Kuwaiti captives in Guantanamo
Encyclopedia
There were initially twelve
Kuwaiti detainees in Guantanamo.
As of January 12, 2008 four Kuwaitis remained in extrajudicial detention
in the United States
Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba
.
A total of 778 detainees have been held in extrajudicial detention
in the Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba
since the camps opened on January 11, 2002
The camp population peaked in 2004 at approximately 660. Only nineteen new detainees, all "high value detainees" have been transferred there since the United States Supreme Court's ruling in Rasul v. Bush
.
The Associated Press
reported that Rola Dashti
, a member of a human rights
delegation which met with Bush in Jerusalem, said Bush said two of the remaining four Kuwaitis would face charges before Guantanamo military commission
s.
According to Dashti:
According to Khaled al-Odah, one of the remaining men's father, the remaining men are:
Fawzi al Odah,
Fouad al Rabia,
Khaled al Mutairi,
and Faiz al Kandari.
On March 30, 2008 Arab Times
reports that the USA has agreed to return two of the remaining four detainees.
Kuwaiti security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the remaining two detainees were expected to be charged before Guantanamo military commissions.
http://www.arabtimesonline.com/client/pagesdetails.asp?nid=15930&ccid=9
According to Agence France-Presse Agence France Presse, “The rare public row between the judge and prosecutors reflects frustrations over delays to appeals by Guantanamo prisoners in federal courts.”
On June 9, 2009, the lead attorney for the Kuwaiti detainees at Guantanamo, David Cynamon, called on Congress to delay the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor
until the Obama administration’s commitment to the rule of law and compliance with Supreme Court decisions is examined.
In the letter http://gtmodocuments.blogspot.com/2009/06/washington-dc-lead-attorney-for-kuwaiti.html, Cynamon asks Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) to first schedule a Judiciary Committee hearing on the Obama Administration’s failure to comply with Boumediene v. Bush
.
“The Bush Administration Department of Justice did everything in its power to delay and obstruct the habeas cases from proceeding in federal court. This was disappointing but not surprising,” Cynamon wrote in the letter. “What has been surprising is that the Obama Justice Department has maintained the same policy of delay and obstruction.”
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09130/968880-84.stm, Fayiz Al-Kandari’s military attorney, said at a press conference in Kuwait on June 9, 2009.
While the administration maintains that two other Kuwaiti detainees, Fayiz Mohammed Ahmed Al-Kandari and Fouad Mahmoud Al-Rabiah, will face charges, Major Wingard said there is a lack of evidence in Fayiz’s case. There is “not enough proof to try him [Fayiz]” in a U.S. federal court, Wingard said.
"Clinton promised that Washington would rapidly and seriously review the files of the four Kuwaiti prisoners and notify Kuwait in this regard as soon as possible," the Kuwait News Agency reported, citing a statement by Kuwait's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Matthew MacLean, a Washington-based attorney for the Kuwaitis, explained in an interview with the Associated Press
that government interrogators told his clients their lawyers are Jewish in a bid to sow mistrust. "Are these prosecutors bound by the rules that are binding on all prosecutors everywhere?" MacLean said. "Or are these prosecutors going to be allowed to be cowboys, doing whatever they want?"
, that the Military Commissions Act
could not remove the right for Guantanamo detainees to access the US Federal Court system. And all previous Guantanamo detainees' habeas petitions were eligible to be re-instated.
On July 18, 2008 David J. Cynamon filed a "PETITIONERS’ STATUS REPORT" in Al Odah, v. United States Civil Action No. CV 02-0828 (CKK) on behalf of Fawzi Khalid Abdullah Fahad Al Odah, Fayiz Mohammed Ahmen Al Kandari, Khalid Abdullah Mishal Al Mutairi, Fouad Mahmoud Al Rabiah.
He wrote that they were the four remaining Kuwaiti detainees in Guantanamo.
He wrote that none of the four men had been cleared for release.
He wrote that the government had completed "factual returns" for all four men—but those factual returns had contained redacted sections.
mandated that Guantanamo detainees were no longer entitled to access the US civil justice system, so all outstanding habeas corpus petitions were stayed.
2. William Glaberson, "Despite Ruling, Detainee Cases Facing Delays,"http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/05/us/05gitmo.html?scp=1&sq=Matt%20MacLean&st=cse, New York Times, October 4, 2008.
3. "2 Kuwaitis at Guantanamo Bay Charged with War Crimes"http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2008-10-22-guantanamo-bay_N.htm, USA Today, October 22, 2008.
4. "Obama’s Election Bodes Changes for Guantanamo Prisoners,"http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5i1ytWsSV-TjOw8IXq7Fv12HxmOmQ, Agence France-Presse, November 16, 2008.
5. "Court orders new review on torture, allows tobacco lawsuits"http://www.scotusblog.com/wp/court-orders-new-review-on-torture/, SCOTUS Blog, December 15, 2008.
6. Ben Garcia, "Gitmo Detainees’ Fate Undecided,"http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php?newsid=MzcxNjU0ODYy, Kuwait Times, January 27, 2009.
7. David Cynamon, "A Glossy View of Guantanamo Bay"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/21/AR2009032101760.html, Washington Post, March 22, 2009.
8. Zachary Roth, "Not Just State Secrets"http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/04/yesterday_we_told_you_about.php, Talking Points Memo, April 10, 2009.
9. "U.S. Judge Lambasts Government Guantanamo Lawyers"http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hYIhnoUDdLs9kySRwXw-ml3Kussw, Agence France-Presse, April 8, 2009.
8. Josh Gerstein, "Judge Riles at DOJ in Gitmo Case"http://www.politico.com/blogs/joshgerstein/0409/Judge_riled_in_Gtmo_case.html, Politico, April 6, 2009.
2. Amnesty International: http://www.amnestyusa.org/war-on-terror/guantanamo/page.do?id=1351079
3. Human Rights Watch: http://www.hrw.org/en/search/apachesolr_search/Guantanamo+language%3Aen+tid%3A698
Kuwaiti detainees in Guantanamo.
As of January 12, 2008 four Kuwaitis remained 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 detention camps, 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...
.
A total of 778 detainees have been 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 Guantanamo Bay detention camps, 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...
since the camps opened on January 11, 2002
The camp population peaked in 2004 at approximately 660. Only nineteen new detainees, all "high value detainees" have been transferred there since the United States Supreme Court's ruling in Rasul v. Bush
Rasul v. Bush
Rasul v. Bush, 542 U.S. 466 , is a landmark United States Supreme Court decision establishing that the U.S. court system has the authority to decide whether foreign nationals held in Guantanamo Bay were wrongfully imprisoned...
.
The Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
reported that Rola Dashti
Rola Dashti
Rola Dashti is a Kuwaiti activist advocating democratic reform, gender equality and increased roles for women in public life. Dashti lobbied for the May 2005 decree permitting Kuwaiti women to vote and run for parliamentary elections for the first time...
, a member of a human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
delegation which met with Bush in Jerusalem, said Bush said two of the remaining four Kuwaitis would face charges before Guantanamo military commission
Guantanamo military commission
The Guantanamo military commissions are military tribunals created by the Military Commissions Act of 2006 for prosecuting detainees held in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps.- History :...
s.
According to Dashti:
According to Khaled al-Odah, one of the remaining men's father, the remaining men are:
Fawzi al Odah,
Fouad al Rabia,
Khaled al Mutairi,
and Faiz al Kandari.
On March 30, 2008 Arab Times
Arab Times
Arab Times is an English-language newspaper published from Kuwait. Established in February 1977 by Dar Al-Seyassah newspaper which started the weekly Arab Times newspaper and soon transferred it into a daily newspaper with a remarkable role in Kuwait and the Gulf Area.The editor-in-chief of the...
reports that the USA has agreed to return two of the remaining four detainees.
Kuwaiti security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the remaining two detainees were expected to be charged before Guantanamo military commissions.
http://www.arabtimesonline.com/client/pagesdetails.asp?nid=15930&ccid=9
Habeas Case Delays
In February, Federal Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly Colleen Kollar-Kotelly “lashed out” at government prosecutors for “repeated delays” in the case of the four Kuwaitis detained at Guantanamo Bay. The Judge ordered one government lawyer removed from the case for failing to comply with repeated orders to produce requested declassified evidence, explaining in a court document his “compliance was not optional.” She continued in document, that the court "has serious concern about counsel's ability to read and comprehend its orders."According to Agence France-Presse Agence France Presse, “The rare public row between the judge and prosecutors reflects frustrations over delays to appeals by Guantanamo prisoners in federal courts.”
On June 9, 2009, the lead attorney for the Kuwaiti detainees at Guantanamo, David Cynamon, called on Congress to delay the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor
Sonia Sotomayor
Sonia Maria Sotomayor is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, serving since August 2009. Sotomayor is the Court's 111th justice, its first Hispanic justice, and its third female justice....
until the Obama administration’s commitment to the rule of law and compliance with Supreme Court decisions is examined.
In the letter http://gtmodocuments.blogspot.com/2009/06/washington-dc-lead-attorney-for-kuwaiti.html, Cynamon asks Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) to first schedule a Judiciary Committee hearing on the Obama Administration’s failure to comply with 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...
.
“The Bush Administration Department of Justice did everything in its power to delay and obstruct the habeas cases from proceeding in federal court. This was disappointing but not surprising,” Cynamon wrote in the letter. “What has been surprising is that the Obama Justice Department has maintained the same policy of delay and obstruction.”
Progress in Two of the Four Kuwaiti Detainees’ Cases
Two of the four Kuwaiti detainees are expected to be handed over to Kuwaiti authorities after negotiations, Major Barry WingardBarry Wingard
Barry Wingard is an American lawyer and officer in the United States Air National Guard.-Military career:Wingard's original military service was an enlisted soldier in the United States Army.Wingard is an Iraq War Veteran....
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09130/968880-84.stm, Fayiz Al-Kandari’s military attorney, said at a press conference in Kuwait on June 9, 2009.
While the administration maintains that two other Kuwaiti detainees, Fayiz Mohammed Ahmed Al-Kandari and Fouad Mahmoud Al-Rabiah, will face charges, Major Wingard said there is a lack of evidence in Fayiz’s case. There is “not enough proof to try him [Fayiz]” in a U.S. federal court, Wingard said.
U.S. Promises to Review Kuwaiti Detainee Cases
In April 2009, the United States promised to review the cases of the four Kuwaiti Guantanamo detainees after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Kuwait and met with the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs."Clinton promised that Washington would rapidly and seriously review the files of the four Kuwaiti prisoners and notify Kuwait in this regard as soon as possible," the Kuwait News Agency reported, citing a statement by Kuwait's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
2008 Military Commissions Filing
In March 2008, attorneys for Fawzi al-Odah and three other Kuwaiti detainees held at Guantanamo Bay filed an emergency petition with the U.S. Court of Military Commission seeking to block military prosecutors from contacting the four detainees without their attorneys’ consent. The attorneys’ petition for a writ of mandamus – or other appropriate order – was due to concerns that military prosecutors had violated, or intended to violate, military and professional rules of legal conduct.Matthew MacLean, a Washington-based attorney for the Kuwaitis, explained in an interview with the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
that government interrogators told his clients their lawyers are Jewish in a bid to sow mistrust. "Are these prosecutors bound by the rules that are binding on all prosecutors everywhere?" MacLean said. "Or are these prosecutors going to be allowed to be cowboys, doing whatever they want?"
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 detainees to access the US Federal Court system. And all previous Guantanamo detainees' habeas petitions were eligible to be re-instated.
On July 18, 2008 David J. Cynamon filed a "PETITIONERS’ STATUS REPORT" in Al Odah, v. United States Civil Action No. CV 02-0828 (CKK) on behalf of Fawzi Khalid Abdullah Fahad Al Odah, Fayiz Mohammed Ahmen Al Kandari, Khalid Abdullah Mishal Al Mutairi, Fouad Mahmoud Al Rabiah.
He wrote that they were the four remaining Kuwaiti detainees in Guantanamo.
He wrote that none of the four men had been cleared for release.
He wrote that the government had completed "factual returns" for all four men—but those factual returns had contained redacted sections.
Military Commissions Act
The Military Commissions Act of 2006Military 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...
mandated that Guantanamo detainees were no longer entitled to access the US civil justice system, so all outstanding habeas corpus petitions were stayed.
Kuwaiti detainees
| isn | name | status | repatriated | notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 65 | Omar Rajab Amin Omar Rajab Amin -First annual Administrative Review Board:A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Omar Rajab Amin's first annual Administrative Review Board, on 17 May 2005.The memo listed factors for and against his continued detention.... |
|
2006-09-06 |
|
|
| 205 | Nasser Najiri Amtiri |
|
2005-01-16 |
|
|
| 213 | Khalid Abdullah Mishal al Mutairi |
|
2009-10-09 |
Habeas corpus is a writ, or legal action, through which a prisoner can be released from unlawful detention. The remedy can be sought by the prisoner or by another person coming to his aid. Habeas corpus originated in the English legal system, but it is now available in many nations... review, on July 29, 2009. |
|
| 217 | Abd Al Aziz Sayer Uwain Al Shammeri Abd Al Aziz Sayer Uwain Al Shammeri -Summary of Evidence memo:A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared forAbd Al Aziz Sayer Uwain Al Shammeri'sAdministrative Review Board,on20 April 2005.The memo listed factors for and against his continued detention.... |
|
2005-11-02 |
|
|
| 220 | Abdallah Saleh Ali Al Ajmi Abdallah Saleh Ali Al Ajmi Abdallah Saleh Ali Al Ajmi was a Kuwaiti citizen, who washeld in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba.His Guantanamo Internment Serial Number was 220.... |
|
2005-11-02 |
|
|
| 228 | Abdullah Kamel Abudallah Kamel |
|
2005-11-02 |
|
|
| 229 | Mohammed Fenaitel Mohamed Al Daihani Mohammed Fenaitel Mohamed Al Daihani On March 3, 2006, in order to comply with a court order, the Department of Defense published a twelve page summarized transcript from his Tribunal.-Summary of Evidence memo:A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared forMohammed Fenaitel Mohamed Al Daihani's... |
|
2005-11-02 |
|
|
| 232 | Fouzi Khalid Abdullah al Awda Fouzi Khalid Abdullah Al Awda Fouzi Khalid Abdullah al Awda is a Kuwaiti citizen held in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba.He has been detained without charge in Guantanamo Bay since 2002.... |
|
|||
| 551 | Fouad Mahmoud al Rabiah |
|
|
||
| 552 | Faiz Mohammed Ahmed Al Kandari Faiz Mohammed Ahmed Al Kandari Fayiz Mohammed Ahmed Al Kandari is a Kuwaiti citizen who has been detained in Guantanamo Bay since 2002. He has been charged with war crimes.The US Department of Defense reports he was born on June 3, 1975 in Kuwait City.... |
|
Legal Advisor (OARDEC) A Legal Advisor, and an Assistant Legal Advisor were part of the Office for the Administrative Review of Detained Enemy Combatants team tasked to conduct Combatant Status Review Tribunals of captives held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba.The... confirmed that the determination that Al Kandari was an "enemy combatant" was based on "hearsay evidence". |
||
| 568 | Adel Zamel Abd Al Mahsen Al Zamel |
|
2005-11-02 |
|
|
| 571 | Sa ad Madhi Sa ad Howash Al Azmi |
|
2005-11-02 |
|
Media coverage
1. Major Issues to be Discussed Premier’s US Visit Timely,"http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php?newsid=NDc4MjU5NTUw, Kuwait Times, September 15, 2008.2. William Glaberson, "Despite Ruling, Detainee Cases Facing Delays,"http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/05/us/05gitmo.html?scp=1&sq=Matt%20MacLean&st=cse, New York Times, October 4, 2008.
3. "2 Kuwaitis at Guantanamo Bay Charged with War Crimes"http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2008-10-22-guantanamo-bay_N.htm, USA Today, October 22, 2008.
4. "Obama’s Election Bodes Changes for Guantanamo Prisoners,"http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5i1ytWsSV-TjOw8IXq7Fv12HxmOmQ, Agence France-Presse, November 16, 2008.
5. "Court orders new review on torture, allows tobacco lawsuits"http://www.scotusblog.com/wp/court-orders-new-review-on-torture/, SCOTUS Blog, December 15, 2008.
6. Ben Garcia, "Gitmo Detainees’ Fate Undecided,"http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php?newsid=MzcxNjU0ODYy, Kuwait Times, January 27, 2009.
7. David Cynamon, "A Glossy View of Guantanamo Bay"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/21/AR2009032101760.html, Washington Post, March 22, 2009.
8. Zachary Roth, "Not Just State Secrets"http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/04/yesterday_we_told_you_about.php, Talking Points Memo, April 10, 2009.
9. "U.S. Judge Lambasts Government Guantanamo Lawyers"http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hYIhnoUDdLs9kySRwXw-ml3Kussw, Agence France-Presse, April 8, 2009.
8. Josh Gerstein, "Judge Riles at DOJ in Gitmo Case"http://www.politico.com/blogs/joshgerstein/0409/Judge_riled_in_Gtmo_case.html, Politico, April 6, 2009.
Resources
1. Kuwaiti Family Committee: http://www.kuwaitifreedom.org/2. Amnesty International: http://www.amnestyusa.org/war-on-terror/guantanamo/page.do?id=1351079
3. Human Rights Watch: http://www.hrw.org/en/search/apachesolr_search/Guantanamo+language%3Aen+tid%3A698