I have been representing men at Guantanamo for more than 17 years... but not quite 18. Karen Greenberg has been covering all things Guantanamo for more than 18 years-. Her latest at Tomdispatch.com does a nice recap including "Shutting Down Gitmo Is Hardly the Last Step."
read the whole thing here.
Meanwhile-- I am plugging away trying to get my last client out of the Algerian prison-- with no help from the useless state department.
23 organizations (including the ACLU and Amnesty International) signed on to a letter to the state department demanding that the State department intervene in my client's arrest in Algeria and force the Algerian government to live up to the assurances it made to the State Department when Saeed was released. So far the state department has not responded-- but apparently the state department thinks they are helpless in enforcing the assurances given to them in advance of Saeed's repatriation to Algeria. The state department has also refused to help facilitate my trip to Algeria by making the proper introductions.
Center for Constitutional Rights spearheaded the organization of the groups signing on to the letter and a big thank you from me (on behalf of Saeed) for their efforts. Read the letter here.
......... read the whole article here.
Gorman has continued to try to spur the State Department into action on Bakhouch’s behalf. Nearly two full months after Bakhouch was imprisoned in Algeria, Kadainow finally replied with specifics, saying she had “a chance” to speak with relevant diplomatic colleagues.
“Our Ambassador in Algiers was informed that Mr. Bakhouch is being charged under Algerian law for membership/affiliation with a foreign terrorist organization, which is a serious crime under Algerian law,” Kaidanow wrote. “He is currently under pre-trial detention while his case is under review by the Court d’Instruction, which will ultimately decide whether to bring him to trial or dismiss the charges and release him. The information regarding his case is still sealed.”
“Closing Guantanamo is not just about policy, it’s about people — the people who’ve been detained and tortured by the United States.”
Kaidanow added, “We continue to assert our interest in his humane treatment and legal rights in a variety of high-level settings.”
US Supreme Court makes it up as it goes along ... Contrived cases to fit a reactionary agenda ... Plaintiffs with no standing ... Further indulgence for religious discrimination ... Under-equipped judges on a rampage ... Roger Fitch reports from Washington
The supreme court is in free-fall, an outlaw court making extrajudicial decisions. Spurious or controversial legal doctrines, some invented by the court, are deployed to achieve desired results: usually, the rolling-back of progressive legislation.
A court that once heard 200 cases a year now hears less than 60, yet far from exercising any judicial restraint, the justices seem to relish "culture war" cases that fit the Catholic majority's rightwing agenda.
The cases that the court now agrees to hear, often manufactured by special-interest groups, are designed to give the conservative majority constitutional "cases or controversies" with which they can overturn policy decisions they dislike, and they're not afraid to manipulate standing and jurisdiction in order to hear them.
A common characteristic of these decisions has been the confusion they cause, but more than that, they bring into question the court's legitimacy. There's an apprehension that the court is becoming a super-legislative body from which there is no appeal, infallible because final, and it's borne out by the final decisions of this year's term:
Habeas corpus
The court began by dashing the hopes of prisoners, closing down appeals based on claims of actual innocence, in the appalling Jones v Hendrix, more here.
READ THE REST HERE.
Men, like my Algerian client, were tortured at the hands of the US and have never received the help they so desperately need.
As reported in The Guardian today:
The first UN investigator to be allowed to visit Guantánamo has called on the US government to provide urgent rehabilitation treatment for the men it tortured in the wake of 9/11 to repair their severe physical and psychological injuries and meet its commitments under international law.
In an interview with the Guardian, the UN monitor on human rights while countering terrorism, Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, said that the US had a responsibility to redress the harms it inflicted on its Muslim torture victims. Existing medical treatment, both at the prison camp in Cuba and for detainees released to other countries, was inadequate to deal with multiple problems such as traumatic brain injuries, permanent disabilities, sleep disorders, flashbacks and untreated post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
read the rest here.
It is not enough to release the men. Most of the men, like my client, were never charged with a crime. But they were tortured and detained, many for decades. We must help them.
Today the UN released their latest report on Guantanamo "Technical Visit to the United States and Guantánamo Detention Facility by the Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms while Countering Terrorism." Link to the report is here. The report is comprehensive and addresses some of the issues that have come up with the men that have been transferred out of Guantanamo. It also addresses some of the problems of the men who are still being held.
The US responded briefly to the report. "Brief" being one of the two key words. It is one page. The other key word is "dishonest." I am looking for a link to the response but I will quote:
"The Biden Administration has made significant progress towards responsibly reducing the detainee population and closing the Guantanamo facility. Ten individuals have been transferred out of Guantanamo since the start of the Biden-Harris Administration - one-quarter of the population we inherited - and we are actively working to find suitable locations for those remaining detainees eligible for transfer."
So where should we start? First, there was nothing responsible about reducing the detainee population by sending my client to Algeria with no firm commitment on the part of the Algerian government that he would be treated fairly and humanely.... that is unless the US thinks it is fair and humane to send him to prison in Algeria after more than 20 years in prison at Guantanamo.
Second, the Biden- Harris administration did not find a suitable location for my client. In fact, they completely dropped the ball, unless of course the administration thinks prison is a suitable location.
On Friday, the state department confirmed for me:
1. That they have no control over what the Algerians are doing to my client and they have no way of enforcing the assurances made by the Algerians that my client would be treated humanely;
2. That they will do nothing to help facilitate my travel to Algeria to confirm my clients treatment;
3. That they hope things will work out but there is nothing they can or will do.
Apparently, significant progress to the State department means offshoring the men to other countries in a constructive custody arrangement. From the prison at Guantanamo to a prison in Algeria and to other unknown prisons to be determined.
Trump indictment ... Top secret, purloined documents ... Fingered by his own people ... More indicting to be done ... Dangerous crim running for president ... Latest from the Supreme Court ... Clarence Thomas weighs in on one of Harlan Crow's cases ... Roger Fitch reports from Washington
"How many indictments does it take to bring down a cult leader?" - The Intercept
There's not much news to report from the US, other than the federal indictment for espionage of a former president, and the apparent indifference with which it was greeted by his mentally or morally-deficient supporters.
As Salon observed apropos the MAGA response to Trump's dinner party with "Hitler fanboys":
"If anything, Republican voters keep rallying to his side, predictably pleased that Nazi-snuggling has the liberal-triggering effect they crave."
Still, Espionage Act violations? Shouldn't that disturb them?
Just Security had already provided a model prosecution memorandum analysing six federal crimes that could form the basis for charges against Trump who, in the event, was charged with seven crimes.
The indictment, which included charges against his former While House valet and loyal acolyte, Walt Nauta, ran to 38 counts.
Even before charges had been filed in a Florida court (and the arraignment randomly assigned to the horrible Trump-judge Aileen Cannon), the Trump-backlash began; as TPM put it:
"The GOP speaker of the House, GOP senators and representatives, the leading GOP candidates for president, and the whole right-wing Wurlitzer launched a furious attack on the rule of law."
In fact, Trump faces very serious charges under the espionage laws; as George Bush père would say, he's in deep doo-doo, and his prior statements about classified documents don't help him.
Walt Nauta: collar attendant and valet
When it comes to the transfer of Guantanamo prisoners it is important to have all of the details ironed out in advance. It is especially true when dealing with countries like Algeria. Algeria has long been a tricky country for the men to be sent back to. In recent years it has been even trickier as the Algerian government further cracked down on civil society.
I knew this as my client was moving towards repatriation
and I spoke with and emailed the people in the State department responsible for
Saeed’s safe repatriation. I was assured on five separate occasions that
everything was worked out and Saeed would be treated fairly and humanely. I was
especially concerned because Saeed had been subjected to torture by the US and
he continues to suffer from that trauma. Saeed preferred to go to his home
country if it was safe for him and he knew that I would not let him go back to
Algeria if I did not think it was safe. I determined, from the assurances
provided by the State department, that it was safe for Saeed to go home.
Then I learned that Saeed was brought before a judge (after
his initial interrogations) and that the judge announced that Saeed’s version
of events that led him to be captured by the U.S. did not match the version put
forward by the U.S.. The Judge announced that Saeed was being stripped of all
of his rights and he was sent off to the notorious Boufarik prison to await
trial. And there he sits.
I have learned that Saeed has been treated harshly at
Boufarik. Somehow Saeed’s heel was broken. The medication sent with Saeed when
he boarded the plane in Guantanamo was taken from him. Saeed is awaiting trial
on charges that he has pledged loyalty to Osama Bin Laden- a charge never
levied at Saeed by the U.S.
I learned of the Court proceeding two days after it happened.
I immediately contacted the people in the State department with whom I had
worked. Much to my chagrin the State department did not monitor Saeed’s repatriation,
and I was the one to let them know what was happening to Saeed.
Officials in the State department expressed alarm and
concern and promised to look into it. I too was alarmed and concerned- but my
alarm and concern was a little different. I was (and continue to be)alarmed and
concerned that the State department failed to do any monitoring of Saeed once
he stepped off the plane in Algiers.
All of the assurances that were supposedly reached
between the State department and the Government of Algeria have disappeared. There is nothing safe or humane about Saeed's treatment at the hands of the Algerian government. Now the State department shrugs its collective shoulders and says, “there is
nothing we can do.”
I am still not ready to write up my own account of this travesty involving by client Saeed Bakhouch but hopefully later this week I will have time to write it up.
Meanwhile read what former detainee Mansoor Adayfi has written about Saeed's plight - amd the similar plight of other former Guantanamo detainees.
I will have more soon.
I will have a longer piece on this in the next few days. My Algerian client, Mr. Bakhouch, who has long suffered from PTSD and depression from his 20 years of detention without charge, is now sitting in an Algerian prison while the State department shrugs its shoulders and claims to be powerless.
I am rattling and will continue to rattle as many cages as I can and I will provide updates as I am able.
Today marks the beginning of Torture Awareness Month - a month that calls on people around the world to speak out against the crimes of torture and honor its victims and survivors.
Please consider donating to the Guantanamo Survivors Fund
Clarence Thomas is a lucky fellow.
Though born poor and black in a small Gullah community in Georgia, his first language Geechee, he's come a long way.
Assisted, perhaps, by the liberal affirmative action policies he so despises, he made it to Yale Law School. After graduation, he, like all the conservative members of the present Supreme Court, worked in Republican administrations.
Despite an undistinguished record as the Reagan-appointed chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the then 43-year-old Thomas was appointed by George Bush père to a lifetime appeals court position.
Then, after 19 months as an indifferent circuit judge, he was nominated for the supreme court seat of the retiring, and truly-distinguished, African-American lawyer Thurgood Marshall.
At this point Thomas's ascent hit turbulence, with numerous accusations of sexual improprieties during his spell at the EEOC, most notably, the complaint of one employee, the black lawyer Anita Hill.
Republicans played the colour-card to wedge him on the court, and the lucky judge squeaked in with the votes of 52 senators, at a time when there were 56 Democrats and only 44 Republicans.
On the court, Thomas has pursued a legal philosophy so reactionary that, until recently, he seldom found himself in the majority and rarely were his dissents joined by other justices. He was a lonely figure who famously never spoke at oral arguments.
Thomas did what he wanted ethically. He didn't report gifts or favours, as the law required, until 2004 when the LA Times disclosed his extraordinary gifts from Dallas developer Harlan Crow; thereafter, Thomas continued to receive Crow's favours, he just didn't disclose or report them - problem solved!
Clarence and Ginni Thomas: on the take
Now it seems Clarence Thomas's luck may have run out. A series of investigations by ProPublica has revealed that the connections of the justice and developer have only intensified over the years.
Slate called it quid pro Crow. Now, evidence is emerging that Harlan Crow has actually benefited from his gifts.
It's not just hospitality and holiday, yacht cruises or stays at Crow's tacky retreat in the Adirondacks, but things of more material value, e.g real estate and cash contributions for family members, like his wife Virginia "Ginni" Lamp. Justice Abe Fortas was forced-off the court for far less in 1969.
Thomas was only following in the footsteps of Nino Scalia, who chalked up 89 free hunting trips with rich donors (and litigants), and actually died in bed at an $800-a-night hunting lodge in Texas.
READ THE REST HERE
As I have mentioned many times over the years- my friend the talking dog has long helped me on my Guantanamo cases. It was only fitting that he should be visiting my other friend historian Andy Worthington on the day my client was released. We shared a nice call as we celebrated Saeed's long awaited release. The dog shares some of his thoughts on the release of Saeed here.
My thanks to The Dog for his years of help in both Saeed's case and in Mr. al-Ghizzawi's case.
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