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 – 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/