“A Good Man With A Lot to Offer This World”: Khaled Qassim’s Attorney Urges Periodic Review Board to Approve His Release from Guantánamo

31.5.22

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Khaled Qassim (aka Khalid Qasim), in a photo taken at Guantánamo around 15 years ago, and included in his classified military file released by WikiLeaks in 2011.

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I wrote the following article for the “Close Guantánamo” website, which I established in January 2012, on the 10th anniversary of the opening of Guantánamo, with the US attorney Tom Wilner. Please join us — just an email address is required to be counted amongst those opposed to the ongoing existence of Guantánamo, and to receive updates of our activities by email.

Two weeks ago, in an article entitled, The U.S.’s Ongoing “Forever Prisoner” Problem at Guantánamo, I discussed the last five men held at Guantánamo as “forever prisoners,” the only men out of the 37 still held who have not been either charged with a crime (eleven of the 37), or approved for release (the remaining 21).

Most of those approved for release had those recommendations made by a Periodic Review Board, a parole-type process established under President Obama, with 16 of those decisions taking place since President Biden took office. The men in question demonstrated to the board members — comprising representatives of the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, Justice and State, and the offices of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Director of National Intelligence — that they were contrite, and had plans for a peaceful life if released, with the board members also concluding that they did not pose a significant security threat.

For a variety of reasons, however, the five “forever prisoners” have been unable to persuade the boards to approve their release, generally through a failure to engage with the review process, and/or because of ongoing concerns about the threat they purportedly still pose.

In my previous article, I questioned, in a variety of ways, the validity of the board’s assumptions, noting how, in the case of Khaled Qassim (aka Khalid Qasim), a Yemeni, “who was never anything more than a low-level fighter with the Taliban,” a PRB had once more approved his ongoing imprisonment without charge or trial at the end of December, “because he wasn’t regarded as compliant enough.”

As I explained in my article about his previous PRB, Qassim, who has now been held for over 20 years without charge or trial, “had his ongoing imprisonment without charge or trial approved by a Periodic Review Board, not because of any crime he has committed — the board members recognised his ‘low level of training and lack of leadership in al Qaida or the Taliban’ — but because of his ‘inability to manage his emotions and actions,’ his ‘high level of significant non-compliance in the last year,’ and his ‘lack of plans for the future if released.’”

As I also explained, “I’ve followed Khaled’s story since I first began working on Guantánamo 16 years ago, and over the years I got to know him as a persistent hunger striker, who fought against the brutality and injustice of the prison, and who also developed as a formidable artistic talent during a brief period, under President Obama, when the prisoners were allowed to attend art classes, and, for a while, turned Camp 6 into a living art gallery.” Some of his powerful paintings were more recently included in a number of exhibitions of Guantánamo prisoners’ art in the US, as can be seen here.

In addition, I wrote, “I learned even more about Khaled when former prisoner Mansoor Adayfi wrote an article about him for Close Guantánamo, which I published in March 2020. In that article, ‘My Best Friend and Brother,’ Mansoor explained that, as well as being an artist, Khaled was also a singer, a writer, a teacher, a talented footballer, and a cell block leader, and he quoted a Navy Commander and an officer-in-charge (OIC) in Camp 6 in 2010, who said of him, ‘We like Khalid to represent all the detainees. He talks like a poet when he speaks on behalf of the detainees, and he’s an easy man to deal with.’”

In my recent article, I also noted that Qassim had “another opportunity to impress a PRB” at the same time that my article was published (May 18), and while we await the board’s decision based on that hearing, I thought it would be useful to post the statement submitted to the board by one of his attorneys, Mark Maher of Reprieve US.

Maher was particularly concerned to impress on the board members the fact that Qassim “is a good man, with a lot to offer this world,” who is also “extraordinarily thoughtful, kind, and funny,” and “humble too.” Describing him also as a “fast learner and a unique talented artist,” Maher also noted that he is “obviously devoted to self-improvement,” adding, “I believe he will thrive when he is released.”

The statement is below, and I hope that you have time to read it, and that you’ll share it if, like me, you conclude that it presents a compelling case for his approval for release.

Statement by Mark Maher to Khalid Qasim’s Periodic Review Board, April 18, 2022

Periodic Review Board Members,

It is my continuing privilege to represent Khalid Qasim before this board. I would like to express my appreciation for this Board’s willingness to schedule another hearing so close in time to Khalid’s last Board. While we were disappointed in the last result, we hope that we can eliminate any concerns that still exist.

Since we appeared so recently, I will keep my opening comments brief, and will try to avoid repeating information this Board has already heard.

But I would be doing Khalid a disservice if I did not briefly repeat what I, and each of his representatives, has said  time and again: Khalid is a good man, with a lot to offer this world. I can say on behalf of all of his counsel who have represented him for well over a decade that Khalid is an extraordinarily thoughtful, kind, and funny man. And he is humble too.

After his last Board, Khalid turned to me and quietly said that I had said too much, that my statement was too complimentary. It was amazing to me that, with his freedom on the line, Khalid was concerned first with being talked about too positively.

But I can assure you all, and Khalid as well, that everything I’ve said before is true. He is truly a fast learner and a uniquely talented artist. He perseveres no matter how many roadblocks are put in his way. When I and my co-counsel told him about his most recent denial, he took the bad news in stride, thanked his counsel for our assistance, and immediately worked with us to plan for the next few months. Khalid approaches each new challenge with an even temper and realistic expectations.

After Khalid’s last hearing, this Board expressed concern for Khalid’s mental health. Reprieve’s Life After Guantánamo Project has sought to allay these concerns. While I do not think Khalid suffers from any mental disorder that would make him a threat to anyone, I do understand that counselling is valuable for everyone, and particularly important for the formerly incarcerated. With that in mind, we have identified and presented to this Board multiple providers who have represented that they will provide Khalid with care when he is released, free of charge, regardless of where he is resettled.

We have likewise identified a number of work and educational opportunities in some of the locations where Khalid may be resettled. Of course, it is impossible to say exactly what work Khalid will do since his ultimate destination is still very unclear, but I hope the Board is satisfied that there are many options for employment, and we will work with Khalid to make sure he is able to support himself.

On this point, I would like to emphasize again that Khalid entered Guantánamo as one of the youngest detainees, and will leave with plenty of life left to live. And he has used his time wisely, mastering an art form and a language, and engaging with classes in Guantánamo. He is obviously devoted to self-improvement and I believe he will thrive when he is released. I am excited to be one of many people supporting him in this journey.

Finally, it would be inappropriate to not again remark on the length of Khalid’s detention. He has been incarcerated for nearly 20 years, and like any person he is certainly not the same twenty-something that entered Guantánamo. The Khalid I know is a good man, who is ready to work, study, start a family, and of course paint.

I hope this Board will see fit to finally give him this opportunity.

Sincerely,

Mark Maher

* * * * *

Andy Worthington is a freelance investigative journalist, activist, author, photographer (of an ongoing photo-journalism project, ‘The State of London’), film-maker and singer-songwriter (the lead singer and main songwriter for the London-based band The Four Fathers, whose music is available via Bandcamp). He is the co-founder of the Close Guantánamo campaign (and see the latest photo campaign here) and the successful We Stand With Shaker campaign of 2014-15, and the author of The Guantánamo Files: The Stories of the 774 Detainees in America’s Illegal Prison and of two other books: Stonehenge: Celebration and Subversion and The Battle of the Beanfield. He is also the co-director (with Polly Nash) of the documentary film, “Outside the Law: Stories from Guantánamo” (available on DVD here, or you can watch it online here, via the production company Spectacle, for £2.50).

In 2017, Andy became very involved in housing issues. He is the narrator of the documentary film, ‘Concrete Soldiers UK’, about the destruction of council estates, and the inspiring resistance of residents, he wrote a song ‘Grenfell’, in the aftermath of the entirely preventable fire in June 2017 that killed over 70 people, and he also set up ‘No Social Cleansing in Lewisham’ as a focal point for resistance to estate destruction and the loss of community space in his home borough in south east London. For two months, from August to October 2018, he was part of the occupation of the Old Tidemill Wildlife Garden in Deptford, to prevent its destruction — and that of 16 structurally sound council flats next door — by Lewisham Council and Peabody. Although the garden was violently evicted by bailiffs on October 29, 2018, and the trees were cut down on February 27, 2019, the struggle for housing justice — and against environmental destruction — continues.

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23 Responses

  1. Andy Worthington says...

    When I posted this on Facebook, I wrote:

    Here’s my latest article, reporting the latest news in the case of Khaled Qassim, one of the last five “forever prisoners” in Guantanamo, following his recent Periodic Review Board.

    Crucially, my article includes a powerful statement in support of his approval for release that was sent to the Board by Mark Maher, one of his attorneys, who described him as “a good man, with a lot to offer this world,” who is also “extraordinarily thoughtful, kind, and funny,” and “humble too.”

    Shamefully, Khaled is still held not because of anything he did before his capture, but solely because the Board members think that, after 20 years held without charge or trial, he doesn’t have a compliant enough attitude. Let us hope that changes this time around.

  2. Andy Worthington says...

    Natalia Rivera Scott wrote:

    Thank you, Andy, for your always powerful statements for their lives and freedom.

  3. Andy Worthington says...

    Thanks, Natalia, for your supportive words. Khaled’s case is one that concerns me deeply, and in fact I’m in the studio today recording ‘Forever Prisoner’, the song I wrote about him!

  4. Andy Worthington says...

    Gail Helt wrote:

    It’s true — they need to clear him, and then actually transfer all the men who are cleared.

  5. Andy Worthington says...

    Yes, both are hugely important steps that the Biden administration needs to take, Gail – recognising that Khaled isn’t a threat, and taking action to release some of the 21 men they’re still holding who have been approved for release. I still can’t really understand, for example, why Saifullah Paracha, approved for release a year ago, isn’t already back home with his family in Pakistan.

  6. Andy Worthington says...

    Meagan Murphy wrote:

    Let him go now! It makes me so angry to live in the country that tortured him and no one has the time to look into this because we are all trying to survive! Let him go now to create a home with all the services and education that have been secured for him.

  7. Andy Worthington says...

    Yes, the lack of interest in the US in general remains quite shocking, Meagan, so that almost no one knows who Khaled is, or why it’s so disgraceful that he still hasn’t even been approved for release.

  8. Andy Worthington says...

    Gail Helt wrote:

    Meagan, they have to find a country willing to take him in, sadly. As I understand it, there is someone at State focused on this full time now, so here’s hoping that means progress toward resettling these men comes quickly.

  9. Andy Worthington says...

    Yes, it’s definitely reassuring to hear that there is now someone dealing with resettlement issues in the State Department, Gail, but while I understand the difficulties in finding countries willing to provide new homes to the Yemenis who can’t be repatriated, it’s dispiriting that it’s taking so long to free the other men who can be sent back to their home countries. That really shouldn’t be too much of a problem.

  10. Andy Worthington says...

    Gail Helt wrote:

    Andy, it shouldn’t be, but we won’t transfer them to their own countries if we don’t believe they’ll be safe there, if we think the detainee would be recruited by some terrorist grouping or criminal element, or if the detainee doesn’t want to go. The home country has to promise to keep the detainee safe, as well as take steps to keep people safe from that detainee (the latter isn’t always a concern, but sometimes it is, rightly or wrongly). And sometimes home countries don’t want these men back.

  11. Andy Worthington says...

    Thanks for pointing out a number of the potential obstacles to a prisoner’s release, Gail. Congress, of course, maintains a list of proscribed countries in the annual NDAA, but I hadn’t previously considered the problems that can be caused if a home country doesn’t want its citizens back.

  12. Andy Worthington says...

    Roseanne Bellotti wrote:

    “doesn’t have a compliant enough attitude????” That is nothing less than horrible.

  13. Andy Worthington says...

    Yes, the Board members worried that his attitude – rather than anything he was alleged to have done pre-capture – couldn’t guarantee that it was safe to release him, Roseanne. In his statement, Mark Maher alluded to suggestions that the Board members worried about his mental health, although he sought to allay those fears by stating, “I do not think Khalid suffers from any mental disorder that would make him a threat to anyone”, and indicating that what he needed instead was counselling (as anyone would need after being held for 20 years without charge or trial, often in quite inhumane conditions), and that he and other attorneys were taking steps to ensure that counselling would be available for him post-release.

  14. Andy Worthington says...

    Asif Rana wrote:

    It’s still maddening Andy. Thanks for continuing with your work.

  15. Andy Worthington says...

    Thanks for the support, Asif. As far as I’m concerned, the longer that men like Khaled are held, the more important it is to try and make sure that the continuing impact of the US’s injustice at Guantanamo – and its impact on the prisoners – isn’t forgotten.

  16. Andy Worthington says...

    Roseanne Vellotti wrote, in response to 13, above:

    It is not only “horrible,” it is intolerable for anyone who believes in human rights and justice. Gitmo makes me so angry. I keep writing to the Prez and to my 2 Senators and 1 Representative, to no avail. 😢😖

  17. Andy Worthington says...

    Thank you for your outrage, Roseanne. Being angry about Guantanamo’s existence is the only valid response to it, and yet far too many of your fellow citizens simply don’t care, and don’t seem to notice anything amiss when the State Department criticizes other countries for their human rights abuses.

    I’m sorry to hear that you’ve had no response from your Senators and your Representative. It was reassuring last year that 24 Senators and 75 Representatives cared enough to send letters to Biden urging him to close Guantanamo, but it’s frankly unacceptable that it wasn’t more than 99 in total – and, of course it’s despicable that not a single Republican is prepared to publicly endorse the prison’s closure.

    I’m just thinking that it might be good to see which Democrats didn’t care enough to sign these letters, and then to try and focus on them through a concerted campaign of calls and letters.
    https://www.andyworthington.co.uk/2021/04/20/24-senators-send-a-letter-to-president-biden-urging-him-to-close-guantanamo/
    https://www.andyworthington.co.uk/2021/08/16/75-house-representatives-urge-president-biden-to-close-the-prison-at-guantanamo-bay/

  18. Andy Worthington says...

    For a Spanish version, on the World Can’t Wait’s Spanish website, see ‘“Un buen hombre con mucho que ofrecerle a este mundo”: el abogado de Khaled Qassim le pide a la Junta de Revisión Periódica que apruebe su liberación de Guantánamo’: http://www.worldcantwait-la.com/worthington-un-buen-hombre-con-mucho-que-ofrecerle.htm

  19. Ethan Winters says...

    Khalid Ahmed Qasim has finally been approved for transfer.

    https://www.prs.mil/Portals/60/Documents/ISN242/SubsequentHearing4/220719_UPR_ISN242_SH4_FINAL_DETERMINATION.pdf

    The board is ridiculously still deadlocked on Abu Zubaydah and Ismail Bakush’s fate. If the PRB does deny their requests for freedom, it’ll be interesting to see what the reason will be. They’ve approved most of the other detainees who are eligible for PRBs for transfer.

  20. Andy Worthington says...

    Thanks, Ethan. It was the first thing I saw when I switched on my computer this morning, via a Facebook post from Mansoor Adayfi. Very good news.

    As for Abu Zubaydah and Ismail Bakush, I agree that the deadlock is ridiculous, and I’d love to have been a fly on the wall at the discussions that must’ve been ongoing. In Bakush’s case – and that of Mustafa al-Usaybi (Abu Faraj al-Libi) – there’s an evident problem in their persistent refusal to engage with the process, and I’m not sure what the answer to that is, but in Abu Zubaydah’s case I think the authorities have run out of excuses, unless they’re going to charge him.

  21. Ethan Winters says...

    Thanks for the reply. I know Bakush did appear at his hearing last March. A transcript of the public session confirmed that. As for Uzaybi, his personal representative confirmed that he attended meetings with them though I don’t know if he attended his hearing last June.

  22. Andy Worthington says...

    Thanks, Ethan. I wrote briefly about both men back in May, but you’re right to note greater involvement than I had realized at the time: https://www.andyworthington.co.uk/2022/05/18/the-uss-ongoing-forever-prisoner-problem-at-guantanamo/

    As you state, Bakush attended his PRB in March and also had an attorney present, which is progress from my understanding that he hadn’t seen his attorney since 2013: https://www.prs.mil/Portals/60/Documents/ISN708/SubsequentHearing3/220322_CUI_ISN708_SH3_TRANSCRIPT_PUBLIC_SESSION_UPR.pdf

    What I also didn’t know at the time was that al-Usaybi also had an attorney, who submitted a detailed plea for his release at his hearing in June: https://www.prs.mil/Portals/60/Documents/ISN10017/Subsequent%20Review%202/220623_U_CUI_ISN10017_PRPC_Statements_UPR.pdf

  23. Talented Artist Khaled Qassim Approved For Release From Guantánamo: But When Will He Be Freed? – OpEd - Yerepouni Daily News says...

    […] after another review was scheduled for May this year, and Mark Maher, one of his attorneys, wrote a glowing testimony about him, calling him “a good man, with a lot to offer this world,” who is also […]

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Andy Worthington

Investigative journalist, author, campaigner, commentator and public speaker. Recognized as an authority on Guantánamo and the “war on terror.” Co-founder, Close Guantánamo and We Stand With Shaker, singer/songwriter (The Four Fathers).
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