Background story from the NY Times (August 24, 2016) re: Abu Zubaydah a Tortured Guantánamo Detainee
Makes His Case for Release
Extract from that article back then: Over 14 years in American
custody, Abu Zubaydah, has come to
symbolize, perhaps more than any other prisoner, how fear of terrorism after
the September 11, 2001, attacks changed the United States.
He was the first detainee to be
water boarded (over 80 times), and his brutal torture later was documented in a
U.S. Senate report.
He is among those still held without charges and with no likelihood of a trial. The government
long ago admitted that he was never the top leader of al-Qaeda that it had
claimed at the time of his capture in 2002, but still insists today that he may
still be dangerous and cannot be released.
In all that time, Zubaydah, then age 45, had never been seen by the outside world. That changed as his calm face was
beamed via video feed from the Guantánamo Bay military
prison to a Pentagon conference room.
His original capture and
story follow here with this original background from April 23, 2009 also in the
NY Times written by Ali Soufan former FBI
supervisory special agent from 1997 to 2005.
Soufan was the first to interrogate Abu Zubaydah and gain valuable intelligence without any harsh
interrogation techniques.
The following is in Agent Soufan’s own words from that article
regarding the story:
“For seven years I have remained
silent about the false claims magnifying the effectiveness of the so-called
enhanced interrogation techniques like water boarding. I have spoken only in
closed government hearings, as these matters were classified. But the release
of the four Justice Department memos on interrogations allows me to shed light
on the story, and on some of the lessons to be learned.”
“One of the most striking parts
of the memos is the false premises on which they are based. The first, dated
August 2002, grants authorization to use harsh interrogation techniques on a
high-ranking terrorist, Abu Zubaydah, on the grounds that previous methods
hadn’t been working.”
“The next three memos cite the
successes of those methods as a justification for their continued use. It is
inaccurate, however, to say that Abu Zubaydah had been uncooperative. Along
with another FBI agent, and with several C.I.A. officers present, I questioned
him from March to June 2002, before the harsh techniques were introduced later
in August.”
“Under traditional interrogation
methods, he provided us with important actionable intelligence such as for
example that Khalid Shaikh Mohammed was the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks. He
then told us about Jose Padilla, the so-called dirty bomber. This experience
fit what I had found throughout my counterterrorism career: traditional
interrogation techniques are successful in identifying operatives, uncovering
plots and saving lives.”
“There was no actionable
intelligence gained from using enhanced interrogation techniques on Abu
Zubaydah that wasn’t, or couldn’t have been, gained from regular tactics. In
addition, I saw that using these alternative methods on other terrorists
backfired on more than a few occasions — all of which are still classified. The
short sightedness behind the use of these techniques ignored the unreliability
of the methods, the nature of the threat, the mentality and modus operandi of
the terrorists, and due process.”
“Defenders of these techniques have claimed that they got Zubaydah to give up information leading to the capture of Ramzi bin al-Shibh, top aide to KSM, and Padilla.
“That is false. The information that led to Shibh’s capture
came primarily from a different terrorist operative who was interviewed using
traditional methods.”
“As for Padilla, the dates just don’t add up: the harsh techniques were approved in the memo of August 2002, Mr. Padilla had been arrested in May 2002!!”
End of Agent Soufan’s story.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Now this update on Abu Zubaydah from
The Guardian with this headline:
“Guantánamo detainee takes on CIA ‘black
sites’ in his UN human rights case”
Abu Zubaydah, the Palestinian held in in Gitmo Bay is taking the US, the UK, and five other states before a UN human
rights panel for their role in the CIA rendition and detention of terrorism
suspects at “black sites” around the world.
The unusual case is heading to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions (UNWGAD) by Zayn Al-Abidin Muhammad Husayn, AKA: Abu Zubaydah, who now has been detained for 19 years without a trial.
UNWGAD, part of the UN office of
the high commissioner for human rights, has a mandate to investigate individual
complaints of arbitrary detention and issue opinions and calls for redress, but
has no power to impose sanctions on countries who do not comply.
Abu Zubaydah is a 50-year-old Palestinian raised in Saudi Arabia who was detained in 2002 and handed over to the CIA. He was initially described as an al-Qaeda leader, but the agency by 2006 had concluded he had not even been a member of the group.
He has nevertheless been held at Guantánamo ever since, with no prospect of release.
His lawsuit has been sent to the
UN panel. It says he was held in arbitrary detention and tortured in secret CIA
interrogation facilities in Thailand, Poland, Morocco, Lithuania, Afghanistan, and niow at Guantánamo Bay.
He is also suing the UK
government, which he accuses of “complicity in rendition, for participating in
interrogations, and for receiving information that they knew was obtained under
torture.”
It is the first time legal
action has been taken against the UK, Afghanistan, Morocco, and Thailand for
their role in the CIA rendition and torture program.
Helen Duffy, Abu Zubaydah’s international
legal representative, said: “After 19 years of arbitrary detention, the only
appropriate legal remedy for Abu Zubaydah is release and rehabilitation, recognition,
apology, transparency, accountability, and ensuring these violations do not
happen again are all legal obligations, grossly neglected in the war on terror
and the subject of this claim. But they are meaningless if ongoing violations
are not brought to an end.”
President Joe Biden has pledged
to close the Guantánamo prison camp, and to either free or transfer the
remaining 40 inmates.
Former President Barack
Obama also promised to shut down the camp but ran into resistance from the
Pentagon and Congress and succeeded only in sharply reducing the number of
inmates.
Duffy, who is also the
director of the advocacy group Human Rights in Practice, concluded her remarks saying:
“How the Biden administration responds to international legal claims like this
one will be a test of its newly stated commitment to international rule of law
and human rights.”
My 2 cents: This is a very
huge breakthrough in this case. Stay tuned – I will update as this story
breaks.
Thanks for stopping by.
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