Abdul Rauf Omar Mohammed Abu Al Qusin
Encyclopedia
Abdul Rauf Omar Mohammed Abu Al Qusin is a citizen of Libya
who was held in extrajudicial detention
in the United States
Guantanamo Bay detainment camp
s, in Cuba
.
His Guantanamo Internment Serial Number was 709.
American intelligence analysts estimate that he was born in 1965, in Tripoli
, Libya.
Abdul Rauf Omar Mohammed Abu al Qusin was transferred to Albania
at the end of February 2010.
, a legal and educational organization devoted to the protection of human rights both in the United States and abroad, is currently working on two cases on behalf of Al Qusin.
reported that three captives died in custody.
The Department of Defense stated the three men committed suicide
.
Camp authorities called the deaths "an act of asymmetric warfare", and suspected plans had been coordinated by the captive's attorneys—so they seized all the captives' documents, including the captives' copies of their habeas documents.
Since the habeas documents were privileged lawyer-client communication the
Department of Justice was compelled to file documents about the document seizures.
Abu Abdul Rauf Zalita was one of the captives whose privileged documents were seized.
stated. regarding Zalita v. Bush:
The Center for Constitutional Rights
and pro bono counsel filed a habeas corpus petition June 22, 2005 on behalf of Abu Abdul Rauf Zalita (aka Al Qusin) to assure him relief from unlawful imprisonment. President George Bush, the Secretary of Defense, and military commanders of the Joint Task Force – Guantanamo were listed as respondents.
This petition was dismissed by the D.C. District Court for lack of jurisdiction, and the government tried to end attorney access to Al Qusin. CCR responded by filing a motion for reconsideration of the district court’s dismissal, arguing that the Al Odah v. United States
and Boumediene v. Bush
cases being heard by the Supreme Court reopen the jurisdiction issue (as they both address the detainees’ right to fair trial), thus attorney access should continue until the Supreme Court has passed judgment on these cases. On October 5, 2007 the motion for reconsideration was granted, dismissal was vacated, the case stayed pending the results of Al Odah and Boumediene, and counsel access restored.
filed a petition to appeal Al Qusin’s Combatant Status Review Tribunal under the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005. The petition was filed in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals and the respondent is Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.
Al Qusin is the first Guantánamo detainee to legally challenge intentions of the US government to transfer him to his native country. If transferred, he has reason to believe he will face human rights abuses.
A district court required the government to provide notice 30 days before any intended transfer of Al Qusin to the custody of a foreign government on July 25, 2005. Such intentions were declared by the government in December 2006 and then in February 2007. Al Qusin has expressed well-founded fears that if transferred to Libya he will face torture and persecution.
The D.C. District Court granted a motion filed by CCR on February 15, 2007 ordering the government to provide 60 days notice before Al Qusin is rendered to Libya. On February 20, 2007 the government reaffirmed its intention to transfer Al Qusin to Libya. CCR filed a motion in the D.C. District Court in April for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to stop his transfer, arguing that it would violate constitutional and treaty-based rights. Included in the motion Al Qusin’s sworn declaration of his fear of abuse and expert declarations confirming the risk and the ineffectiveness of diplomatic assurances that the Libyan government would not mistreat him. This motion was denied citing the court of appeal’s decision in Boumediene. The appeal to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals was also denied for lack of jurisdiction. An emergency application for injunction was filed in the Supreme Court, but denied on May 1, 2007.
Al Qusin has a petition for writ of certiorari that was filed on September 21, 2007 and is pending in the Supreme Court to prevent his transfer to Libya prior to the Supreme Court’s judgment on Boumediene and Al Odah, two cases that will resolve some of the questions of rights for the detainees. The petition requests review to determine if he has rights under international human rights treaties and the Fifth Amendment.
, that the Military Commissions Act
could not remove the right for Guantanamo captives to access the US Federal Court system. And all previous Guantanamo captives' habeas petitions were eligible to be re-instated.
On July 18, 2008 Gitanjali Gutierrez filed a "Petitioner's status report" on behalf of Abu Abdul Raouf Zalita in Abu Abdul Raouf Zalita v. George W. Bush
, Civil Action No. 05-CV-1220.
On January 15, 2008, Petitioner filed a Motion for Hearing for Inquiry Concerning Destruction of Evidence Related to CIA Detainee Interrogations.
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
who was held in extrajudicial detention
Extrajudicial detention
Arbitrary or extrajudicial detention is the detention of individuals by a state, without ever laying formal charges against them.Although it has a long history of legitimate use in wartime , detention without charge, sometimes in secret, has been one of the hallmarks of totalitarian states...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Guantanamo Bay detainment camp
Guantanamo Bay detainment camp
The Guantanamo Bay detention camp is a detainment and interrogation facility of the United States located within Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba. The facility was established in 2002 by the Bush Administration to hold detainees from the war in Afghanistan and later Iraq...
s, in Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
.
His Guantanamo Internment Serial Number was 709.
American intelligence analysts estimate that he was born in 1965, in Tripoli
Tripoli
Tripoli is the capital and largest city in Libya. It is also known as Western Tripoli , to distinguish it from Tripoli, Lebanon. It is affectionately called The Mermaid of the Mediterranean , describing its turquoise waters and its whitewashed buildings. Tripoli is a Greek name that means "Three...
, Libya.
Abdul Rauf Omar Mohammed Abu al Qusin was transferred to Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
at the end of February 2010.
Legal Action
The Center for Constitutional RightsCenter for Constitutional Rights
Al Odah v. United States:Al Odah is the latest in a series of habeas corpus petitions on behalf of people imprisoned at the Guantanamo Bay detention center. The case challenges the Military Commissions system’s suitability as a habeas corpus substitute and the legality, in general, of detention at...
, a legal and educational organization devoted to the protection of human rights both in the United States and abroad, is currently working on two cases on behalf of Al Qusin.
Seizure of privileged lawyer-client documents
On June 10, 2006 the Department of DefenseUnited States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
reported that three captives died in custody.
The Department of Defense stated the three men committed suicide
Guantanamo suicide attempts
On June 10, 2006 three prisoners held by the United States at the Guantanamo Bay detainment camps allegedly committed suicide. The United States Department of Defense stopped reporting Guantanamo suicide attempts in 2002....
.
Camp authorities called the deaths "an act of asymmetric warfare", and suspected plans had been coordinated by the captive's attorneys—so they seized all the captives' documents, including the captives' copies of their habeas documents.
Since the habeas documents were privileged lawyer-client communication the
Department of Justice was compelled to file documents about the document seizures.
Abu Abdul Rauf Zalita was one of the captives whose privileged documents were seized.
Zalita v. Bush
On May 1, 2007 the United States Supreme Court Chief Justice John RobertsJohn Roberts
John Glover Roberts, Jr. is the 17th and current Chief Justice of the United States. He has served since 2005, having been nominated by President George W. Bush after the death of Chief Justice William Rehnquist...
stated. regarding Zalita v. Bush:
The Center for Constitutional Rights
Center for Constitutional Rights
Al Odah v. United States:Al Odah is the latest in a series of habeas corpus petitions on behalf of people imprisoned at the Guantanamo Bay detention center. The case challenges the Military Commissions system’s suitability as a habeas corpus substitute and the legality, in general, of detention at...
and pro bono counsel filed a habeas corpus petition June 22, 2005 on behalf of Abu Abdul Rauf Zalita (aka Al Qusin) to assure him relief from unlawful imprisonment. President George Bush, the Secretary of Defense, and military commanders of the Joint Task Force – Guantanamo were listed as respondents.
This petition was dismissed by the D.C. District Court for lack of jurisdiction, and the government tried to end attorney access to Al Qusin. CCR responded by filing a motion for reconsideration of the district court’s dismissal, arguing that the Al Odah v. United States
Al Odah v. United States
Al Odah v. United States is a court case filed by the Center for Constitutional Rights and co-counsels challenging the legality of the continued detention, without charge, of Guantanamo detainees. The case is in many ways a continuation of the landmark Center for Constitutional Rights case Rasul v....
and Boumediene v. Bush
Boumediene v. Bush
Boumediene v. Bush, 553 U.S. 723 , was a writ of habeas corpus submission made in a civilian court of the United States on behalf of Lakhdar Boumediene, a naturalized citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina, held in military detention by the United States at the Guantanamo Bay detention camps in Cuba...
cases being heard by the Supreme Court reopen the jurisdiction issue (as they both address the detainees’ right to fair trial), thus attorney access should continue until the Supreme Court has passed judgment on these cases. On October 5, 2007 the motion for reconsideration was granted, dismissal was vacated, the case stayed pending the results of Al Odah and Boumediene, and counsel access restored.
Zalita v. Gates
On September 26, 2007 the Center for Constitutional RightsCenter for Constitutional Rights
Al Odah v. United States:Al Odah is the latest in a series of habeas corpus petitions on behalf of people imprisoned at the Guantanamo Bay detention center. The case challenges the Military Commissions system’s suitability as a habeas corpus substitute and the legality, in general, of detention at...
filed a petition to appeal Al Qusin’s Combatant Status Review Tribunal under the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005. The petition was filed in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals and the respondent is Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.
Preventing Transfer
The Jurist reports that Abu Abdul Rauf Zalita faces torture, and possibly, summary execution, if he were returned to Libya.Al Qusin is the first Guantánamo detainee to legally challenge intentions of the US government to transfer him to his native country. If transferred, he has reason to believe he will face human rights abuses.
A district court required the government to provide notice 30 days before any intended transfer of Al Qusin to the custody of a foreign government on July 25, 2005. Such intentions were declared by the government in December 2006 and then in February 2007. Al Qusin has expressed well-founded fears that if transferred to Libya he will face torture and persecution.
The D.C. District Court granted a motion filed by CCR on February 15, 2007 ordering the government to provide 60 days notice before Al Qusin is rendered to Libya. On February 20, 2007 the government reaffirmed its intention to transfer Al Qusin to Libya. CCR filed a motion in the D.C. District Court in April for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to stop his transfer, arguing that it would violate constitutional and treaty-based rights. Included in the motion Al Qusin’s sworn declaration of his fear of abuse and expert declarations confirming the risk and the ineffectiveness of diplomatic assurances that the Libyan government would not mistreat him. This motion was denied citing the court of appeal’s decision in Boumediene. The appeal to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals was also denied for lack of jurisdiction. An emergency application for injunction was filed in the Supreme Court, but denied on May 1, 2007.
Al Qusin has a petition for writ of certiorari that was filed on September 21, 2007 and is pending in the Supreme Court to prevent his transfer to Libya prior to the Supreme Court’s judgment on Boumediene and Al Odah, two cases that will resolve some of the questions of rights for the detainees. The petition requests review to determine if he has rights under international human rights treaties and the Fifth Amendment.
Boumediene v. Bush
On June 12, 2008 the United States Supreme Court ruled, in Boumediene v. BushBoumediene v. Bush
Boumediene v. Bush, 553 U.S. 723 , was a writ of habeas corpus submission made in a civilian court of the United States on behalf of Lakhdar Boumediene, a naturalized citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina, held in military detention by the United States at the Guantanamo Bay detention camps in Cuba...
, that the Military Commissions Act
Military Commissions Act of 2006
The United States Military Commissions Act of 2006, also known as HR-6166, was an Act of Congress signed by President George W. Bush on October 17, 2006. Drafted in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision on Hamdan v...
could not remove the right for Guantanamo captives to access the US Federal Court system. And all previous Guantanamo captives' habeas petitions were eligible to be re-instated.
On July 18, 2008 Gitanjali Gutierrez filed a "Petitioner's status report" on behalf of Abu Abdul Raouf Zalita in Abu Abdul Raouf Zalita v. George W. Bush
Abu Abdul Raouf Zalita v. George W. Bush
Zalita v. Bushis a writ of habeas corpus filed on behalf of Guantanamo captive Abu Abdul Rauf Zalitabefore US District Court JudgeRicardo M. Urbina.On January 2, 2008 the Project to Enforce the Geneva Conventions named Zalita v...
, Civil Action No. 05-CV-1220.
On January 15, 2008, Petitioner filed a Motion for Hearing for Inquiry Concerning Destruction of Evidence Related to CIA Detainee Interrogations.