ABRAHAM TESTIFIES

PANEL I OF A HEARING OF THE HOUSE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE
· SUBJECT: UPHOLDING THE PRINCIPLE OF HABEAS CORPUS FOR DETAINEES
· WITNESSES: STEPHEN OLESKEY, PARTNER AT WILMER, CUTLER, PICKERING, HALE AND DORR LLP; DAVID KEENE, CHAIRMAN OF THE AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE UNION; PATRICK PHILBIN, FORMER ASSOCIATE DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL AT THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT; LT. COL. STEPHEN ABRAHAM, UNITED STATES ARMY RESERVES;
· CHAIRED BY: REP. IKE SKELTON (D-MO)

Read the entire transcript here:

http://gtmodocuments.blogspot.com/2007/07/abraham-testimony.html


Read it all... but here is an excerpt from Lt. Col. Stephen Abraham regarding Mr. Al Ghizzawi's CSRT. Abraham sat on the original panel that found Mr. Al-Ghizzawi to NOT BE AN ENEMY COMBATANT:

"But where it specifically came to bear was when I sat on a CSRT and I looked at the very same kind of evidence, so to speak, that I had seen for months. And not only I, but the other members of the panel said, this is garbage.
And as a matter of fact, when we looked at direct statements that came from interrogators, where they said, our conclusion as to the facts is that this individual was involved in activities. And we said, 1) that's not even a rational conclusion that you could reach, but 2) we have no reason for presuming the validity of that. We were told, you have to accept that as true. The presumption is, it is true, it is valid.
And when we asked questions, we were told more time should be allowed for them to get the answers. And the answers didn't come -- and we concluded that the individual was not an enemy-combatant -- we were told, keep the hearings open so that they can come back. We were told, reconsider when there's other evidence. "

Poor Mr. Al-Ghizzawi. Six years in hell and dying. ..But thank you Col. Abraham and the rest of Panel 23 for doing the right thing in his initial CSRT... and thank you Col. Abraham for stepping forward and telling the world that the evidence against Mr. Al-Ghizzawi was garbage.

Supreme Court here we come....

On the heels of the Abraham declaration confirming that there was no evidence to declare Mr. Al-Ghizzawi an enemy combatant.... and coupled with the complete inaction of the district court and the circuit court... I filed an original habeas corpus petition in the Supreme Court yesterday. What does this mean? Only time will tell... but my hope is that the supreme court will be convinced that it must provide much needed guidance to the lower courts and break the legal limbo that has kept these cases from moving forward. I hope they do something before Mr. Al-Ghizzawi dies.

See more on SCOTusblog

A new "do-over" detainee case reaches Court
12:12 PM Lyle Denniston Comments (0)

A detainee at the center of a sharp new controversy over Pentagon decisions seeking to justify holding Guatnanamo Bay prisoners has filed an appeal in the Supreme Court, asking for an "original" habeas writ. The case involves Abdul Hamid Al-Ghizzawi, whom the military is holding on the basis of an accusation that he was a member of Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, a group that has had its assets frozen by U.S. authorities for terrorist acts against the Libyan government.. (The petition for the writ has not yet been cleared by security officials for public access, and does not yet have an assigned docket number. For now, a motion for leave to file under seal has been docketed as 07M5. When a public version becomes available, it will be posted on this blog.)

A new "do-over" detainee case reaches Court