss the deal. But people with knowledge of the agreements said the men were seeking to be sent to a rehabilitation program for Muslim extremists in Malaysia.”

LGC Newsletter – October 2021

 Guantánamo Bay

As part of an ongoing investigation in Poland into its collusion with the CIA’s extraordinary rendition torture programme, particularly in relation to Guantánamo prisoner Abu Zubaydah, who has already successfully prosecuted the country for its involvement in crimes against humanity, a hearing was held at the United States Supreme Court in a case brought by his lawyers to order two CIA contractors, considered the architects of the extraordinary rendition programme, to testify about the torture he faced at an illegal secret CIA prison in Poland.

During the hearing, three of the nine judges on the panel asked why he could not speak himself: ““Why not make the witness available? What is the government’s objection to the witness testifying on his own treatment and not requiring any addition from the government of any kind?” Justice Neil Gorsuch asked.” At the same time, “The US government is blocking the request, arguing that questioning [James] Mitchell and [John] Jessen would reveal “state secrets”. After legal battles in the lower courts, the case has made it to the Supreme Court.” The judges also questioned why Abu Zubaydah remained at Guantánamo after so many years without charge or trial.

Lawyers for Abu Zubaydah, who has been held at Guantánamo without charge or trial since 2006, after over three years of illegal secret detention and torture by the CIA at locations around the world, have also filed cases at the United Nations and may also do so in the UK to obtain further information and details about the torture he faced.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/10/6/us-top-court-hears-guantanamo-detainee-state-secrets-case

Following the hearing, the Biden administration said it would allow Abu Zubaydah to testify in a written declaration to Polish investigators about the treatment he received in CIA detention; however, his statement is likely to be redacted to protect US torturers. The US government claims that nonetheless, this “would not prevent him from describing his treatment while in CIA custody.”

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/10/18/us-to-allow-guantanamo-detainee-to-pen-letter-on-cia-mistreatment

Following this news, one of Abu Zubaydah’s lawyers David Klein, wrote to the Supreme Court asking it to wait until the Biden administration explains what it means about allowing Abu Zubaydah to make a written statement and how much of it will be disclosed to the Polish investigators before deciding on the case. In his letter, Klein stated: “the Government will allow Abu Zubaydah to submit a written declaration about his treatment at the hands of the CIA so long as the CIA authorizes it.”

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/guantanamo-lawyer-says-case-should-be-put-hold-supreme-court

Full letter: https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/20/20-827/197445/20211025123903253_AZ%202021.10.25%20Letter%20to%20Mr.%20Harris%204872-4094-1312%20v.1.pdf

 

The prisoner reviewer board has cleared two more prisoners for release. Yemeni Sanad Yislam al-Kazimi, 51, and Afghan Assadullah Haroon Gul, 40, were both cleared for release on 7 October by the review board. It has been recommended that al-Kazimi is sent to Oman, in view of the ongoing war in Yemen. Neither has been tried or charged while held at Guantánamo.

https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20211014-us-approves-freeing-two-guantanamo-detainees

In Gul’s case, following a habeas corpus application to review his prisoner status and grounds for detention filed in 2016, two weeks later, a US judge granted his application and ruled that there is no legal basis for him to be held at Guantánamo; such a ruling has not been made in over a decade. The details and reasoning of the ruling remain classified.

In spite of this ruling, and two more prisoners being cleared for release, it does not mean that any prisoners will be released soon or that plans are underway to facilitate this.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/10/21/judge-says-us-held-afghan-militant-unlawfully-at-guantanamo-bay

 

Following their arraignment in late August, more than 15 years after arriving at Guantánamo, one of two Malaysian prisoners in a case also involving an Indonesian prisoner has filed a motion to have the arraignment, at which they were given details of the charges against them, annulled as “a Malay translator provided by the US government was incompetent and an Indonesian translator helping the prosecution was biased.” Malaysian “Mohammed Nazir Lep said the Indonesian translator had stated last year that “I don’t know why the government is wasting so much money on these terrorists; they should have been killed a long time ago”. A motion posted on the website of the US Military Commission’s office said the “real and apparent bias prevented her from functioning as a true, accurate and impartial voice of the court”.” At the hearing, the three men refused to enter a plea, “citing incompetence of the translators which resulted in inaccurate translations.” The matter also delayed the hearing. Nazir’s lead counsel Brian Bouffard said “the US government had not secured a competent Malay translator “despite the extraordinary amount of time the government has had to prepare for the prosecution of this case”. Lawyers are asking for the arraignment to held again, properly.

https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2021/10/18/malaysian-in-guantanamo-terror-trial-says-translator-was-biased/

 

The UAE has repatriated the remaining 12 Yemeni former Guantánamo prisoners it accepted from the US between 2015 and 2017. A group of 6 others were repatriated to Yemen in July where they were quickly released and reunited with their families. The 12 men arrived in Yemen on 27 October and their families were asked to come to a military base to meet them after release. Although the UAE government has not commented, the Yemeni government has said that those released in July received some funds from the UAE and Yemeni governments. The UN and human rights organisations have condemned the forced repatriations by the UAE and have claimed that the men were told to return to Yemen or face indefinite detention in the UAE; they had been detained in some form since their “release” from Guantánamo by the US to the country.

https://www.reuters.com/world/uae-sends-12-former-guantanamo-detainees-yemen-lawyer-official-2021-10-28/

 

During his sentencing hearing, for the first time, Guantánamo prisoner Majid Khan described some of the torture he suffered at the hands of the CIA. This torture was used to extract his confession and convict him in a secret plea bargain. Although he may be freed next year in spite of being given a 26-year sentence, almost a decade after he was convicted, those involved in his torture remain free, in spite of having committed crimes against humanity that were detailed in the 2014 US Senate report into the CIA’s torture programme. He said he was “left terrified and hallucinating”. “Khan spoke of being suspended naked from a ceiling beam for long periods, doused repeatedly with ice water to keep him awake for days. He described having his head held under water to the point of near drowning, only to have water poured into his nose and mouth when the interrogators let him up. He was beaten, given forced enemas, sexually assaulted and starved in overseas prisons whose locations were not disclosed. “I would beg them to stop and swear to them that I didn’t know anything,” said Khan, reading from a 39-page statement. “If I had intelligence to give I would have given it already but I didn’t have anything to give.””

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/oct/29/going-die-guantanamo-prisoner-torture-testimony

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/10/29/in-first-guatanamo-detainee-details-cia-torture-in-court

LGC Newsletter – August 2021

 Guantánamo Bay

After 18 years of US detention, first in secret CIA torture facilities and then at Guantánamo, an Indonesian and two Malaysian prisoners accused of involvement in the 2002 Bali bombings had an arraignment hearing on 30 August, at which they were to be formally informed of the charges against them. They face eight and nine charges respectively which include conspiracy, attempted murder, murder, intentionally causing serious bodily injury, terrorism, destruction of property, and attacking civilians and civilian objects. The hearing which was due to take place in early 2021 was postponed due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Ahead of the hearing, the case acquired a new judge and Indonesian prisoner Hambali’s defence lawyer for the past 4 years, Major James Valentine, retired from the US Marines and the case. In spite of the extra time to organise the hearing, it was plagued by problems with interpreters which led to it being delayed on the first day.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/31/us/politics/guantanamo-bali-bombing-charges.html

 

Ahead of the resumption of pre-trial hearings in the case of five men accused of involvement in terrorist attacks in New York City in September 2001 next month, the fourth judge in the case, which has yet to have a trial date set 20 years after the events took place, has been appointed. Lt. Col. Matthew McColl has been appointed to the case even though he only qualified to hear death penalty cases in July and has served as a military judge for two years.  https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/20/us/politics/military-judge-sept-11-trial.html

In early August, defence lawyers for the five defendants filed a motion to have the hearing set back in view of the Covid-19 restrictions and the lack of a judge in the case, among other matters. https://int.nyt.com/data/documenttools/ae-815-k-ksm-mtr-ae-815-j-scheduling-ord/a9e136e668f86605/full.pdf The new judge, however, has approved the two-week hearing set to start 6 September.

 

Extraordinary Rendition

Pakistani neuroscientist Dr Aafia Siddiqui, who “disappeared” with her 3 young children in Pakistan in 2003 and reappeared in US custody in Afghanistan several years, currently serving an 86-year sentence in the US, is reported to have been injured after being attacked by an inmate at the maximum security prison she is being held at in Texas. A cup filled with scalding liquid was thrown in her face injuring her and leaving her in serious pain; she had to be removed from her cell in a wheelchair. During her detention, Dr Siddiqui has had limited access to her family and her lawyers.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1641831

 

LGC Activities

The September monthly Shut Guantánamo! protest is on Thursday 2^nd September at 12-2pm outside the US Embassy in Nine Elms (Nine Elms Lane, SW11 7US, nearest underground: Vauxhall).  https://www.facebook.com/events/366996018133518/ If you require more details about this event, please email us at london.gtmo [at] gmail.com

LGC Newsletter – June 2021

Guantánamo Bay

A military judge in the case of Abd al-Rahim Al-Nashiri, facing the death penalty at Guantánamo in relation to his alleged connection to the bombing of the USS Cole off the coast of Yemen in 2000, has allowed an application by the prosecution to admit information obtained through torture to be used as evidence in his case. Col. Lanny J. Acosta Jr. ruled in May to allow prosecutors to use torture evidence “in a limited capacity at pre-trial hearings”. Evidence obtained through the use of torture is generally illegal and inadmissible in almost all countries around the world. Lawyers for Al-Nashiri are now appealing to the United States Court of Military Commission Review board to reverse this ruling, stating “'No court has ever sanctioned the use of torture in this way”. Such a decision and request by the prosecution and its attempts to withhold evidence from Al-Nashiri’s defence team show desperation in its efforts to prosecute him. Al-Nashiri has successfully prosecuted European states for their role in his torture and rendition. The next pre-trial hearings in his case are scheduled for September.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9650835/Military-judge-allows-information-obtained-TORTURE-used-case-terror-suspect.html

https://www.justsecurity.org/76985/how-the-biden-administration-should-take-torture-derived-evidence-off-the-table/

 

Two Yemeni prisoners held at Guantánamo since 2004 have been cleared for release by the Periodic Review Board, bringing the number of prisoners held at Guantánamo who can be transferred to 11 out of 40 prisoners. The two men are Abd al-Salam al-Hilah and Sharqawi Abdu Ali al-Hajj.

https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/two-yemeni-men-held-guantanamo-approved-transfer-2021-06-18/

Three Guantánamo prisoners – Indonesian Hambali and Malaysians Mohammed Nazir bin Lep and Mohammed Farik bin Amin – who all arrived at Guantánamo in 2006 following years of detention in secret CIA torture facilities around the world will be arraigned on 30 August on charges of involvement in the Bali bombing of 2002 and a bombing in Jakarta in 2003, formally starting proceedings in the case which was reportedly postponed due to coronavirus. All are charged with “conspiracy, murder, attempted murder, intentionally causing serious bodily injury, terrorism, attacking civilians, attacking civilian objects, and destruction of property” and the two Malaysians face an additional charge of “accessory after the fact”. The case does not carry the death penalty. In spite of US detention for 18 years and at Guantánamo for 15 years, this will be the first time they are formally charged. The evidence obtained in their cases was obtained through torture in secret CIA torture facilities.

https://www.benarnews.org/english/news/indonesian/arraignment-scheduled-06282021161907.html

 

Extraordinary Rendition

The US Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by US military contractor CACI International Inc. against a 2019 judgment that ruled that the company was not immune from prosecution as a government contractor. This means that a 2008 case brought by three Iraqi men against the company for directing their torture at Abu Ghraib Prison in Iraq is closer to going ahead: “The three plaintiffs - Suhail Al Shimari, Salah Al-Ejaili and As'ad Al-Zuba'e - are Iraqi civilians who said they were detained at Abu Ghraib and eventually released without charge. CACI has called the lawsuit baseless”. The case is brought under the Alien Tort Statute of 1789.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-supreme-court-rebuffs-defense-contractors-abu-ghraib-torture-appeal-2021-06-28/

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/6/28/us-supreme-court-rejects-contractors-abu-ghraib-torture-appeal

 

LGC Activities

The LGC joined the G7 protest outside Downing Street on 12 June and the People’s Assembly protest on 26 June where we handed out leaflets and raised awareness about the continuing situation at Guantánamo Bay, where 40 prisoners remain almost 20 years on.

The LGC is also resuming its physical presence outside the US Embassy London with our regular Shut Guantánamo! protests (which we have held since 2007) on Thursday 1^st July at 12-2pm outside the US Embassy in Nine Elms (Nine Elms Lane, SW11 7US, nearest underground: Vauxhall). We are usually found away from the main road in the pedestrianised area outside the embassy and near the housing development opposite it; please walk around the embassy to find us. We can provide orange jumpsuits and banners but you are welcome to bring your own. For more details: https://www.facebook.com/events/379910286772908

 

LGC Newsletter – January 2021

 Guantánamo Bay

Prior to the inauguration of new US president Joe Biden, the Pentagon took action to prevent an order being enforced that was made by a federal judge in March last year to allow Saudi prisoner Mohammed Al-Qahtani to have an independent medical examination. The purpose of the examination is to determine his mental health, which was poor when he was captured and arrived at Guantánamo, in order to determine whether it would be better for him to return to Saudi Arabia for psychiatric care. Due to the torture Al-Qahtani suffered in US detention, worsening his schizophrenia and mental health problems, charges against him were dropped and he remains held without charge or trial for over a decade. No independent medical examination has ever taken place at Guantánamo. However, Army Secretary Ryan D. McCarthy, before leaving office, “signed a two-page memorandum on Monday excluding detainees at Guantánamo from the regulation that was the basis of the court order”. As a result the Justice Department asked for the judge’s order to be thrown out. Joe Biden could reverse this decision. He has yet to take any action over Guantánamo. There are concerns that if Al-Qahtani’s examination goes ahead and he is repatriated, other prisoners may bring similar claims. On the other hand, an independent examination would reveal more about the torture he experienced.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/15/us/politics/guantanamo-prisoner-health-torture.html

Signalling that there is likely to be little change at Guantánamo under Biden, on 21 January, the Pentagon “announced plans to move ahead with a military trial for three men held at Guantánamo Bay who are suspected of involvement in the 2002 Bali bombings”. The trio, from Indonesia and two from Malaysia, are having charges brought against them in this case for third time and a first hearing has been set for 22 February. The Indonesian faces 8 charges and the Malaysians 9 in total. All three were victims of extraordinary rendition and were kidnapped in 2003 and tortured at various CIA secret prisons around the world before arriving at Guantánamo Bay in 2006. Their countries have resisted their repatriation and Obama, in his attempts to empty the detention centre, tried to have the Indonesian, known as Hambali, released for trial to Malaysia where he would face the death penalty. The current charges, however, are non-capital and include conspiracy, murder and terrorism.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jan/22/bali-bombings-us-to-move-ahead-with-trial-of-suspects-held-in-guantanamo

Extraordinary Rendition

Guantánamo prisoner Abu Zubaydah is suing the British government (Foreign Office, Home Office and Attorney General) over claims that MI6 were involved in his torture interrogations that emerged in a parliamentary report by the Intelligence and Security Committee in 2019, which stated that in spite of being aware of his torture and illegal detention, the intelligence services kept sending questions to be put to him by their US counterparts up until 2006 at least. Following the 2019 report, a police investigation was launched as it provided sufficient evidence.

Abu Zubaydah was kidnapped in 2002 and tortured at various secret CIA prisons around the world before arriving at Guantánamo in 2006, where very few people have seen him or had contact with him. His family believed he was dead for many years. His case was used to capture and implicate dozens of other foreign nationals in Pakistan but the US stated that it knew he was innocent by at least 2006. Nonetheless he has remained at Guantánamo since without charge or trial. He has successfully sued Poland and Lithuania for their roles in his ordeal.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9168851/Guantanamo-Bay-prisoner-sues-British-government-claiming-MI6-complicit-torture.html

 

LGC Activities:

The London Guantánamo Campaign held an online day of protest on Monday 11 January 2021 to mark the nineteenth anniversary of the opening of the Guantánamo Bay detention camp. Thank you to everyone who took part and contributed to our Twitter storm.

 

LGC Newsletter – August 2019

Guantánamo Bay

Pre-trial hearings continued at Guantánamo in the case of Abdul Hadi Al-Iraqi (who claims his real name is Nashwan Al-Tamir), accused of fighting against the US in Afghanistan after the war broke out there in 2001; his trial is expected to start in 2020. The hearing proceeded slowly with formal matters, and due to back problems and pain in his spine, the defendant did not attend all of the hearing which was delayed at times. Issues covered included a legal filing against two former employees working on the case, including a judge, for a conflict of interest, after they applied for civilian jobs at the Department of Justice while working on the case. Others involved in the case were also questioned concerning their involvement and connections to other officials.

During the hearing, Al-Iraqi’s lawyers tried to get a federal court to stop the current pre-trial hearing to consider whether he is medically competent to take part in the hearing. In addition, they sought to get access to Camp 7 where he is residing to look at the conditions of his confinement and whether that can impact the case. As part of this claim, statements made by a former commander, Rear Adm. John C. Ring, at Guantánamo, who was fired in April without a reason given, were considered. For over one year, he had been seeking to have Camp 7 closed and replaced by a Camp 8 with better facilities for inmates. During consideration of this point, it was revealed that Ring was fired for “mishandling classified information and not being truthful about it,” according to one prosecutor. The case is in recess until October.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/28/us/politics/guantanamo-commander-john-ring-fired.html

The judge in the case of five men accused of involvement in attacks on New York City in September 2001, Judge Col W Shane Cohen, has set a tentative trial start date of 11 January 2021 for their case. The men were charged in 2008 and face the death penalty but pre-trial hearings have proceeded slowly and have been stopped for over a year at some stages with many outstanding issues still to be resolved. The date is tentative and the trial start may not happen but having taken over the case recently Cohen is keen for matters to proceed.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/aug/30/khalid-shaikh-mohammad-9-11-trial-start-date   

Following new charges filed earlier this year against Indonesian prisoner Hambali, accused of involvement in the Bali bombings in 2002, the FBI has visited Malaysia on several occasions to conduct interviews and collect evidence ahead of a potential trial. Lawyers for Hambali have also interviewed at least one witness in Malaysia. Two Malaysians are held at Guantánamo and were arrested with Hambali. The Malaysian authorities said they cooperated with the FBI and are also still seeking to get the two Malaysians repatriated, although the decision is up to the US. Hambali’s lawyer does not believe he will be tried, if at all, in open court due to evidence in the case having been obtained through torture at secret CIA prisons.

https://www.benarnews.org/english/news/malaysian/Hambali-terorrism-08302019194538.html

LGC Activities:

The September Shut Guantánamo! demo will be on 5^th September at 12-2pm outside the US Embassy, Nine Elms Lane, SW11 (nearest underground: Vauxhall): https://www.facebook.com/events/2382928988470574/