To: U.S District Court
Tarek Mehanna is a 27 year old Muslim Egyptian American born and raised in the United States. Highly educated, Tarek holds a doctorate in pharmacy from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy. He is a devout and tolerant Muslim who is not only respected in the local Islamic and interfaith communities, but who also gives back to his Islamic community by fulfilling the roles of brother, educator, mentor, scholar, and friend. Tarek is described by those who know him well as humble, reserved, warm, peaceful, intelligent, knowledgeable, reflective, pragmatic, dedicated, and straightforward. He is a person with strong ethical values who refuses to compromise on them regardless of the circumstances. It is unfortunate then that this customarily admirable trait plays a role in his current situation.
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Shaker Aamer is the last London resident being held in Guantánamo Bay. He is a long term British resident, a 42 year old Saudi national, with a British family, including a 7 year old son he has never met. Shortly after the US-led invasion of Afghanistan it is believed Shaker, like hundreds of others, was sold by tribal warlords and during detention suffered vicious torture in the dark Prison in Kabul. He eventually ended up in Guantanamo where much of his time has been spent in solitary confinement. According to David Rose (author and human rights investigative journalist ‘Guantanamo: America’s War on Human Rights’) so many innocent people “ended up there as a result of military-intelligence screening procedures in Afghanistan and elswhere that were flawed and inadequate, made still worse by the use of woefully poor and virtually untrained translators”. Shaker Aamer’s story is a terrible human tragedy. Shaker has a seven year old son he has never met and his oldest child remembers him only from photographs. A family has been ripped apart for no legal or apparent reason and eight years on it is way past time for justice to be done – Shaker needs to be returned home to London. Shaker Aamer has been described by MOAZZAM BEGG (author ‘Enemy Combatant’ & ex-Guantanamo detainee) as a smiling, caring and unforgettable person who was very well-known in the south London area. Shaker has never been tried or charged and yet has been held in solitary confinement for far longer periods than other prisoners. During his time in Guantanamo Shaker Aamer has protested against the injustices at the prison. By LGR Last night I ran into this article that stated:
This was disturbing, to say the least. After all, aren’t human rights for everyone? Amnesty, or at least Gita Sahgal decides who should have the support of a human rights group? Take note of the comments on that site, there are some good ones. Continue reading Amnesty International, Gita Sahgal, and Islamophobia Bil’in Popular Committee Against Wall and Settlements Mohammed Khatib of the Bil’in Popular Committee against the Wall and Settlements was released from jail on Wednesday night Feb. 3rd, 2010. The military had taken Khatib from his home in Bilin on January 28th for allegedly not complying with legal conditions from a arrest in 2009. He was released on a bail of 10,000 Israeli shekels, with the condition of not participating in any of the weekly protests. He must appear at the nearest Israeli police station every Friday between 12:00- 5:00pm. The night of Khatib’s release, the Israeli military conducted their second raid of the month in Bilin Village. Ibrahim Burnat a resident of Bilin and activist against the wall was arrested in his home early Thursday morning, along with local photojournalist Hamde Abu Rahmeh and an international journalist who were documenting the invasion. Abu Rahmeh and the journalist were held at the Binyamin police station for approximately 12 hours until their release. The international journalist from the United States was released with the condition of not being allowed in the West Bank for 15 days with the threat of deportation if the condition was broken. Ibrahim Burnat remains in jail. Continue reading Mohammad Khatib released as 3 more arrested in Bil’in night raids From Global Voices for Justice: In the name of Allaah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful In light of the recent unjust verdict handed down by a jury so blinded by hate, that despite the lack of any evidence decided to label our dear sister ‘Aafia Siddiqui as guilty. Let this be a wake up call for the Muslim Ummah, a reminder that our people will continue to be persecuted until we stand up and respond to the cries of our sisters and children. Allaah alone knows how many more ‘Aafias are out there. And how many more children are being tortured and killed in the name of America’s [and the entire West] “War on Terror”. Let us not show any weakness because even though our sister ‘Aafia has been through unimaginable ordeal, she has continued to stand tall and strong. Despite her frailty, she shines like a bright star leading us by an example. Request for international arrest warrantsA leading US professor of law has filed a complaint with the International Criminal Court prosecutor against former US President George W. Bush and a number of his senior lieutenants alleging crimes against humanity for their policy and practice of “extraordinary rendition” and requesting that the ICC prosecutor obtain international arrest warrants against Mr Bush and his co-accused. Professor Francis A. Boyle of the University of Illinois College of Law in Champaign, USA, has filed a complaint with the prosecutor for the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague against US citizens George W. Bush, Richard Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, George Tenet, Condoleezza Rice and Alberto Gonzales (the “Accused”) for their criminal policy and practice of “extraordinary rendition” perpetrated upon about 100 human beings. by Max Fisher Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair told to Congress Wednesday that the U.S. can target Americans to be killed if it believes they are involved in terrorism. This supports an earlier report that the CIA and JSOC maintain White House-approved “kill lists” of three to four Americans. Blair articulated the policy as requiring high-level approval but did not mention Congressional oversight or judicial review. He described the criteria as “whether that American is involved in a group that is trying to attack us, whether that American is a threat to other Americans.” So far, the only confirmed American target is Anwar al-Awlaki. The vagueness of Blair’s criteria, as well as the assertion that Awlaki meets those criteria, raises the question: What gets an American citizen on the kill lists? A 1981 executive order signed by President Reagan explicitly bans assassination by the U.S. government. However, in 2002, the Bush administration issued a secret finding allowing the CIA to target Americans directly involved in terrorism. American citizen Kamal Derwish was killed in 2002 under this authority, struck by an unmanned drone while traveling in a car with the al-Qaeda organizer of the 2000 attack on the USS Cole. The 2002 policy, which did not extend to JSOC, claimed that “enemy combatants” can be killed, a phrase that the Obama administration does not use. Continue reading What Gets an American on The White House ‘Kill List’? WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is suggesting the Supreme Court dismiss a case that tests whether a federal judge can order Guantanamo Bay detainees released in the United States. The move follows Switzerland’s decision to accept two detained Chinese Muslim brothers, one of whom had been cleared for release but had no place to go. The administration said in papers filed Friday the court either should dismiss the case or uphold an appeals court that ruled judges lack the power to order detainees released in this country. It argues that all seven Chinese Muslims, or Uighurs, at the U.S. naval base in Cuba now have been offered a place to live. The Pacific island nation of Palau has invited the other five. By Scott Horton Dr. Michael Baden, the former chief medical examiner for New York City, was host of the HBO series Autopsy and is the forensic science contributor to Fox News. I furnished Baden copies of the official autopsy reports for the three Guantánamo prisoners who died under mysterious circumstances in 2006, as well as information about secondary autopsies arranged by the families of the deceased.
1. When the U.S. government released its autopsy reports, it redacted the names of the pathologists and observers involved in preparing the report. It suggests that this was done to protect their privacy. Is this a normal practice? Redacting the names of pathologists is not normal in either civilian or military practice. It is necessary to know the pathologists’ names to be able to evaluate their qualifications, certifications, and experience. This may also help the family assess whether a second autopsy should be done. Mistakes can be made. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, in a recent decision establishing a right to cross-examine forensic experts, wrote that “A forensic analyst responding to a request from a law enforcement official may feel pressure—or have an incentive—to alter the evidence in a manner favorable to the prosecution.” Science must remain independent of politics. It is necessary that names of the pathologists be known to the family for accountability purposes. 2. Do deaths in the context of confinement in prison raise any special concerns for a medical examiner conducting an autopsy? Yes, a death in prison raises a special set of concerns that are not present when a person dies at liberty. The prison keepers have a duty to care for and protect prisoners. They must provide a reasonable level of health care, and they must address mental health issues of prisoners. They need to ascertain whether a prisoner has suicidal tendencies, and if so, they have to develop strategies to prevent suicide such as security cameras or one-on-one observation. A medical examiner presented with a death in prison needs to independently determine the cause and manner of death and how it happened so that such deaths can be prevented in the future. 3. It appears that the autopsies of the three Guantanamo prisoners were commenced within one day of their deaths and that no effort was made to notify their families or secure permission for an autopsy. Does this strike you as normal procedure? Continue reading Six Questions for Dr. Michael Baden: The Guantánamo autopsies By Scott Horton Rachid Mesli is the legal director of Alkarama, a Geneva-based organization that documents human rights abuses throughout the Arab world. After Ahmed Ali Al-Salami died at Guantánamo Naval Base in 2006, his family asked Alkarama for assistance in arranging a secondary autopsy. As I recently reported, the doctor who performed that autopsy also requested that U.S. authorities send him Al-Salami’s throat, which had gone missing. Now the Pentagon appears to be claiming that Alkarama made no such request, so I asked Mesli for a more detailed account of what happened. 1. How did you come to be involved in the arrangements for a secondary autopsy for Ahmed Ali Abdullah Al-Salami, the Yemeni prisoner who died at Guantánamo on June 9, 2006?
Alkarama was approached by Mr. Al-Salami’s family. They made clear that they did not trust the results of the first autopsy performed in Guantánamo Bay by the U.S. authorities. We were formally engaged to organize an alternative autopsy by an independent team of forensic scientists. 2. What specific arrangements were made for a secondary autopsy? Was the body sent directly there by the Americans, or was it transferred from Yemen first? The body was sent from Guantánamo Bay to Sanaa, Yemen to be returned to the family. They contacted Alkarama after taking custody of the body. Alkarama sought the medical assistance of the University Institute for Forensic Medicine in Lausanne, Switzerland, which agreed to send a team led by Professor Patrice Mangin to Sanaa. The autopsy was performed on the premises of a hospital in Sanaa, Yemen. After the autopsy was performed, Professor Mangin and his team produced a detailed report for Alkarama. We have sent you a copy of the public version of the report. 3. When and how did you learn that the neck organs and matter and the internal organs had been removed? What steps did you take to secure their return? This was discovered by Professor Mangin’s team during the autopsy. I promptly raised this fact in a letter addressed on June 29, 2006 to Dr. Craig Mallak, the head of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Rockville, Maryland:
RIGA — Latvia has agreed to accept an Uzbek citizen currently held at the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, RFE/RL’s Russian and Uzbek services report. The U.S. government originally asked Latvia to accept three inmates from Guantanamo, but Riga agreed to provide only one of them with asylum. The name of the Uzbek citizen was not disclosed, although it was reported that he speaks fluent Russian, is single, has relatives in Uzbekistan, and is prepared to learn the Latvian language. Latvian Foreign Minister Maris Riekstins told journalists in Riga today that the government will provide the man with refugee status, a monthly allowance, and an apartment. It was reported that the Latvian security service will monitor the new resident. He was reportedly detained by U.S.-led forces during their antiterrorist operation in Afghanistan in 2001. |
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