Guantanamo tribunals

My report about Ismael Ali Bakush, a Libyan prisoner at Guantánamo who has finally been approved for release, over 20 years since he arrived at the prison, by a Periodic Review Board, the parole-type system established by President Obama.

An update on the latest positive news regarding Guantánamo: the appointment of a “special representative” in the State Department to deal with releases from the prison (of the 22 out of the 36 men still held who have been approved for release), and confirmation that the negotiation of plea deals is ongoing with those charged in the military commissions, to bring to an end a ten-year deadlock in which pre-trial hearings are caught in a kind of Groundhog Day, because of the use of torture on the accused, and the strict procedural safeguards required for capital cases.

A world exclusive: the story of Abu Faraj al-Libi, one of 14 “high-value detainees” brought to Guantánamo from CIA “black sites” in September 2006, who appeared publicly for the first time in June this year, for his latest Periodic Review Board, which, nevertheless, approved his ongoing imprisonment without charge or trial last month, as one of the prison’s four remaining “forever prisoners.”

My report about the news that “forever prisoner” Khaled Qassim, a talented artist, has finally been approved for release from Guantánamo by a Periodic Review Board, a parole-type process established under President Obama. Despite never having been anything other than a low-level soldier in Afghanistan, Khaled continued to be held because of his non-compliance while at Guantánamo. Now, however, he has finally convinced the authorities that he doesn’t pose a threat, although all that means in practical terms is that he joins a queue of 20 other prisoners awaiting release. Is there no end to the casual but profound injustice of Guantánamo?

Celebrating the latest release from Guantánamo — of Asadullah Haroon Gul, an Afghan held without charge or trial since 2007, who was approved for release last year by a Periodic Review Board, and who also had his ongoing imprisonment judged as unlawful by a District Court judge reviewing his habeas corpus petition.

The latest news in the case of Guantánamo prisoner Majid Khan, who has submitted a habeas corpus petition seeking his release, 100 days since his sentence for involvement with terrorism ended. While Khan should have the law on his side, I also compare his case to that of the 20 other men approved for release by administrative review processes, but also still held, for whom, shamefully, no legal mechanism at all exists to compel their release.

My report about the case of Khaled Qassim, one of the last five “forever prisoners” in Guantánamo, after his recent Periodic Review Board, including a powerful statement in support of his approval for release that was sent to the Board by Mark Maher, one of his attorneys.

As “forever prisoner” Muhammad Rahim, an Afghan, has his ongoing imprisonment without charge or trial at Guantánamo recommended by a Periodic Review Board, I look at his case, and those of the other four remaining “forever prisoners” (down from 22 when Joe Biden took office), and the problem they represent for the president in his efforts to finally close the prison.

More good news from Guantánamo, as Hassan bin Attash, Guantánamo’s youngest prisoner, who was just 16 or 17 years old when he was first seized in a house raid in Pakistan in September 2002, is approved for release by a Periodic Review Board.

In a world exclusive, originally posted on the Close Guantánamo website, I tell the story of Saeed Bakhouch, an Algerian prisoner seized in Pakistan in March 2002, who has finally been approved for release by a Periodic Review Board, after being held for 20 years without charge or trial.