Greetings all,
Below are three related articles. They are separated by +++
For justice and peace,
Sylvie
Gitmo Attorneys Urge Review Board to Clear Prisoner for Release
Center for Constitutional Rights, August 18, 2015
https://ccrjustice.org/home/press-center/press-releases/gitmo-attorneys-urge-review-board-clear-prisoner-release
August 18, 2015, Guantanamo--Today, an attorney from the Center for
Constitutional Rights (CCR) urged a Periodic Review Board (PRB) at
Guantanamo to recommend that Mohammed Kamin be cleared for release. Mr.
Kamin, who is from Afghanistan and has been held in U.S. custody for more
than 11 years, is among those designated for indefinite detention at
Guantanamo: men who are not cleared for release or transfer, but who will
also never be charged with a crime. The PRB is a forward-looking,
administrative process to determine whether "detention is necessary to
protect against a continuing significant threat to the security of the
United States."
"There is no reason to continue to hold Mr. Kamin at Guantanamo. He will be
welcomed home, into a stable and supportive family and village life," said
Center for Constitutional Rights Senior Managing Attorney Shayana Kadidal.
"If the president is ever to close Guantanamo, he must end the legal limbo
in which men like Mr. Kamin are trapped and, once they are cleared, must
transfer cleared men without delay. The only way to close Guantanamo is to
reduce the prisoner population to zero."
There are currently 52 cleared prisoners at Guantanamo, many of whom have
been cleared for release or transfer for several years. As it has with all
of its Guantanamo clients, CCR submitted a letter to the PRB offering to
provide appropriate support in order to aid Mr. Kamin in his transition
home.
Mr. Kamin was charged in April 2008 with one count of material support for
terrorism. However, the convening authority withdrew the charges in 2009,
and subsequent rulings in federal court have held that material support is
not a charge triable by military commission. Mr. Kamin will therefore never
be charged with a crime. Moreover, his attorneys note that President Obama
has repeatedly stated that the U.S.’s direct involvement in the conflict in
Afghanistan has ended, definitively terminating any purported legal
authority to continue detaining Mr. Kamin.
Mohammed Kamin is also represented by Paul Rashkind at the Florida Federal
Public Defender’s Office. Additionally, two military officers appeared at
today’s hearing as Mr. Kamin’s "personal representatives," to advocate on
his behalf.
The Center for Constitutional Rights has led the legal battle over
Guantanamo for more than 13 years--representing clients in two Supreme Court
cases and organizing and coordinating hundreds of pro bono lawyers across
the country, ensuring that all the men detained at Guantanamo have had the
option of legal representation.
CCR is responsible for many Guantanamo cases in many venues, representing
men in their habeas cases in federal court and before the military
commissions and Periodic Review Boards, the families of men who died at
Guantanamo, and men who have been released and are seeking accountability in
international courts.
Cleared materials related to today’s hearing can be found here. For more
information on the case, see CCR’s case page.
+++
Attorneys for Hunger Striking Gitmo Prisoner Respond to Government Filing
Under Seal
Center for Constitutional Rights, August 14, 2015
https://ccrjustice.org/home/press-center/press-releases/attorneys-hunger-striking-gitmo-prisoner-respond-government-filing
August 14, 2015, Guantánamo Bay, Cuba – Today, the Obama administration
filed under seal its response to a Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR)
motion seeking the immediate release from Guantánamo, on medical grounds, of
Tariq Ba Odah, who has been on hunger strike since February 2007 and now
weighs 75 lbs. Ba Odah’s lawyer, CCR Staff Attorney Omar Farah, issued the
following statement:
Because today’s filing is under seal, we cannot comment on its substance.
However, we are deeply disappointed by this secret filing. It is a
transparent attempt to hide the fact that the Obama administration’s
interagency process for closing Guantánamo is an incoherent mess, and it is
plainly intended to conceal the inconsistency between the administration’s
stated intention to close Guantánamo and the steps taken to transfer cleared
men. The administration simply wants to avoid public criticism and
accountability.
It is also unnecessary. There is nothing sensitive about this pivotal
moment that needs to be withheld from the public. Mr. Ba Odah’s grave
medical condition is not in dispute. Given that he has been cleared since
2009, there is no dispute about whether he should be approved for transfer.
All the president has to decide is whether to exercise his discretion not to
contest the motion and release Mr. Ba Odah so that he does not die.
+++
From: Center for Constitutional Rights
Sent: Thursday, August 20, 2015 3:51 PM
Subject: Thank you from Guantanamo Bay
https://ccrjustice.org/civicrm/mailing/view?reset=1&id=152
Dear CCR Supporter:
Today, I am leaving Guantanamo with a heavy heart.
Earlier this week I delivered the news to CCR client Tariq Ba Odah, who has
been on hunger strike since 2007, that the Justice Department opposed our
effort to obtain a court order granting his release on medical grounds. Even
though he is cleared for release--and weighs roughly 75 pounds--the
government chooses to continue force-feeding Tariq in order to keep him
alive, so that it can prolong his indefinite detention rather than give him
his freedom.
When I met Tariq on Tuesday morning, he had just returned from being
tube-fed. He insisted on standing to greet me and CCR’s Ibraham Qatabi, but
was unsteady on his feet. Veins protruded from his outstretched arm as he
shook our hands. Last Friday's decision is more than a setback to his legal
case. The administration’s position is punitive and senseless and a matter
of potentially grave consequences for Tariq.
But because of your support there was some light in this dark moment. I
shared with Tariq photographs from vigils and protests outside of the
Department of Justice and the White House, where his portrait adorned a
giant banner held by allies; Facebook posts and Tweets, through which you
helped share the story of his struggle; and dozens of articles that have
reopened and intensified the public debate around Guantanamo's closure.
Tariq was almost speechless, visibly moved by the expression of solidarity.
"Wonderful" was the word he kept repeating.
The struggle for Tariq and so many others continues. Here with me this week
is CCR Senior Managing Attorney Shayana Kadidal. On Tuesday, as I was
meeting with Tariq, Shayana urged a Periodic Review Board (PRB) at
Guantanamo to recommend that Mohammed Kamin be cleared for release. CCR
recently took on this case as part of our effort to assist prisoners in the
"indefinite detention" category get cleared through the administrative
process.
It is because of your support that our clients know that CCR will continue
to fight for justice and bring their stories out of the prison until they
are released.
On behalf of us all, thank you,
Omar Farah
CCR Staff Attorney
© Center for Constitutional Rights
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